February half term was a busy one for Replenish; spring is just around the corner and we can start seed sowing activities again. Children always enjoy getting their hands dirty and love to peek inside the mini worm bin to see the red wrigglers.
‘Sow and Grow’ at Didcot Library
We started the week with a very popular sowing and growing children’s session at Didcot library. We played the ‘can you compost it’ game and learnt about the different creatures that help turn organic matter into ‘black gold’ to feed your plants. Some children got creative using the many coloured pens and pencils to draw some of the composting critters and the food that they munch on.
The seed matching challenge was popular at all half term events, but it’s not as easy as you might think. We rarely see the seeds of true vegetables like carrots, as they are not contained inside the part we eat. Whereas they are inside fruits like apples – almost everyone gets that one right.
Also, as carrots are biennials, we usually pull them up and eat them before they go to seed. Why not leave a few in the ground this year – they have beautiful umbeliferous flowers, similar to cow parsley – and you can collect your own seed to sow next year.
Do you have leftover seeds that you would like to swap for something different? Many of Oxfordshire’s libraries, including Didcot, now have seed libraries too. Our blog from last summer highlighted how libraries are definitely for more than books.
Rosehill Food and Wellbeing Festival
Open to all, this fantastic, free event was held by Rosehill Junior Youth Club at Rosehill Community Centre. Neighbourhood organisations and community groups were invited to run stalls promoting local social groups, volunteering opportunities and ways to access free or discounted leisure & sports activities.
Aimee Winkfield, Communication & Engagement Officer explained why this event was something they felt would be valuable to the local community.
‘We wanted local people to sit together and eat a delicious meal, socialise, enjoy the wonderful activities on offer, learn about local wellbeing initiatives and take home some free items including clothing, bric-a-brac, bags of fruit, herbs and spices’
Various food activities were available, with something for all ages from creating a spiralized fruit snack to making flatbreads and fillings. I demonstrated how easy it is to ferment cabbage into sauerkraut just using salt – people were surprised that you don’t add any vinegar. We also had weekly meal planners to give away and chatted to people about top tips to reduce food waste.
Blending your own smoothie using pedal power was popular as ever. Anyone who didn’t burn off enough energy on the bike could also take part in the time trials offered by Rose Hill Community Centre on the rowing machine.
Oxford Brookes University asked people to guess the sugar contents of soft drinks, whilst showcasing their latest research into sugar consumption.
Quick growing cress seeds were available to plant in small pots that the children could colour in, showing how you can still experience the joy of growing even with limited access to green spaces and gardens at home.
Rose Hill and Iffley Low Carbon inspired children to create a large art mural of a fruit and veg garden adding their colourful drawings of trees, plants and vegetables.
It was amazing to see how many activities were packed into just two hours and joyful to see the community coming together, with some saying they had been inspired to start growing their own food. Aimee summarised the event saying:
‘Overall, it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves together and we received some lovely feedback from the community’
Look out for Rosehill Junior Youth Clubs upcoming free community events in June and August, as well as their free wellbeng in nature sessions for adults, starting on Thursday 6 March.
Get in touch if you would like to host a Replenish talk or workshop – we can offer various topics related to food waste reduction, cooking, growing and composting. Perhaps you have a keen composter or fermenter in your organisation – with the help of our ‘how to’ guides could they run a composting or vegetable fermentation workshop for your local community? We can also provide hard copies of the ‘Foods Not Rubbish’ booklet published by Oxfordshire County Council – email jo@cagoxfordshire.org.uk if you would like some.
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