Community Fund – Calder Food Hub – April Update

Seedy Saturday is an event that Calder Foodhub has been running for a few years now – encouraging people to bring along spare seeds and plants and taking away other people’s surplus seeds.

 

We held our Seedy Saturday event this year at Redacre Community Growing Project – a former waste ground site converted to organic allotments for local people. Holding the event there meant that people could come down and hang around for a while, enjoying the sunshine and the delicious food. We had a good selection of vegetable and flower seeds as well as some seedlings, young plants and even a few small currant bushes. Many people who came brought things to swap and those that didn’t were happy to give a donation. We had seperated seeds into categories to make it easier for people and it was a genuine pleasure to leaf throught the boxes in search of new treasures or an old favourite.

 

Almost as popular as the seeds were our food stalls. There were onion bhajis, veggie sausage rolls and various buns to accompany a cuppa as well as some local bakers who brought along unusual treats such as ale bread, beetroot bread and boozy tiramisu cupcakes. There was also our very own raw food expert tossing together some tasty and highly nutritious foods to tempt us away from the cakes and pastries. We provided a children’s area with compost, buckets and spades to encourage some digging and planting but for most of the day children were free to run about, filling the air with the sound of their games whilst the adults sat about comfortably, chatting about growing. We’d asked a local vegetable growing expert to come along on the day and she ran simple seed sowing demonstrations throughout the day. She also answered specific questions from keen veg growers, passing on her knowledge and enthusiasm to the assembled crowd.

 

Allotment holders came and went whilst we occupied their site, working on their own plots as well as coming to take part in our event. Many of them talked to Mark from CLOG who was on site grafting apple trees and passing on his apple wisdom. Other visitors sat about in clusters, laughing and soaking up the changeable spring weather, most people who came down to the event stayed a little while to enjoy the convivial atmosphere but there were a few people who arrived knowing exactly what seeds they were looking for and left when they’d completed their mission! We were really pleased that the photographer from the local paper, The Hebden Bridge Times came to record the day and the event was covered by a double page spread the following week.

 

Overall it was a successful day, with all involved feeling extremely happy about the community spirit in evidence all about us. We’re hopeful that it will continue to grow in stature and significance in years to come and that we can give more people access to the knowledge and tools they need to grow their own food year after year.