Seedy Sunday

Seedy Sunday is the UK’s biggest community seed swap event.
The event is to encourage people in local communities
to grow their own food by sharing seeds, ideas and support.
Join Downton Transition Group this year at our first seed swap!

Bring along your seeds, plants and garden goodies to swap or
exchange!

Place: 11a Greenacres, Downton
Time: 2-4pm
Date: Sunday 21st February 2010.

For further info: email downton.transition@googlemail.com or ring Sally on 01725 512902
www.seedysunday.org

We’re Dreaming of a GREEN Christmas!

Here are some ideas to make your Christmas more sustainable and LESS commercial!

Beforehand
• Make cards or buy charity cards (from charity shops). Use the Scout Post for Salisbury area delivery.
• Buy paper that can be recycled (no metallic content) or use brown, tissue or news paper tied up with ribbon or wool. Don’t use sticky tape.
• Turn off Christmas lights overnight and during day.
• Make decorations (perhaps use greenery from the garden) including your Christmas Wreath – see below.
• Remember reusable bags when shopping.
• Give an environmentally friendly or homemade gift (eg sloe gin, jams and chutneys, biscuits – why not make up a hamper?), or an experience.
• Don’t buy plastic items that will end up in land fill.
• Buy a real tree, preferably with roots, from a sustainable grower.
• Don’t buy too much food and do use leftovers. Buy locally or FairTrade items from local farms and farm shops, Farmer’s Markets, Salisbury Market. Downton Country Market or the Co-op.

During
• Play games, go for walks.
• Make hats from wrapping paper!
• Don’t eat too much!
• Keep ribbon and wrapping paper for next year (easier if you don’t use sticky tape)
• Remember recycling generally (don’t forget tin foil).

Afterwards
• Take cards for recycling for the Woodland Trust to WH Smiths or Tescos or keep for next year’s tags or decorations.
• Recycle tree at Sports-Centre in January or plant for next year.
• Recycle unwanted presents – charities, Freecycle.org, ‘regift’.

If you have any more ideas please email us at downton.transition@googlemail.com

Finally we shall be making Christmas wreaths at various events including the St Laurence Bazaar in the Memorial Hall on Sat 28 Nov (12-3pm), the Country Market in Memorial Hall on Fri 4th Dec (9.45-11am) and at the Primary School Fair also on Friday 4th December (5-7pm).

Join in Downton’s Garden Gate Weekend

October 3^rd and 4^th, 2-4 pm

Have a small table by your gate or front door to sell or swap your extra vegetables, flowers seeds, pots garden equipment, home-made jams, pickles and cakes.

Let’s share Downton’s harvest!!

If you would like to take part, please send your address to downton.transition@googlemail.com or 01725 512902 (Sally Brown) by 21^st September

Then in the week beginning 28^th September look in the Post Office, notice-boards, village shops and website (www.downtonvillage.org.uk) to find the Garden Gate Trail and fantastic local produce.

A glut of courgettes? Here is one idea…

Chocolate Courgette Cake

Cooking Time: 35-45 mins, 190ºC/350ºF

120g butter or soft marg
125ml sunflower oil
100g sugar
200g soft brown sugar
3 beaten eggs
130ml milk
350g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa
45o gm courgettes, peeled and grated finely
1 tsp vanilla

1. Grease and line a 20 x 35cm baking tin

2. Mix the butter, oil and sugars together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and then the milk until mixed thoroughly.

3. Sift the dry ingredients together and fold into the mixture. Stir in courgettes and vanilla and bake.

4. Cut into squares whilst still warm

Enjoy!

Green Drinks at the White Horse, Downton

We’re meeting up every last Wednesday of the month at the White Horse, Downton, 8pm.  Last month we had  Transitioners from Fordingbridge who were very interested in the renewable energy group which has started to investigate the possibilities in the village for wind and water energy generation.  It’ll be exciting to hear their latest updates on the 29 July.  Also, we’ll be doing more planning on the Garden Gate Weekend and the Cider Circle; our two Autumn events to look forward to after the Summer holidays!!

We would love to have your ideas about ways of helping our village become a more sustainable community; so please come for lots of green chat!

For more details please e-mail downton.transition@googlemail.com

Sunflowers and Plant-swap

We are going to be in the Memorial Gardens on the afternoon of Monday 4th May, Cuckoo Fair weekend.  There will be a ‘plant a sunflower seed’ activity for children and we will invite them to send in a photo of the sunflower, with the height to us by September 21st.  The winner will receive a gardening set!

We are also running a plant swap, so bring along any excess plants, and hopefully go home with something new!!

Hope to see you between 2 pm and 4.30!

Cuba comes to Downton!!

We’d like to give a really big ‘thank you!!’ to everyone who came along to see Power of Community on Friday.  We were thrilled to see nearly 40 people at The Stables and hoped you enjoyed the film as much as we did.  We want to say another big ‘thank you’ to Noelio Flores, a Cuban teacher over here on sabbatical, who came and gave his perspective of events in Cuba and what’s going on now.  Judging by the real buzz of conversation before and after the film there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for Transition in Downton! 

Our next step is to build on this momentum at the Green Drinks, next Wednesday 29  April at 8pm in the White Horse.  Come along and bring your ideas for Downton and how we can get started.  See you there!!