Tag Archives: news

March 2024 – Volunteering

Stats for March: 409 hours of volunteering by 32 volunteers over 16 sessions; 1 new volunteer; 1 work experience placement.
Stats for 2024: 1267 hours, 44 active volunteers, 8 new volunteers, 2 work experience placements.

This month we were looking ahead to our Spring Celebration (Sat 23rd), making preparations and tidying up. We had a big load of wood chippings arrive just in time to finish off some of the muddy areas. Spring bulbs were in full swing by now.

The celebration was wonderful, with a cake, crafts and day-old chicks which were especially appreciated.

Music and yoyo tricks were provided by friends David and Guy (one of which appeared as Albert the Lion).

This month we were also running a £10k matched funded Crowdfunder, which hit the target in the last week. It was amazing to receive generous support from so many members of the farm community.

On Wed 27th we had 27 pupils from Oakwood primary for a tour. They were looking especially at birds so we talked about the wild and the working birds on the farm. It was pouring with rain as they walked here from the school – they bravely and keenly persisted with their tour, and the rain eased off.

Cari Stewart, our volunteer animal lead, took volunteers onto her land, improving drainage and maintaining things for the ponies and lambs. We created a gap in the hedge by Chickens 1 so that visitors can look through to see the lambs in their shelter.

We rationalized our goose and chicken housing to release houses for the second batch of ducks/chicks, which arrived in time for the open day. We have five chicks and 3 ducks in this batch. The chick with a bad leg from the first batch is now with second batch, getting around ok. The chick and ducking from batch 1 are going out into a day hutch each day now.

Pots of perennials like currants, gooseberries, strawberries and day lilies were smartened up for the shop. Our chilli seedlings were all eaten – the slugs beat us again. We set up 15 potato sacks and planted our first early potatoes. Our first direct sow of carrots, parsnips and turnips was hampered by the prevalent rain. On 20th March at 9.30pm we picked about 100 snails off bed 1, mostly making for the newly planted radish seedlings. Many of these snails were small.

The oriental leaves and over-wintered lettuce in the polytunnel began to really produce and give us 10 bags at a picking. Delicious!

We continued the routine tasks of processing logs, clearing sand from the spring and irrigation system refurbishing the compost yard and building up the hot boxes. We started getting horse manure from the ponies next door.

We had a lot of rain to contend with, and the month ended very wet and extremely windy. We closed the shop early on Thursday 28th because the wind was lifting water butt lids and other objects and throwing them around the farm.

By the end of the month the apple blossom was showing. And of course the ducks were still working hard…

Shop on the move

Do you remember what it is like in the winter in our shop?

COLD!

Not this winter.

Local company Storage on Site (storageonsite.co.uk) are lending us a shipping container converted into a cabin. This will allow us to move our shop out of the barn while we make improvements (subject to planning permission).

The cabin is supplied ready to use with electric hook up. This winter our shop will be warm and cosy – such a change from previous years!

Here is an example of what we are getting:

And this is inside the cabin:

We are very grateful to Storage on Site for this generous support, and we are sure our customers will also be grateful as we all know how cold and damp the barn gets in the winter.

First we have to clear the space. The Pre-Loved shed is going first!

And here is a video showing a bit more detail:

Going…

Going…

Gone!

WORKSHOP: Intro to Permaculture

Next course is Saturday 9 December.
Thinking of coming?
Please fill out our online form to reserve a space.

Permaculture is a powerful set of ideas that we have used to help us establish the farm. Would you like to know more about it? Come and find out in our introductory workshop that sets a foundation for your ongoing learning and application of permaculture principles.

The workshop will be led by Richard Pitt, Farm Manager. Using the farm itself as a story-book I will mix story-telling with activities designed to allow participants to relate the Aldermoor story to their own.

I will be explaining how permaculture principles have informed our practices. I include consideration of our regrets – the things along the way we wish we’d done (or not done!).

I will offer suggestions for answers to the following:

What is permaculture?
How can it be useful in my garden?
How can it be useful in my life?

I will highlight some favourite aspects of permaculture and share knowledge that we have found helpful at Aldermoor. I will also make a bit of time for attendees to reflect on what to take away and put into practice.

After the workshop you are invited to stay for a bring and share lunch, allowing time for further conversations.

Event details

Venue: Aldermoor Community Farm, Aldermoor Road, Southampton, SO16 5NN
[we will be in our compost-heated polytunnel!!]
Date: Saturday 9 December 2023
Time: 09:30 – 12:30
Speaker: Richard Pitt (Farm Manager)
Capacity: 10 people. Please fill out our online form to reserve a space.
Cost: It is £15 per person. Payable on the day by cash or card.

Agenda

0930 – 1000 Welcome and refreshments
1000 – 1115 Session 1
1115 – 1130 Break
1130 – 1230 Session 2
1230 – 1400 [optional] Bring and share lunch

Feedback from previous workshops

We had a great time at the permaculture course and felt inspired when we left so thank you again.

Thank you so much for running the permaculture workshop I really enjoyed it. It was lovely to spend that time with you and learning about the farm and your own journey, very informative and great to get some reference material too.

I love what you and your community have done with Aldermoor it is inspiring, and sharing how you achieved it is very generous and helping achieve a better view on the way I use my garden.

About the farm

Aldermoor Community Farm was started in 2014 by Richard Pitt and friends, who set up a cooperative to begin restoring an overgrown acre of land into a sustainable and productive small holding. Over the years since then the farm has become an example of how to grow veg without harmful chemicals, with other features like chickens, ducks, compost making and off-grid toilets. Now a project of Southampton charity Alder Trust, the farm is well established with a community of volunteers working the land and a community of customers frequenting the farm shop which sells a range of produce and homewares.

Coffee Shop Volunteer

We have a new opportunity for volunteering on the farm.

Our shop continues to grow – we now have an espresso machine for making delicious coffees and we offer cakes and teas too.

On Saturdays we need a volunteer to help Liz, our wonderful Saturday shop assistant.

One day we hope this will be a paid position, but for now we can’t afford it, so instead we have created a great work experience opportunity, like a little job.

We will support you to gain experience and confidence. You will get training in making coffee making and the relevant food hygiene training. After a few months we can provide you with a reference that would help you get a job in a coffee shop at a later stage.

We aim to set up a rota of volunteers, asking you to commit to a 3-hour session (morning or afternoon) once or twice per month.

Full details can be downloaded here and are all below as well.

If you would like to become one of our team, please contact us for an application form.

Title: Coffee Shop Volunteer
Minimum Age: 16
Hours: 3 hours per session. We are looking to cover the slots 0930-1230 and 1330-1630
Reports to: Shop Manager/Farm Manager

Purpose

Our shop assistant has an ever-increasing range of tasks to perform and with the addition of an espresso machine for take away hot drinks, we need to provide extra support on Saturdays, our busiest day.

The purpose of the shop volunteer role is to make and serve hot drinks and to provide assistance to the shop assistant, helping to keep the shop running efficiently during opening hours and reducing waiting times for customers.

PRIMARY Responsibilities

Taking turns on a rota and being reliable.
Communicating promptly with Farm Manager when not available for a session.
Following food hygiene procedures, monitoring fridge temperatures
Making and serving coffee and other hot drinks
Keeping the outdoor seating area clean and tidy

OTHER Responsibilities

Helping the shop assistant by:

Assisting customers with the refill stations:

detergent and soap refills
milk refills

Keeping the shop well-stocked:

making up bags of flour
replenishing veg from the fridges
replenishing other produce like eggs, bottles, jars, tins

Keeping the shop tidy:

general awareness of what the shop looks like and keeping the shelves tidy
wiping down surfaces, cleaning the fridges, sweeping the floor
breaking up cardboard boxes

Welcoming and showing visitors round the farm:

dispensing chicken feed and showing where the chickens are
explaining safety precautions

If you would like to become one of our team, please contact us for an application form.

Grow Your Own (Open Day)

On Saturday 13 May 2023 we have our Grow Your Own open day. This is a free event with plenty of advice on how to grow your own vegetables at home.

We will have workshops showing how to set up a veg patch from scratch and a compost surgery – come with your questions, or just see how we do it.

There are fun things to do, games to play. Our coffee shop will be open and there will be a wide variety of plants to purchase, including tomatoes and chillies.

Plants available for purchase:

Edibles

Tomatoes
Chillies
Globe artichokes
Red and green cabbages
Cauliflower
Sprouts
Lettuce
Peas
Runner beans
French beans
Sage
Rosemary
Strawberries
Black currants
Gooseberries

Flowers

Day lilies
Nasturtiums
Sunflowers
Sweet peas
Cosmos

AMAZING response – THANK YOU

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you everyone for the overwhelming generosity expressed to the farm in our appeal for funds towards our salaries budget.

My wife is approaching early retirement as a nurse, and wants to spend more time with grandchildren and also to help on the farm. So I can no longer afford to volunteer as much as I have been and the trustees plan to increase my paid time to 4 days per week.

We needed to raise £3858 to cover the first six months of this increase. The details are in this video:

The salary appeal was launched because were offered £1,000 of matched funding.

I was blown away by the way it took less than 24 hours to reach the £1,000 target. I was so uplifted and encouraged by this.

This is where things currently stand:

We have £2,120 of pledges through the Give As You Live page.
There will be £412.50 of Gift Aid added to this.
The matched funding is £1,000.
There will be £250 of Gift Aid added to the matched funding
In addition there are new monthly donations totalling £115 per month.

We’ve done it!

We have reached our target for the first 6 months AND can begin saving towards the following months!!!

I am so encouraged by this generosity, and by the wide circle of family and friends who have supported me. It is also amazing to think of the numbers of people I don’t know personally who have a connection with the farm and have supported us.

To everyone who has helped – THANK YOU. Let’s celebrate what we can do together. If you haven’t given yet but want to, we are not quite at the end of September and there is still time to make a donation.

Thank you all.

I hope to see you at the farm some time soon. We are in the midst of the best harvest season we have ever known on the farm.

Yours

Richard

(Richard Pitt, Farm Manager)