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Futurefarms - Martin Ltd
St. Hilda’s, Martin, Fordingbridge, SP6 3LG
Registered in England no. 5120703

Newsletter-Summer 2010

TURN OF THE YEAR

Rosebay willow herb is flowering in wild places which signals the turn of the year – a good time to sit under a tree and reflect on the first half of 2010. Your Community Food Business continues to throw up surprises and advances and ever wonderful grub…….. and more people use it and we are always looking to reach more and more because the larger the number of members and users, the greater the advances we can make.

We have appointed a chicken/pig stockperson down at Drove End Field. Her name is Alison Allen from Tidpit. This position is the latest to be created by Futurefarms – a job opportunity directly created and funded straight from our housekeeping budget. We are delighted to welcome Alison to join the team of employed staff, that day-in, day-out,alongside the volunteers, put food on our tables.

Since the last Newsletter, we have introduced laying hens to the scheme with a variety called Columbian Blacktails who live in unrivalled splendour; flouncing in and out of one of our recently converted chicken houses, fully insulated etc but with clever plastic laying boxes fixed to the side. If you haven’t seen them – pay a visit to Drove End and watch the laying hens at work – eating a mixed diet of vegetation, insects, larvae and layers pellets with NO additives – all ending up with the fresh Martin egg for your breakfast.

FUTUREFARMS IN THE NEWS

Futurefarms is listed by the Times Newspaper in the top 300 local food outlets in Britain.

The Salisbury Journal returned to write another article about the group and they were pleased to note our advances since they visited in 2008.

John Cavel of the Guardian wrote a great and accurate article about Futurefarms in February 2010 (look at it online dated Wednesday 3^rd Feb 2010 in Society Guardian Section))

BBC Radio Solent – Georgina Windsor at Noon, Sunday 8^th August 2010. Live broadcast

PITCHFORK NOTES;

The first new potatoes were dug from Drove End Field on July 10^th – very good flavour (Lady Christl: variety) –some small but never-the-less, a crop. They were planted on 19^th of March – (no rain since Easter )!!

Onions look fab on two sites. Tidpit and Drove End. It will be interesting to compare yields from each soil type.

New mobile chicken food store has been built at Drove End. This allows us to buy chicken feed in bulk and on pallets. It is also a refuge for storm-bound veg personnel.