Growing Newsome and Stirley Farm - A year in pictures 2015

Growing Food Together

2015

January

January

Let there be light...

...we take a new year tour of

progress at Stirley Farm

January

Countryfile

filmed Hillside

Primary at Stirley

7 million viewers!

January

Local Food Stories day - Growing Newsome take time out to reflect on our journey so far

February – Still plenty of food in the garden for budding

chefs!

February First calf of 2015 – ahhh!

February

Picking cabbages

in the snow

February

February

The Growing Newsome elves

begin the mammoth task of packing up

this year’s seed potato orders.

More bags needed!

March

Many hands

make seed packets

March

Huddersfield Potato Day

March

The best presented potatoes you’ve ever seen?

March

We received a comment card

saying: “We loved Rachel’s craft

activity”

We did too :-)

March

Huge thanks to everyone who helps to run

Growing Newsome’s

events

March

Thank you to Cummins Turbo Technologies

The cavalry

arrive to create a

level base at our

community

allotment

March

Sowing the first ever seeds in the Stirley

polytunnel!

March

Big Dig Day

March

Every year there comes

the day when we plant our first pea...

...nature’s best dibber is still going

strong

Things are sprouting

at the allotment...

and there’s an alien in Carole’s

back pack

April

April

The potting shed has landed....

April

Helping Hands (and lots of them) spend

a morning at the community allotment

April

Mikron theatre company entertain us on the new Stirley patio!

Lovely start to our Sunday - a flying visit from Lisa

May

Plenty of smiles from the kids in the

kitchen and garden…

May

…but some are not so

sure.

We made three-cornered garlic pesto. Fancy.

May

Growing Newsome’s Big Plant Swap

May

The smart swappers came

armed with their own trugs

May

Planting out sad looking sweetcorn, in hope...

June

Planting isn’t easy on a slope, but we persevere

June

Open Farm Sunday and Stirley is looking gorgeous for our 300 visitors !

June

Open Farm Sunday

June

After a very slow start – the growing season finally gets going, as proved by our

brand new raisied bed!

June

A true milestone:

June

So many visitors to the farm that the lunch ran out, but

Toby made us a lovely houmous sarnie.

June

The CPRE worked hard at Honley Show to help protect our beautiful open space

from development.

June

Growing Newsome at Berry Brow

Carnival

June

...Y... M... C.... A

Here begins Growing Newsome’s surreal summer

June

June

Meanwhile, we find the perfect seats for our shed...

June

we make a start on the strawberries...

and we put the kettle on

June

Jean’s garden, full of special things

June

Growing Newsome took part in the “This Changes Everything” film festival

July

Our favourite example: “if you sell 500 cups

of apple juice, you meet 500 people”

July

The Stirley Bees have a ‘field day’ in the wildflower meadow

July

We enjoy our summer fruits

July

But we had to fetch reinforcements to

pick all those strawberries

July

“Look at those cabbages!”

July

We get our community allotment ready for visitors

July

“I name this garlic Antoine (or Jean Luc)”

July

Us and our shed (and a nice chap off the telly)

July

Simon Gregson brings the TV, radio and press to our community allotment, to celebrate Growing

Newsome reaching the finals of the National Lottery Awards

July

This is what they call VIP

Location Catering...

July

...but we call it serving soup in a

mudbath

Nature tots get crafty…

July

...and find out where eggs come from.

A beautiful stall at Play

Day.

August

Fruity creations!

We’ve had such fun with those redcurrants this year

August

No vampires allowed in the polytunnel

August

Community Allotment open morning - with real sun!

August

Allotment chic

August

September

Tackling climate change with jam

Welcome to our runner bean forrest

September

Ian samples the first ever Stirley beef burger.

September

Stirley Farm Food Festival

October


September

The star of the show – the smoothie bike!


September

Ale, music and great company and nearly 1000 visitors!

Getting ready for our Autumn Gathering

October

Growing Newsome Autumn Gathering

October

whoo-whoo-whoooo

October

Things of beauty

Cummins put up a new

polytunnel at the

community allotment...

October

...with some expert guidance

from John

That sweetcorn turned out nice

October

Plenty of foraging at Stirley!

October

Edible fungi – hmmmm…..

James from HarvestHud showed us how to take soft fruit cuttings

November

Diane made one final batch of jambefore hanging up the pan til next

summer

November

Working to save our Hedgehogs!

November

We lit a small candle in the dark, for the climate...

November

...part of the Low Carbon Kirklees event

Hall Bower Supper

November

A major cook-a-thon for Anne!And a rescue remedy kit for later on…

...and packed up the last of our jam

December

Another milestone for Stirley – the cows have finally come home!

December

to growing friends

old and new...see you in 2016