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GREEN STUFF
FARMERS’ MARKETS
A visit to a farmer’s market is much more of an event than a visit
to a supermarket - and far more enjoyable. There is usually something
you can buy to keep the children happy - homemade cakes and buns for
instance!
Community
Wise Farmers Market,
Held on the the
last Saturday of every month.
10am-2pm.
Ocklynge Road, Old Town, Eastbourne.
Meat, vegetables, bread and milk, craft stalls and Women's Institute
Country Markets' home made cakes. Home made soup and light
refreshments also available in the centre.
(01323) 722924.
East Dean Village Market
Every Wednesday 10.30am-12.30pm.
East Dean Village Hall.
Tel: 01323 423481 or 07730 325398.
Hailsham Market
2nd Saturday in every month 9am-12.30pm.
Hailsham Cattle Market.
Tel: 01323 833359.
Pevensey Bay Country Market
Every Friday from the end of March until Christmas.
10.15am-11.30am.
St Wilfrid's Hall, Eastbourne Road.
Home-baked cakes and pies, jams, preserves, local fresh fruit and
veg, plus crafts.
Any mums looking for extra income and who would like to become a
stallholder can contact Fiona Roberts:
Tel: 01323 460178.
Seaford Market
3rd Thursday in every month.
Saxon Lane car park at the bottom of Broad Street.
Tel: (01323) 423481.
Lewes Market
1st Saturday in every month, 9am-1pm.
Cliffe Pedestrian Precinct, Lewes.
Tel: (01273) 470900.
FARM SHOPS
Sharnfold Farm Shop, Hailsham Road, Stone Cross.
Much of the produce is either grown on the farm or sourced from
local growers and producers. The shop sells fruit,
vegetables, locally sourced meat, cakes and pies, preserves, dairy products,
apple juice, eggs, honey, ice cream, stationery and cards plus
self-serve frozen fruit and vegetables. Bread is baked on site
daily. There is also a lovely cafe and a great adventure
playground for the kids. The shop and Pick Your Own area opens from 9.30am until 5.00pm on Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays until Easter, then daily until the end of October.
Outside; plants and shrubs are on offer, alongside
wooden bird tables, bird boxes and garden furniture made at
Sharnfold. There is also a large picnic and play area located
close to the shop, with small animals for the kids to feed and
stroke. In the Pick Your Own area, strawberries will
be at their peak just in time for the tennis at
Devonshire Park! There are regular updates on what is
available for picking right now at: www.sharnfoldfarm.co.uk
Fairfields Farm Shop, Eastbourne Road, Pevensey.
Fresh farm-produced beef, lamb and
pork traditionally farmed. Barn-reared, additive free
chicken. A good range of fresh vegetables & fruit,
dairy produce, preserves, free range eggs, fruit juices and
more. (01323) 763165.
www.fairfieldsfarm.com
ORGANIC VEGETABLE BOX SCHEMES
Riverford Organic Vegetable Boxes. This a
a co-operative of 13 family run farms in Devon, who are able
to grow 85 different varieties of vegetables to keep their boxes
interesting throughout the year. Eastbourne has a friendly
local distributor called Hilary Cole, who will bring the boxes to
your door. Everything you need to know is on the website.
www.riverford.co.uk
or (0845) 600 2311.
Abel & Cole will deliver weekly selections
of seasonal organic produce to your home. You can choose the box
size and contents which best suits your needs, then even ask for
substituted items if you do not wish to receive all the produce
offered.
You can also order organic meat and fish, dairy
products, beer and wine.
The service is very reliable and convenient, plus
the prices are reasonable considering the quality of the food and
the time you save.
www.abel-cole.co.uk
or (08452) 62 62 62.
GROW YOUR OWN
The end of May is
the best time to plant out your own summer vegetables,
as it's very unlikely there will be any more
frost. If you'd like to try this with the kids, ESK
has some wonderful
little vegetable plants at tiny prices - so if it all goes wrong you
won't mind. They also have a garden club with it's
own gardening guru, so complete novices can get helpful
advice there. Tomatoes are everyone's favourite as
they're easy to grow and good to eat, but you can also
try green beans, lettuces, peas and peppers. The
easiest thing to do is to simply start by growing these
in grow bags or pots on the patio - they won't be far
away for watering and you don't have to do any double
digging! If you'd rather just pick fresh fruit and
let someone else grow it, then Sharnfold
Farm has got PYO strawberries. They also
have a big adventure playground and farm animals to pat,
so it makes for a fun afternoon.
Imagine you are 6 years old again and spend an
afternoon making potions out of things you gathered from the garden,
except this time they might actually be useful! Find out about
James Wong from the BBC series Grown Your Own Drugs (plus a few of
his recipes) at:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health
If you are feeling inspired, the Royal Horticultural
Society has a very friendly website which tells you everything you
need to know:
www.rhs.org.uk/growyourown/
There is also lots of info to
be found at: www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/tv_and_radio/growyourownveg
If you
do manage to plant some fruit
and vegetables, the BBC has an online gardening
calendar reminding you what to do when in the
garden:
www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/today_in_your_garden
If you'd prefer a gardening calendar that you can
print off and pin to the inside of your shed there is a very
attractive one to download at:
www.homebase.co.uk
Once your garden is up and running you are going to
find that it needs protection from pests. We all want
to grow healthy fruit and vegetables without potentially harming our
children, pets and the local wildlife. So, for biological and
natural pest controls visit www.just-green.com
I particularly like their Just
Slug Stop, which doesn't poison slugs and snails - it just
makes your young plants impossible to reach!
LINKS
Get the kids interested in wildlife -
with the Woodlands Trust's Nature
Detectives site. You can opt for an annual
subscription, but a lot of the activity sheets are available to
try online for free.
You can also sign your kids up to this superb site:
www.habitatheroes.com
There is a wealth of high quality educational material about animals and
our environment, presented as a series of fun games. Membership is
free at the moment.
Find out how to you can make a difference in a
myriad of different ways at this excellent Guardian website:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/whatcanido/0,,1822660,00.html
There are some lovely ideas for making a
wildlife garden at:
www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/guide/index.asp
RECYCLING
East Sussex County Council’s website has a useful page where
you can simply type in your postcode to find the recycling point
closest to your home:
www.eastsussex.gov.uk/environment/rubbishandrecycling/recyclingsites
For info about Home Composting and details on
how to buy a composting bin from the council at a drastically
reduced price :
www.eastbourne.gov.uk/environment/waste/garden-waste/home-composting/
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