The Greater Manchester Land Army aims to increase local, sustainable food production for Greater Manchester. We work with new organic growers, supporting them on their journey towards establishing viable and productive businesses.
On the 12th & 13th January the Kindling team met for our strategy weekend to both share our collective vision for the organisation and to plan future steps.
Nearly all the Kindling team were able to make the weekend with Helen, Kirstin, Nona, Alan, Katie, Chris, Debs, Chloe & Emily spending Saturday and Sunday, sharing ideas and previous experience, discussing and planning our next steps.
Helen and Chris attended the renowned Oxford Real Farming Conference on the 3rd & 4th January, both to give a presentation on Kindling's work with Manchester Veg People, and to network with an amazingly diverse range of progressive food and farming organisations.
The Oxford Real Farming Conference is a unique annual event:
Join us for a 5-day FREE Commercial Horticulture Course in February/March 2013
Make the most of an amazing training opportunity to learn how to set up an organic food growing business from the growers themselves, this Spring. We have a growing market for organic local food, an amazing network of support and training straight from the field – what's stopping you?!
On Monday 29th October the University of Manchester went to visit one of the growing sites of Manchester Veg People with three chefs who have recently started to buy veg from the cooperative.
Last Saturday FeedingManchester held their 11th event at the Creative Living Centre in Prestwich. This was FeedingManchester’s first sojourn outside of the city centre, drawing 50 dedicated members of Greater Manchester’s sustainable food movement for a full day of events.
Where do our seeds come from?
A few weeks ago we put in a Big Dig bulk order of seeds from a well-established British seed company. They run a very generous discount system for allotments and community gardens – 50% off the retail price on orders over £175. As a group, we saved over £100 on our order.
One of our Big Dig gardeners asked if we could look into buying from a more local company next time, one which supplies seeds bred specifically for conditions in the North-west. Several companies were suggested, and I went off to look into them.
Food projects and growers managed to have some fun during summer despite the washout, with loads of exciting open days, festivals and markets. After enjoying days out at places like the Wigan 'Good Life Show' and the Tameside Food, Drink, Health and Wellbeing Festival, the FeedingManchester team have now turned their attention to the next event of their own.
We are looking for volunteers to help promote the local food family here in Greater Manchester.
Volunteering opportunities include working with our Foodlink NW partner: a North West-wide initiative to promote local food to more people by providing a platform for free or low-cost publicity.
We would like to invite you to attend the upcoming FeedingManchester event. We've been maintaining our commitment to support groups, individuals and organisations around Greater Manchester, and encourage discussion between them.