LOCAL  FOOD  PRODUCTION

Do you know what you are eating?

Do you want to buy locally produced quality food at reasonable prices?

Many ideas…

• An orchard planted down the side of the re-developed playing fields – possibly a project to involve schools?
• A piece of land in or around the village – to cultivate, grow and supply the village (and surrounding areas) with veg – using a ‘membership’ scheme – ie families/households investing and getting veg as a return
• A piece of land to graze and rear livestock – pigs, chickens and geese (how appropriate) and have them butchered locally – another membership scheme?
• Utilising green spaces – verges, greens, odd corners of land – in and around the village for growing plants – herbs and veg – guerrilla gardening maybe
• Vegetable box schemes – encouraging more people to use seasonal, organic or locally produced veg
• Large tubs/planters at roadside on the entrances/exits to the village planted with herbs for everyone to harvest – each tub with a label saying something like – welcome to/from Green Ovingham …
• Bee keeping – getting some hives, learning how to keep bees – making honey
• Getting people more involved in growing their own vegetables
• Utilising the ex sewage tanks by the railway line – Riverside – to create a fish farm stocking it with carp
• And many more… which I can’t recall…

For 2011 – 2012 we created 4 ideas to explore further

1. Sell Northumberland produced food in the village – ‘mini’ farmers market or a bulk buying scheme – to ‘grow’ demand
2. Create a local food directory – gather information from everyone of where to go for meat, bread, vegetables, cheese, ice cream – publish on GO website
3. Commission food to be grown for us – identify and negotiate with farmers who will work with us to produce veg and geese – design and set up a ‘membership’ system.  Aim to get the geese scheme ready for goose fair with geese ready for Christmas
4. Look for opportunities for longer term growing projects in and around the village – start by mapping out the land/opportunities and finding out who currently owns or where there might be restrictions on using land.  This mapping might link to the conservation group.

ACTION!

Everyone will be able to join in – buying veg, geese! etc and to help us get there the group could do with another couple of people to help organise/co ordinate… If you are interested – join us at the .......