Formby First

The Formby Civic Society and National Trust Formby Present

– both to enjoy local asparagus at the height of its season but also following a welcome and introduction from MC David Davies, a unique opportunity to hear and talk about asparagus.

We will sample some asparagus dishes served by Priory Kitchens and enjoy related folk-lore, history and poems to the enjoyable accompaniment of some asparagusfriendly music provided by the Jill Fielding Group.

The organisers are inviting budding (and established) poets to write a poem about asparagus to be read-out on the night and are prepared to receive such poems up to the day of the event - either 'phone calls (875563) to David Davies or e mail davkar@tiscali.co.uk. Poems can be amusing or serious.

Prizes will be awarded for the best three including a children's section. Ticket only £10 per head, bar available.

There is ample off street carparking and the venue can not be bettered for comfort and convenience.

Tickets sold in advance from local shops including Select, Church Road, Derbyshire’s, Chapel Lane, The Olde Bookshop, Brows Lane and Formby Books, Halsall Lane.

Also from The National Trust Kiosk, Victoria Road or the Formby Civic Society (Tel 01704 872187 or e-mail secretary@formbycivicsociety.org.uk.

 

Formby Edible Garden Project: Seed Swap

It  might be apparent to readers of this blog that for some time I have also been part of the Edible Formby Garden Project. I first proposed this idea two to three years ago and with the kind support of the Formby Swimming Pool Trust the project is just starting it's second year. I thought you'd like to know the following.

The Formby Edible Garden Project launches this year’s new programme with:

A ‘Seed Swap’ event at Formby Pool on Saturday 9th February
between 10.30 and 3.30pm.

Residents in Formby  are invited to bring vegetable seeds in labelled envelopes to swap.  Please packet up your seeds in single varieties in advance - with a pinch of seeds per packet to ensure a reasonable sample crop.

Many vegetable growers have seeds left over at the end of the growing season. Others harvest seeds for use in the following year. Seed Swap events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are growing in popularity.

As the 'Grow your own' movement and the popular interest in organic food increases the project team hope to recruit more local participants to join the project.  

Nowadays people want to start growing in small urban gardens, swopping seeds is a way of starting.

During the day the project team will share their experiences and give advice. We hope that participants will also share their knowledge and experience.  Sometimes seed swaps lead to discoveries when participants are offered an opportunity to grow a variety they had never previously considered.  

We hope to engender a sense of community spirit, where everyone will share their knowledge and meet like-minded people.

Please join us and help 'Grow Formby'. More on this idea in the next posting.

There are other related stories on this blog. Here's an example: http://www.formbyfirst.org.uk/2012/01/formby-edible-gardens-project.html

 

 

I Could Not Resist This

Here's a recent Twitter from @formbyvillage follower: @JaneyBancroft

 

@Satterthwaites @FormbyVillage Atreat for picnic "afters"- truffles. Mersey and N W coast washed in pale sunlight. twitter.com/JaneyBancroft/…

 (@JaneyBancroft) February 8, 2012

 

Parish Council Should Bid For A Town Team

 

I am attending Formby Parish Council this evening. During the Public Forum item, which occurs near the start of every meeting, I'll be urging the Council to make a Bid for £100,000 to form a 'Town Team'.

 

This is one of the ideas suggested in the recent Mary Portas Report on the future of Town and Village High Streets. She writes:

Without highly competent, inspired and collaborative high street governance we are never going to get our high streets running effectively. I have called this group the “Town Team”. We need the belief and engagement of all the local stakeholders to create the sustainable high streets of the future

And she goes on to write:

a Town Team could include key landlords, large and small shopkeepers, council representatives with specific knowledge of planning and development, the mayor or MP, other local businesses and service providers, and local residents

Here's Mary Portas explaining her ideas at the time of the review's publication:

 

 

In my view Formby is well suited to make a Bid for Department of Communities and Local Government Funding. The Minister, Grant Shapps MP, explains in the short video below.

 

Why do I think Formby can and should make a bid. Firstly we match all of that's required of the bid, but secondly the existing network of retail, residential and other relevant organisations is already in place. Formby Parish Council simply has to lead this project. It's worth collaborating with all these groups to work on the future 'Village heart of our coastal Town'.

In last weeks edition of the Formby Times I talked about aspects of the Mary Portas Report. I want to thanks all of you who have expressed support for my ideas. I hope you will also support this initiative too.

Formby Edible Gardens Project

The Formby Edible gardens Project is described more fully elsewhere on this blog. For those of you who want to know more then follow the link to the explanatory page. If you are interested we are actively looking for people to join us.

As I promised yesterday to several people who tweeted the question "How did you make the raised beds?' This is the answer. At the moment the plan is for 4 of these raised beds on the small plot reserved for this project at Formby Swimming Pool grounds.

In the case of this prototype the wood was supplied by local timber merchants, Total Timber. They were very helpful and obliging in the design and order phase. The handiwork is mine alone.

 

Prototype Raised Beds

I won't go into the reasons here for using raised beds other than the size of the space and the needs of users are paramount. This prototype consists of 2 adjoining beds each 1.2m square (Approx 4 feet). We're intending to try out a form of The Square Foot Garden, follow the link for more information. We're also  using the RHS 10' x10' model, as featured in Carol Klein's Book, 'Grow your own'.

Altogether there are 16 planks cut to 1.2metres in length and 2 planks cut to 1.247metres. The last two are on the end of the lower bed. Each plank has an added short element for attaching each plank together.

For Joining Each Plank

 

In the case of 12 ordinary planks, the jointing element is placed 47mm from an end. When that was attached I drilled 2 additional ready screwed holes to ease the process of assembly in the garden. In the case of the 4 1.2 metre planks for the smaller bed, the jointing element was screwed at the end of the plank. Again I added 2 ready drilled screw holes for on-site assembly.

 

Jointing Element and Ready Drilled Assembly Holes

 

Finally the joining elements for the 2 lower bed end planks were added, also at 47mm from the end and then the prototype was loosely asembled as shown in the first photograph.

If you want to be involved or you already grow your own we would like to know, please contact me using the comment box below or the email link on the right-hand side of the page.

There is also another version of these instructions. This is an audio recording to accompany an animated sequence in which I describe the construction and assembly of the raised beds described above. It's a bit of an experiment of mine but I'd be keen to here your comments. Click Here.