Pop up Plant Swap – Saturday 12th June 2021

Pop up Plant Swap

Saturday 12th June 2021
10am to 12 noon

An outdoor event

Newsome Scout Hall, Newsome Road South, Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

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Looking for some plants?

One of the best things about growing your own food is having something to share and enjoy with others. We are really missing having our usual events, where we can all get together to swap our plants, seeds and experiences. So although we haven’t been able to hold our annual Big Plant Swap this year, we’re pleased to say that we’ve come up with an alternative event. 

Come along to our outdoor Pop up Plant Swap to take your pick from our wide selection of edible plants, and a few other things. Our plants will include:

Vegetables
Salads
Herbs
Fruit
Wildlife-friendly flowers

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Got some seedlings or plants to share?

You’re very welcome to bring along plants, seedlings, cuttings or seeds to swap – but you don’t need to bring something to be able to take something (you can make a donation to Growing Newsome in exchange for your plants).

Some things that other growers have told us they are particularly looking for are:

Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Courgettes
Runner Beans
Red Cabbages
Dwarf Tomatoes
Sweet Peas
Strawberries

Greenhouse veg is always popular, and people also like to pick up some flowering plants along with the edible plants. If you have a request to add, please email growingnewsome@gmail.com

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Top tips for plant swapping

1. Please label your plants – it will really help our other growers. Or let us know what you’ve brought so that we can label your plants for you.

2. Bring along a trug, box or basket – anything handy to carry your plants home in.

3. See what appears – you’ll be amazed how many plants get shuffled on the day.

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How you can visit safely and keep others safe

It’s safer for us to meet outdoors – so our Plant Swap will be outside the entrance to Newsome Scout Hall.

Please sanitise your hands when you arrive (we’re providing some hand sanitiser). We also recommend doing this before you leave.

If other people are already at the stall, please give each other room and wait for a safe space.

If you’d like to avoid handling cash, we will be accepting contactless card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and payments from other contactless smartphones and watches (but you can still pay with cash if you’d like).

Please be reassured that we’re following public health guidelines and keeping in touch with our ward councillors. 

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How you can help

We know it’s short notice for our Pop up event. We really hope you can make it on the day – and if you can help to let other people In the local area know it’s happening, we really appreciate it. You might want to offer to pick something up for others who are isolating. We also welcome donations of plants ahead of the day. If you’d like to buy something but can’t get here on the day, please let us know and between us we’ll do our best to help.

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It’s Volunteers Week

A huge thank you to our organising group and to all our volunteers and friends, who make our events and activities happen. Want to join our friendly community of food growers? We’re looking for more volunteers to help look after our Community Allotment and to help organise our community events.

Please come along to our Pop up Plant Swap to meet other volunteers and find out how you can get involved.

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What usually happens at our Plant Swap?

Here’s a short film about Growing Newsome’s Plant Swap, made by Alistair I Macdonald at Curlew Films for Plant it Grow it Eat it. Things are a bit different this year, but the plant swapping is still the same – and we all love it.

Big Plant Swap – Saturday 1st June 2019

Big Plant Swap

Saturday 1st June 2019
10am to 1pm

Free admission – all welcome

Newsome Scout Hall, Newsome Road South, Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Take your pick from hundreds of plants – great for growers, super for sharers.

You can choose from:

Vegetables
Salads
Herbs
Fruit
Wildlife-friendly flowers

You’re very welcome to bring along plants, seedlings, cuttings or seeds to swap – but you don’t need to bring something to be able to take something (you can make a donation to Growing Newsome in exchange for your plants).

 

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Lots more to enjoy…

Beekeeping advice and demonstration hive from the Huddersfield and District Bee Keeping Association.

Seed Swap – vegetable seeds to swap or buy.

Children’s craft activities.

Stalls, including local produce on sale.

Plant some seeds to grow on your windowsill.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes.

Information about growing your own food.

Find out about local projects and events.

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Local food lunch:
served 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a healthy lunch at Newsome Scout Hall – with recipes for you to take home. We’ll be serving a selection of tasty salads (including warm salads) from our Spring salad bar, plus a fruit pudding.

We ask for a small donation to cover the costs of making your lunch.

Print our poster for your venue – or share with a friend:

Big Plant Swap poster 2019 (PDF)

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It’s Volunteers Week

Want to join our friendly community of food growers? We’re looking for volunteers to help look after our Community Allotment and to help organise our community events. Please come along to our Plant Swap to meet other volunteers, find out how you can get involved, and celebrate 10 years of Growing Newsome.

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What happens at the Plant Swap?
Here’s a short film about Growing Newsome’s Plant Swap, made by Alistair I Macdonald at Curlew Films for Plant it Grow it Eat it.

 

Big Plant Swap – Saturday 26th May 2018

Big Plant Swap

Saturday 26th May 2018
10am to 1pm

Free admission – all welcome

Newsome Scout Hall, Newsome Road South, Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Take your pick from hundreds of plants – great for growers, super for sharers.

You can choose from:

Vegetables
Salads
Herbs
Fruit
Wildlife-friendly flowers

You’re very welcome to bring along plants, seedlings, cuttings or seeds to swap – but you don’t need to bring something to be able to take something (you can make a donation to Growing Newsome in exchange for your plants).

 

Lots more to enjoy…

Seed Swap – lots of vegetable seeds to swap or buy.

Children’s craft activities.

Local produce on sale.

Plant some seeds to grow on your windowsill.

Reading Circle book stall with all sorts of books.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes.

Information about growing and sharing food in Newsome.

Find out about other local projects and events.

Growing democracy:
White for purity, Purple for determination, Green for hope

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of Votes for Women, you can pick up a special Vote 100 badge at our Big Plant Swap. We’d love it if you can bring along something white, purple or green (the suffragette colours) to swap!

Local food lunch:
served 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a healthy lunch at Newsome Scout Hall – with recipes for you to take home. We’ll be serving a selection of tasty salads (including warm salads) from our Spring salad bar, plus a fruit pudding.

We ask for a small donation to cover the costs of making your lunch.

Print our poster for your venue – or share with a friend:

Big Plant Swap poster 2018 (PDF)

What happens at the Plant Swap?
Here’s a short film about Growing Newsome’s Plant Swap, made by Alistair I Macdonald at Curlew Films for Plant it Grow it Eat it.

You can see more food growing films on the Food Kirklees web site:
10 short films about food growing in Kirklees

Big Plant Swap – Saturday 20th May 2017

Big Plant Swap

Saturday 20th May 2017
10am to 1pm

Free admission – all weclome

Newsome Scout Hall, Newsome Road South, Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Take your pick from hundreds of plants – great for growers, super for sharers.

You can choose from:

Vegetables
Salads
Herbs
Fruit
Wildlife-friendly flowers

You’re very welcome to bring along plants, seedlings, cuttings or seeds to swap – but you don’t need to bring something to be able to take something (you can make a donation to Growing Newsome in exchange for your plants).

 

Lots more to enjoy…

Seed Swap – lots of vegetable seeds to swap or buy.

Children’s craft activities.

Local produce on sale.

Plant some seeds to grow on your windowsill.

Reading Circle book stall with all sorts of books.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes.

Information about growing and sharing food in Newsome.

Find out about other local projects and events.

Local food lunch:
served 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a healthy lunch at Newsome Scout Hall – with recipes for you to take home. We’ll be serving a selection of tasty salads (including warm salads) from our Spring salad bar, plus a fruit pudding.

We ask for a small donation to cover the costs of making your lunch.

Print our poster for your venue – or share with a friend:

Big Plant Swap poster 2017 (PDF)

What happens at the Plant Swap?
Here’s a short film about Growing Newsome’s Plant Swap, made by Alistair I Macdonald at Curlew Films for Plant it Grow it Eat it.

You can see more food growing films on the Food Kirklees web site:
10 short films about food growing in Kirklees

Big Plant Swap – Saturday 21st May 2016

Big Plant Swap

Saturday 21st May 2016
10am to 1pm

Free admission – all weclome

Newsome Scout Hall, Newsome Road South, Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Take your pick from hundreds of plants – great for growers, super for sharers.

You can choose from:

Vegetables
Salads
Herbs
Fruit
Wildlife-friendly flowers

You’re very welcome to bring along plants, seedlings, cuttings or seeds to swap – but you don’t need to bring something to be able to take something (you can make a donation to Growing Newsome in exchange for your plants).

 

Lots more to enjoy…

Seed Swap – lots of vegetable seeds to swap or buy.

Children’s activities – crafts and seed planting.

Compost Special – come and find out all about home composting.

Local produce on sale.

Plant some seeds to grow on your windowsill.

Reading Circle book stall with all sorts of books.

Good quality enviromesh on sale to protect your plants.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes.

Tool amnesty – share any unwanted garden tools that you have.

Information about growing and sharing food in Newsome.

Local food lunch:
served 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a healthy lunch at Newsome Scout Hall – with recipes for you to take home. We’ll be serving a selection of tasty salads (including warm salads) from our Spring salad bar, plus a fruit pudding.

We ask for a small donation to cover the costs of making your lunch.

Print our poster for your venue – or share with a friend:

Big Plant Swap poster 2016 (PDF)

What happens at the Plant Swap?
Here’s a short film about Growing Newsome’s Plant Swap, made by Alistair I Macdonald at Curlew Films for Plant it Grow it Eat it.

You can see more food growing films on the Food Kirklees web site:
10 short films about food growing in Kirklees

Summer treats stall at Berry Brow Carnival – 21st June 2014

Berry Brow Carnival
Saturday 21st June from 1pm
Berry Brow Recreation Ground
off Ladyhouse Lane, Berry Brow

Come and visit our stall at the annual Berry Brow Carnival.

We’ll be celebrating Midsummer with some home grown treats for you to taste and recipes to take away.

We’ll also have some plants for you to choose from and anything else that we can rustle up in the meantime.

Also look out for the Reading Circle stall next door and lots of activities and other stalls around the field. We hope to see you there.

Seed Swap and Potato Day – Saturday 2nd March 2013

Get your growing year off to a great start…

Seed Swap and Potato Day

Saturday 2nd March 2013
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Potato Day – choose from nearly 30 different types of seed potato, including popular easy-to-grow varieties and some more unusual types. All seed potatoes are 15p each or £1.50 per dozen (pick and mix). List of potato varieties (pdf)

Seeds galore – We’ll have a bumper selection of Kings Seeds on offer – you can either swap, or pick up some seeds in exchange for a small donation. Lots of vegetable seeds, seedlings and onion sets.

Activities – Seed planting, Games and Crafts for kids.

Potato Quiz – win goodies to help you grow, cook and eat home grown spuds.

Fruit trees – Get a fruit tree (with instructions, tie and stake) for a £5 donation to the 1,000 fruit trees project.

Local food – jam, chutney etc. made from fruit and veg grown in Newsome.

Books – Reading Circle book stall with all sorts of books.

Refreshments – Tea, coffee and home made cakes available all day.

Help with growing – Comprehensive advice on growing potatoes and more.

Protect your plants – Low-cost, good quality plant protection fleece on sale.

Plant pot & jam jar amnesty – please bring along your spare pots or jars.

Local food lunch:
served from 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a locally grown, healthy, cooked lunch at Newsome Scout Hall. All welcome.

Seed Swap and Potato Day leaflet (pdf)

Organised by Growing Newsome and supported by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (Stirley Farm).

Our special thanks to the
West Yorkshire Organic Group
for supporting our Potato Day.

Fruit wanted – can you help us to find some?

Our accidental jam factory is open again. We have lots of lovely jam jars lined up waiting to fill, so all we need now is something to put in them. We have a few things on the go ourselves, but we can always make use of extra fruit or vegetables.

Last year you gave us your surplus raspberries, loganberries, crab apples, gooseberries, plums and marrows – and we made jam out of all of them. Can any of you help us again this year?

Please let us know if you have any surplus fruit or veg that you’d be willing to share with Growing Newsome, or if you can recommend a good spot for foraging.

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We’ll be looking for ingredients between now and October, so whenever you spot something going spare please let us know. We can come and collect things from you if you need us to.

We can make use of any fresh local produce at our many events this autumn – not just to make jam, but for savoury things and for sharing too.

We’ll also share the recipes so that everyone else can give it a go. Anything considered!

Please get in touch here if you can help, or email growingnewsome@gmail.com

Our first Potato Day – 10 favourite things

1. All lined up
It was hard work, but we had a lot of fun getting ready for our Seed Swap and Potato Day on Saturday 3rd March 2012. As with most things, we have learnt as we’ve gone along. When the doors opened, we had everything lined up and ready for action – potatoes, paper bags, egg boxes, pens, potato leaflets, daffodils and of course ourselves, the accidental potato enthusiasts. Over two dozen people helped to run the event, which was our busiest yet. Together we gave new homes to 954 seed potatoes, 43 fruit trees and goodness knows how many jars of jam.

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2. James’s Jackets
These jacket potatoes smelled wonderful as we brought them into the hall. Thanks to James, we didn’t have to fret about whether they’d be ready on time either. We’re only sorry that we didn’t have more of them, because our 72 portions disappeared very quickly. We promise to cook more next time.

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3. Cherry Coleslaw
Not made with cherries, but made by Cherry. This coleslaw featured fresh red cabbage from Stirley Farm, carrots, onion, caraway seeds, mayonnaise and yoghurt. Scrummy. By the way, lunch was served in our new bowls, bought with Stirley Farm’s Eatwell4Life grant funding from NHS Kirklees. Expect more healthy food for you to cook and eat this year.

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4. Reliable croppers
We all had our theories about which potatoes would sell out first. It turns out that the nicest basket wasn’t the winning factor after all. The reliable croppers did best, because they appealed to first time growers and experienced gardeners alike. Our thanks to Kim at Stirley Farm for helping us choose these ‘failsafes’.

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5. Potato prints
What better for Potato Day than a spot of potato printing? Our thanks to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust trainee Charlotte who battled the lurgy to be there complete with paints, bunting and banners to show us how much fun you can have with a potato.

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6. Marmajam?
We had an impressive collection of jam, pickles, chutney and marmalade. Thanks to Rachel, this included lovely carrot and windfall marmalade and some bafflingly named pumpkin marmajam. Between that and the High Dumpsey Deary, the jam table was a bit of an adventure – and soon empty. Janet’s cakes disappeared faster than I could get to take their picture.

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7. First signs of Spring?
Moving our Seed Swap event earlier this year to accommodate the Potato Day left us all scrambling to germinate some seeds in time. Thanks to everyone who managed to bring something green along. This seedling needed its own protective tent – and if you picked up any of my really weedy-looking brassicas, I hope you carried them home carefully.

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8. Twigs
As well as doing some potato printing, the kids also got to plant some seeds to take home and Alison from Newsome Out To Play was on hand to help them make little nests out of twigs. She’d obviously done a top bit of foraging to find so many bendy twigs too. A great reminder of how we can make good use of natural materials.

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9. Seed Swap
Me, Carole and Cherry spent a whole morning making the little Growing Newsome taster seed packets, so it was great to see them nearly all snapped up. And we’ve been left with some promising looking mixed beans and tomatoes in exchange. Come back to our plant swap on 19th May to find out whether they grew or not…

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10. Eating together, growing together – and lots more to come.

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Potato Day 2012 – more photos on Flickr

Plant a fruit tree in your garden for £5

 

The 1,000 Trees Project is collaboration between Kirklees Streetscene Service (Parks and Landscapes) and Newsome Councilors, funded through the Area Committee. The object of the project is to plant 1000 fruit trees across the ward. These trees will bring many benefits to the area including improved landscape quality, improved diets and physical activity levels for locals who pick the fruit, additional wildlife habitat for some endangered wildlife species and also a reduction in pollution levels.

Phase 1 involved the planting of fruit trees across Newsome Ward on council owned open green space. Phase 2 involved 60 apple trees being planted in house gardens across Newsome Ward by the householders.  Phase 3 will again enable any Newsome resident to plant a fruit tree in their garden. Residents will be offered one fruit tree at the reduced price of £5. This offer will also include a tree stake, tree tie and planting / care instruction sheet. The money collected will then be used to provide plants for a proposed herb corridor along a public footpath in the Newsome Ward.

Julian Faulkner, Kirklees Allotments Manager / Social Forestry Officer and Councillor Andrew Cooper will be at the

Growing Newsome Seed Swap on Saturday 3rd March, 10am to 3pm at Newsome Scout Hall

to distribute trees and  to offer advice to those wishing to take part.