Mid-Winter Festival
Saturday 8th December at 7:30pm
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A
marvellous feast and much seasonal conviviality.
Great
quiz by Mouse. Amid much hilarity we played 'Sorry
I haven't a clue - films that would be popular
with
gardeners', eg. The Golden Compost and Loneliness
of the Long Distance Runner Bean.
Thank you to everyone who donated raffle prizes |
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"The History of Sussex Agriculture"
Friday 16th November at 7:30pm
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Yet
another great talk by Geoff Mead. He related the
agricultural practices to the geology of the landscape
and traced through time how events in the world
at large influenced farming in Sussex.
Interesting fact: Sheep don't poo when they are
walking.
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Halloween and Harvest Festival Supper
Saturday 20th October at 7:30pm
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Fascinating
witches, scintillating table decorations created
by Sue.
It was a great opportunity for people to chat
about their successes and blight!
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Tessa's Table Top Seed Swap
Sunday 14th October at 1 - 4pm
BHOGG Allotment, Weald, Hove
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A
fabulous clear, sunny and warm Autumn day. A relaxed
get together - drank tea, ate cakes and we even
managed to swap some seeds. A particular highlight
was
the
Lemon
Drizzle
Cake.
Thank You, Tessa for organising this event. |
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Fungi Foraging
Sunday 7th October
10am Halfords Car Park, Lewes Road
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Another
excellent tour by Dave Bangs through some fairly
secret woods near Ditchling Common. This year's
fungal highlights were Stinkhorns and Earthstars.
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Trip to Wakehurst Place
Saturday 29th September
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A
good outing despite generally gloomy weather. Our
guide Peter gave us an excellent extended
tour of
the gardens including the compost bins. He seemed
puzzled until we explained we are organic gardeners.
We wandered through the seed
bank at our own pace.
Fascinating place, well worth the trip. |
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Trip to Hankham Organic Farm
Saturday 1st September
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We
set off by minibus into the Sussex countyside for
a guided tour around Hankham Organics Farm. We
were shown the glass houses where the veg is grown
for the organic veg boxes and their new project
of rain water harvesting. A very enjoyable and
educational day rounded off with tea and cake.
Thank You Miles for a very informative tour. |
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Summer Picnic
Sunday 12th August
Roedale Allotments
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A
wonderful summers day was spent at Ruth's allotment.
A great opportunity to look round her allotment
and chat to other BHOGG members.
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BHOGG Allotment Open Day
Sunday 15th July
Weald Allotments, Hove
1pm until 5pm
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It
may have been down to the warm sunshine or possibly
the advert in the weekend Argus but we welcomed
more than 200 visitors to our allotment this year
- a great turnout. In spite of the organisers being
slightly overwhelmed by the numbers, everyone had
a good day out and much cash was raised for the
Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Project. We sold plants,
tea and home made cakes and also ran a bric a brac
stall to raise the funds, £270 in total.
So thanks to everyone who helped on the day or
in the week leading up to the event helping to
make the site look good or who donated stuff to
sell on the day.
The Bug Hunt with Dave Bangs drew the largest crowd and not all of them children.
We asked Dave to particularly look for bees around the allotment and I recall
him finding carder and leafcutter bees. At one point a fox appeared along one
of the tracks some 50 meters or so away. This distracted the youngsters a little
and a stalking posse was formed.
Later in the afternoon, Mike Russell, a local story teller, entertained us with
quirky tales of hidden worlds - a calming end to a hectic day.
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Midsummer Barbecue
Sunday 24th June
177 Ditchling Road, Brighton
2pm onwards
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A
very enjoyable meeting at the beautiful garden
of Malcolm and Linda Kemp,
our newsletter designers, a lazy afternoon
of good food and idle banter.
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Seedling Swap
Sunday 13th May
Weald Allotments, Hove
11am - 1pm
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Dispite
intermittent pouring rain 30 to 40 people turned
up. We swapped plants and seedlings, drank tea
and ate yummy cake. Local cat dropped in to say
hello.
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"Co-Creating with Nature at Findhorn"
Wednesday 18th April
Phoenix Community Centre
7:30pm
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Former
resident of Findhorn Community, Clive, gave a very
good talk which gave us a sense of what it
is like at this spiritual
community, ever famous for the giant cabbages,
beautiful gardens and its relationship to nature
in its many forms.
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Spring in the air - the plot thickens
Monday 26th March
Phoenix Community Centre
7:30pm
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Ruth
recapped on the principles of soil management,
plot planning and companion planting. We then
sowed
seeds in modules and pricked out seedlings to take
home.
There was also be a talk with Erica Pepe about
planting by the moon, a system of gardening used
in Bio dynamic agriculture and probably used by
our ancestors for thousands of years.
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LIVING WILLOW WORKSHOP
11th March
BHOGG Allotment
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A
ROOM WITH A VIEW
It was a lovely mild spring day in mid March
when the Bhogg allotment became home to a new living
willow structure. Jackie Sweet, a local basket
maker and willow expert, demonstrated the build
which involved pushing willow into the ground and
weaving it together to create the desired shape.
With some tender care we have seen the willow grow
and the initial cage like structure transforms
into something akin to a giant green hedgehog.
Many thanks to Jackie Sweet for her energy and
skills in seeing this structure built and we look
forward immensely to her second visit in September
when she will be leading a basket weaving group.
Thanks also to Mouse for planting up the pond with
a few native species of pond plants.
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BHOGG AGM
21st February
Phoenix Community Centre
7:30pm
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A
chance to celebrate and
reflect on what we have done
in the last year and
look forward to the next. Several good ideas for
trips in the coming year.
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Colour Your Garden in the Winter
Wednesday 17th January
Meet at 5 Warleigh Road, Brighton
7:30pm
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A
very enjoyable evening - where Bridget Saunders
went through an A to Z of plants to Brighton (pun
intended!) your garden through the cold, dark
winter months.
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