Growing Newsome Plant Drop, June 2020

Although we aren’t able to get together for our usual Big Plant Swap this year, we are still here for each other. And we still want to help people grow their own food. So with a little help from our friends, we have turned our annual plant swap into a Plant Drop.

We’ve decided that if our growers can’t come to us, we’ll bring some plants to your doorstep. We hope you will join in. Please let us know what plants you’d like and we’ll do our best to get them to you.

 

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See our plant list

We have over 90 different varieties of edible plants, including:

Cabbages, Broccoli and Kale

Chard, Sorrel and Mustard

Tomatoes and Peppers

Courgettes, Pumpkins and Squash

Herbs for your windowsill

and lots more…

 

Here’s a list of the plants that we have for you:

Plants available for our Plant Drop

 

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Request a doorstep plant drop

Please let us know if you’d like some plants delivering to your doorstep. Your plants will be brought by one of the other growers from our network who have kindly volunteered to help. We’ll do this in a safe way.

 

Growing Newsome Plant Drop – request some plants

If we get a lot of requests at the same time, we may pause our order form for a while to give us chance to pack the deliveries that we already have. We can deliver anywhere in the Newsome ward and will also aim to deliver to other places in Huddersfield, 

 

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Ways to say thank you for your plants

Rebecca has shared this photo of veg happily growing in her garden during lockdown, including some Growing Newsome potatoes

In the usual spirit of our Plant Swap, you are welcome to share something with us in exchange for your plants, if you can. We’d love to receive a note, card or email from you saying why growing your own food matters to you, especially right now. You might like to send us a photo of something that you’re growing via email: GrowingNewsome@gmail.com or via twitter: @GrowingNewsome

Making a donation

If you’d like to make a financial donation for your plants, we’ll let you know how to do this safely. Or come along to a future Growing Newsome event and put something in one of our donation boxes.

 

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Supported by our volunteers

We want to say a huge thank you to all the members of the Growing Newsome network who have kindly volunteered to help with the deliveries and preparations.

Many of our elves are currently unable to do the things they love to do to help others, because they are self-isolating or shielding. It’s hard for all of us. So our Plant Drop would not be possible without the kind hearts of our community. Thank you.

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Supported by our councillors

Our Plant Drop is funded by the Newsome councillors, from their community response Ward Project Budgets. This is extra funding available from Kirklees Council to help all kinds of organisations who are supporting people in our local places during Covid-19.

We’d like to say thank you to our councillors, and especially to Cllr Andrew Cooper for his encouragement and personal support.

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Potato varieties on sale in 2020

Apache potatoes

If you’re going to grow some spuds this year, you might want to have a look at some of the 30+ varieties of seed potato we’ll have available at our Seed Swap and Potato Day. There’s something for everyone, from old favourites to some more unusual varieties.

All our potatoes are £2 per dozen, pick and mix (or 20p each). You can choose just what you need – and you’ll be supporting our community activities at the same time.

Our full list of varieties:

Potato picker 2020 – full details of all our varieties (PDF)

or you might like to try one of our top five…

 

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Our top five potato picks

Kestrel is one of our ever-popular early potato varieties. It has a unique purple blush, a naturally occurring trait which is passed on from their parent variety, the Cara potato. Kestrel has a delicious, slightly-sweet flavour and is great for baking, roasting and chips. It also has good disease resistance and was recommended by Joe Maiden. If reliable earlies are your thing, you might also like to try Rocket (one of the earliest croppers) or Charlotte (an easy-to-grow and well-know favourite).

 

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International Kidney is a classic heritage salad potato. Sold early in the season by Jersey growers under the trademark ‘Jersey Royals’. Harvest yours early as waxy perfect salad potatoes, or leave them in the ground a few more weeks to bulk up as a main crops. If heritage salad potatoes are your thing, you might also like Belle de Fontenay, which was new to us last year. It’s a classic French salad potato, first introduced in 1885. It has a fine flavour – great for salads (hot or cold).

 

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Pink Gypsy is fairly new to us and has already proved very popular. It’s one of 14 organic varieties that we have this year. Pink Gypsy is quite distinctive looking, with deep pink and cream skins. The tasty white and creamy flesh has a lovely, fluffy texture when cooked. Great whether baked, roasted or mashed. If striking-coloured spuds are your thing, you might also like to try Apache (which has similar markings), Salad Blue, Red Emmalie or Highland Burgundy Red.

 

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Pink Fir Apple potatoes are always in high demand here – and rightly so. They’re one of our all time favourites, great tasting both hot and cold. You can cook them whole in their skins, so don’t worry about peeling this unusual shaped spud. To make sure that you don’t miss out on this firm favourite, we keep lots of them in stock. Enjoy!

 

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Sarpo potatoes are grown by the Sarvari Research Trust in North Wales. These potatoes all have excellent resistance to blight, so they are ideal for organic growers. Our participants have had great success with the maincrop Sarpo Mira in particular. This year we also have Sarpo Kifli (a maincrop) and Sarpo Una (grown as a second early or early main). Kifli can be grown over a long period and stores well – enjoy them when freshly harvested and cooked in their skins.

 

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Growing Newsome Seed Swap & Huddersfield Potato Day – Saturday 29th February 2020

Get your growing year off to a great start with our bumper early Spring event…

Seed Swap and Potato Day

Saturday 29th February 2020
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

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Huddersfield Potato Day

Choose from 30 different types of seed potato, including popular easy-to-grow varieties and some more unusual types. All seed potatoes are £2 per dozen (pick and mix) or 20p each. Our 2020 varieties are:

1st Earlies:
Casablanca (organic), Colleen (organic), Lady Christl, Maris Bard (organic), Red Duke of York, Rocket, Sharpe’s Express, Winston

2nd Earlies:
Apache, British Queen, Charlotte (organic), Jazzy, Kestrel, Maris Peer (organic), Sarpo Una (organic).

Mains:
Ambo (organic), Belle de Fontenay, Cara (organic), Carolous (organic), Desiree, Highland Burgundy Red, International Kidney, Mary’s Rose (organic), Orla (organic), Pink Gypsy (organic), Pink Fir Apple, Red Emmalie, Salad Blue (organic), Sarpo Kifli, Sarpo Mira (organic), Vales Sovereign.

More info about the varieties:

Potato picker 2020 (PDF)

Our top 5 potato picks

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Seed Swap

Seeds galore – We’ll also have vegetable and salad seeds, sprouted garlic, onion sets and shallots on offer. You can either swap, or pick up some seeds in exchange for a small donation. Try our seed starter packs – ideal for growing in small spaces.

Activities –  Enjoy seed planting and crafts for kids with our Growing Newsome volunteers.

Learn about Beekeeping – Find out about beekeeping, get advice and see the demonstration hive from the Huddersfield and District Bee Keeping Association. 

Enjoy the outdoors – Take part in the herb smell challenge and “guess the seed” activities with Growing Works and find out about their upcoming courses and events which are all about nurturing healthy lives outdoors.

Local food on sale – Jam and other preserves made from fruit and veg grown in Newsome, plus locally produced honey from the Huddersfield Bee Keepers.

Books – Book stall with all sorts of books.

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

Help with growing – Please ask for advice.

Plant pot & jam jar amnesty – Bring along your spare small plant pots or small jam jars (we can only use 1Ib jam jars or smaller, which will fit a standard 63mm screw top lid).

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Join us for lunch

served 12 noon to 1pm 

Enjoy a warming cooked lunch, featuring some local ingredients.

Free admission. All welcome. And please tell all your friends!

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Organised by Growing Newsome

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

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Want to help?

We’re looking for volunteers to help out with our events and activities. Contact us at growingnewsome@gmail.com to find out more, or ask on the day.

Print our poster and help to promote the event:
Huddersfield Potato Day 2020 (PDF)

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Potato Day 2020 – order your seed potatoes in advance

Our annual Huddersfield Potato Day is always popular. If you want to make sure you get the best pick of the potatoes, you can order from us in advance.

The idea of our Potato Day is that you can choose from around 30 different varieties of seed potato. This means you can just get what you need, instead of having to buy a whole bag of the same variety. It’s ideal for anyone with a small garden or containers, or if you just want to try something new.

We do our best to get your favourites, based on what was popular at our last Potato Day, and what our participants have asked us to buy.

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Our 2020 varieties are:

1st Earlies: Casablanca (organic), Colleen (organic), Lady Christl, Maris Bard (organic), Red Duke of York, Rocket, Sharpe’s Express, Winston

2nd Earlies: Apache, British Queen, Charlotte (organic), Jazzy, Kestrel, Maris Peer (organic), Sarpo Una (organic).

Mains: Ambo (organic), Belle de Fontenay, Cara (organic), Carolous (organic), Desiree, Highland Burgundy Red, International Kidney, Mary’s Rose (organic), Orla (organic), Pink Gypsy (organic), Pink Fir Apple, Red Emmalie, Salad Blue (organic), Sarpo Kifli, Sarpo Mira (organic), Vales Sovereign.

You can find descriptions of many of these varieties in last year’s potato guide:
Potato picker 2019

Our full 2020 guide will be available nearer the time.

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Order your seed potatoes

Sorry – advanced orders closed on 2nd February 2020.

All the seed potatoes will cost no more than 20p each or £2 per dozen. You will be able to collect your order from our Potato Day on Saturday 29th February 2020.

Please note: Our maximum advance order for most varieties is 60 tubers (more for Charlotte and Pink Fir Apple). If you’re placing a big order, we’ll get in touch to discuss what’s possible.

Growing Newsome’s 2019 homegrown preserves for sale

We have a selection of preserves available now, all freshly made this Summer and Autumn from fruit and vegetables grown in the Newsome area…

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Christmas gift boxes – £5 each

We’re offering our popular gift boxes again this year. Each box contains two 8oz jars of homemade preserves – you can choose the contents from our selection of jams, jellies and marmalade.

They are boxed with a pretty fabric ribbon and tag (designs vary).

Choose any two jars:

• • Jam – Blackberry and Apple Jam, Blackcurrant Jam, Loganberry Redcurrant and Raspberry Jam*, Plum and Apple Jam*, Raspberry and Apple Jam, Strawberry Jam
  • Jelly – Redcurrant Jelly*, Apple Jelly with Blackberries
  • Marmalade and Conserves – Cinnamon Raisin Apple Conserve*, Orange marmalade (our marmalade is currently out of stock, but we may have some more available before Christmas – please ask)

*low stock

Easy to recycle or reuse

Our gift boxes are fully recyclable. The box, tag, labels and stickers are made of paper and card. Our ribbons are fabric, which can be composted or reused.

You’re welcome to return the jars to us at any Growing Newsome event or Newsome Forum meeting, or glass can be taken to bottle banks or recycling centres.

 

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Individual jars – £2.40 each

We also have a small selection of individual 1lb jars of preserves:

Apple Jelly with Blackberries
Orange marmalade
Redcurrant Jelly*
Rhubarb and Apple Jam*

Apart from the citrus fruits, all our fresh ingredients are homegrown, so we have limited supplies and therefore not every preserve may be available in every jar size. 

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Delivery or collection

You can pick up your preserves from us in Newsome or in Huddersfield Town Centre – or we may be able to drop them off for you if you’re nearby. Please email growingnewsome@gmail.com to make an order.

 

 

Autumn Gathering – Saturday 12th October 2019

Love local food? There’s lots for you to enjoy at this event…

Autumn Gathering

Saturday 12th October 2019
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Lots of jam and preserves made from fruit, vegetables and herbs grown in Newsome.

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

Autumn-planting vegetables, fruit and salads.

 

Kids crafts – get creative in our craft corner and make a collage or creature.

Book stall with all sorts of books.

Recipes and tasters – find out what you can make.

Got a glut? Please bring along spare fruit or vegetables to share.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes available.

Information about local volunteering, events and activities.

Jam jar amnesty – clean, small jam jars (1 Ib or less) that fit a 63mm lid are welcome.

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Autumn Planting:

Autumn planting vegetables for you to take home – including a selection of garlic bulbs, onions, seeds, overwintering leaf crops, strawberry plants and anything else we can rustle up. We’ll also be taking advance orders for our 2020 seed potatoes.

Garlic bulbs available at our Autumn Gathering 2019

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Souper Soups:
served from 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a choice of seasonal soups for lunch at the Scout Hall, made with local vegetables and served with a selection of fresh breads, followed by a hot Autumn pudding made with local fruit.

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How you can help:

• Display a poster:
  Autumn Gathering poster (PDF)
• Bring something for the cake stall.
• Bring along the rest of the family or bring a friend.
• Please get in touch if you’d like to come along and help out on the day.

Organised by Growing Newsome

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Garlic bulbs available at our Autumn Gathering 2019

Our Autumn planting vegetables this year will include six different varieties of garlic. Pick up yours at our Autumn Gathering event on 12th October 2019.

Garlic needs a month or more in the ground at a temperature of 10C or less, and Autumn planting gives you the best chance for this. So you can get planting yours soon – all you need to do is decide what sort to grow.

To help you choose, here are some notes…

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Germidour (organic)

• Fast growing French variety with high yields.
• Plant in October or November for harvest in June.
• A rich purple head with ivory clove skins – very attractive.
• A non-flowering variety which can be strung or plaited.
• Winner of RHS Award of Gardening Merit 2004.
• Lift as soon as mature. Should keep until December following harvesting.

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Mikulov Wight

• Violet coloured bulbs with very large cloves.
• From the beautiful, southern Moravian town of Mikulov.
• The strong flavour is described by the locals as ‘noble’.
• This garlic keeps well, autumn planting is preferred.
• The plant has large leaves that stand straight and strong.
• A hardneck variety that naturally produces edible flower stalks called a scapes.
  

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Printanor (organic)

• Large white bulbs filled with plump tasty cloves.
• Suitable for planting in the autumn.
• Can also be planted from January to March for July harvest.
• 12-18 pinkish cloves per bulb.
• Keeps well. Virus free.

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Red Duke

• A beautiful hardneck variety with red cloves and white skins.
• Has good strength of flavour and scent.
• Can be planted 15-18cm apart from October through to January.
• Produces bulbs typically over 60mm at harvest.
• From Moravia, Czech Republic.
• A durable garlic in the UK climate.

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Solent Wight Extra Early

• For early crops of garlic.
• Large, high quality bulbs. 
• Versatile for autumn or spring planting.
• White skinned with crisp brilliant white flesh.
• Developed in France.
• Excellent keeping qualities. 

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Thermidrome (organic)

• A traditional variety producing large heads and cloves.
• Very hardy so ideal even in harsh conditions.
• White head with a hint of pink, and white clove skins.
• Plant in October or November for harvest in July.
• A non-flowering variety which can be strung or plaited.
• Should keep until the December following harvesting.

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You can pick up your garlic bulbs at our Autumn Gathering event on 12th October 2019, 10am to 1pm at Newsome Scout Hall. We ask for £2 per bulb to cover our costs. This is ideal if you have a small garden or plot, as you don’t need to buy a whole pack. It’s also great if you fancy planting more than one variety and you just want one bulb of each – or if you want lots, but want to save some pennies (and avoid paying for postage).

Look out for onions, shallots, vegetable seeds and some plants too – all suitable for Autumn growing.

If you can’t make it to our Autumn event, we will offer any remaining stock afterwards. You can Join our email list for updates.

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.

 

Potato varieties on sale in 2019

Apache potatoes

If you’re going to grow some spuds this year, you might want to have a look at some of the 30+ varieties of seed potato we’ll have available at our Seed Swap and Potato Day. There’s something for everyone, from old favourites to some more unusual varieties.

All our potatoes are £2 per dozen, pick and mix (or 20p each). You can choose just what you need – and you’ll be supporting our community activities at the same time.

Our full list of varieties:

Potato picker 2019 – full details of all our varieties (PDF)

or you might like to try one of our top five…

 

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Our top five potato picks

Kestrel is one of our ever-popular early potato varieties. It has a unique purple blush, a naturally occurring trait which is passed on from their parent variety, the Cara potato. Kestrel has a delicious, slightly-sweet flavour and is great for baking, roasting and chips. It also has good disease resistance and was recommended by Joe Maiden. If reliable earlies are your thing, you might also like to try Charlotte or British Queen.

 

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Sarpo potatoes are grown by the Sarvari Research Trust in North Wales. These potatoes all have excellent resistance to blight, so they are ideal for organic growers. Our participants have had great success with the maincrop Sarpo Mira in particular. This year we also have Sarpo Kifli (also a maincrop) and Sarpo Una on offer. The Una is a second early variety which is ideal for growing in containers – try growing it in pots or sacks.

 

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Belle de Fontenay is one of our new varieties this year – chosen because we’ve been asked for it in previous years. This heritage variety has long, slightly curved yellow tubers. Belle de Fontenay is a classic French salad potato, which was first introduced in 1885. It has a smooth, firm, waxy texture with a fine flavour – great for salads (hot or cold), boiling or sautee – and it’s one of 17 organic varieties that we have available this year.

 

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Pink Gypsy is quite new to us and has already proved very popular. It’s quite distinctive looking, with deep pink and cream skins. The tasty white and creamy flesh has a lovely, fluffy texture when cooked. Great whether baked, roasted or mashed. If striking-coloured spuds are your thing, you might also like to try Apache (which has similar markings), Salad Blue, Red Emmalie or Highland Burgundy Red.

 

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Pink Fir Apple potatoes are always in high demand here – and rightly so. They’re one of our all time favourites, great tasting both hot and cold. You can cook them whole in their skins, so don’t worry about peeling this unusual shaped spud. To make sure that you don’t miss out on this firm favourite, we keep lots of them in stock. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Growing Newsome Seed Swap & Huddersfield Potato Day – Saturday 2nd March 2019

Get your growing year off to a great start with our bumper early Spring event…

Seed Swap and Potato Day

Saturday 2nd March 2019
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

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Huddersfield Potato Day

Choose from 30 different types of seed potato, including popular easy-to-grow varieties and some more unusual types. All seed potatoes are £2 per dozen (pick and mix) or 20p each. Our 2019 varieties are:

1st Earlies:
Casablanca (organic), Colleen (organic), Maris Bard (organic), Pentland Javelin, Red Duke of York, Rocket, Sharpe’s Express.

2nd Earlies:
Apache, British Queen, Charlotte (organic), Divaa, Jazzy, Kestrel, Maris Peer (organic), Sarpo Una.

Mains:
Ambo (organic), Belle de Fontenay (organic), Belmonda (organic), Cara (organic), Carolous (organic), Desiree (organic), Highland Burgundy Red (organic), Mary’s Rose (organic), Orla (organic), Pink Gypsy (organic), Pink Fir Apple, Red Emmalie, Salad Blue (organic), Sarpo Kifli, Sarpo Mira (organic), Vales Sovereign.

Potato picker 2019 – full details of all our varieties (PDF)

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Seed Swap

Seeds galore – We’ll also have vegetable and salad seeds, sprouted garlic, onion sets and shallots on offer. You can either swap, or pick up some seeds in exchange for a small donation. Try our seed starter packs – ideal for growing in small spaces.

Activities – Seed planting and crafts for kids.

Local food – Jam, pickles etc. made from fruit and veg grown in Newsome.

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

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

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

Help with growing – Please ask for advice.

It’s Fairtrade Fortnight, when thousands of individuals and groups across the UK come together to celebrate the people who grow our food, people who live in some of the poorest countries in the world and who are often exploited and badly paid. We’ll have a selection of fairtrade teas and coffees on sale, plus some cakes made with fairtrade ingredients. 

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Join us for lunch

served 12 noon to 1pm 

Enjoy a warming cooked lunch, featuring some local ingredients.

Free admission. All welcome. And please tell all your friends!

Seed Swap 2019 leaflet (pdf)

Huddersfield Potato Day leaflet (pdf)

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Roadworks ahead!

Part of Newsome Road South is closed on our event day for resurfacing, from the junction with Church Lane (Newsome crossroads) to Plantation Drive.

Updated 1st March at 1pm: We’ve been advised that the tarmacing will be from Newsome crossroads to just above the church hall and scout hall. This means that you should be able to drive up Newsome Road South from Berry Brow or the valley, and get to us ok. However, we don’t know exactly where the tarmac lorries will be parked. The road engineers are aware of our event and will do their best to help. There is also some extra signage up now.

All the other roads are open, so you can still approach the village from Newsome Road, Lockwood Scar or Jackroyd Lane and turn onto any of the side streets. The nearest drop off point to the hall is from St. John’s Avenue, just opposite. Bear in mind that you won’t be able to use Newsome crossroads by car or park on Newsome Road South. 

If you’re coming by bus, the 306 has a diversion route that will drop you off on Towngate (please double check with the driver). 

If you’re on foot, you can walk through Newsome church grounds or down the footpath from Hall Bower, or you will be able to cross the main road at safe places. We’ll do our best to make sure that everyone can participate – let us know if you need any help.

Kirklees roadworks search
type in Newsome Road South

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Organised by Growing Newsome

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

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Want to help?

We’re looking for volunteers to help out with our events and activities. Contact us at growingnewsome@gmail.com to find out more, or ask on the day.

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