Ashurst Organics
2022:   Our 29th year of growing and delivering veg in Sussex!
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Summer 2011 newsletter

25/5/2011

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WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE ALL DOING?

Here we all are—being part of a box scheme. Eating Seasonally. Eating Locally. Buzz words that are all the rage right now in the marketing world.  But during the hungry gap (April and May) there isn’t much around in the way of ‘local’ and ‘seasonal’, which makes eating this way a test of culinary abstinence for the purists. Relatively speaking May is gourmet celibacy on the vegetable front. So in a supermarket culture which gives consumers what they want, when they want (and when do they want it? NOW!) seasonal eating truly goes against the grain. Fine if you love spring greens, spinach, salad and asparagus but it’s the one time in the year where we rely on further afield for variety. And then there is all the other efforts that we have to go to. Eating our way through seasonal gluts. Eating what is harvestable and inventing 101 things to do with a courgette. 

But it’s not just the getting of a box that can seem bonkers at times. Running a box scheme and growing organically can also leave you wondering about the madness in your method. Like...... why don’t they invent sprays to get rid of all these weeds?.......Doh! Or why don’t they invent something that could wipe out all the pests that leave holes in the veg?......Doh! Or how can we compete with the supermarkets who can fly in veg packed by pickers that are paid but a penny a day and we bet they can work so much faster?......Doh! And why oh why oh why HASN’T IT RAINED LATELY??

SO WHY ON EARTH?????

Well...... They may just be boxes with vegetables in them but....perhaps we do it because absence makes the heart grow fonder? Because pining for the first new potatoes and the first ripe tomato makes veg a real treat? Or because freshly picked veg tastes so much better? And maybe too much consumer choice is just bemusing, so when faced with the shelves we just buy the same old carrots and broccoli and in the end stifle our edible adventures? And perhaps being surprised by the seasons in our box inspires us to unexpected and more varied culinary delights?

And perhaps because we know that Organic is not a ‘lifestyle product choice’ but a soil centred system of farming that is born from the ecological idea that healthy soil produces healthy plants, animals and people. Because there is more life in one tablespoon of healthy soil than there is people on the planet. Because while soil microbes don’t have the same cute factor as kittens their right to exist should be guarded. And because we don’t buy the belief that when biodiversity and wildlife isn’t ‘economic’—that we have the right to wipe it from the face of this bright jewel planet we call Earth. Because we know that ultimately (in a strictly scientific, non hippy way) that all things are interconnected and that soil life is the life on which ours sustainably depends.

And perhaps we support local produce because though it may be cheaper to produce food elsewhere we know the true cost to the environment and want fewer food miles, lower carbon emissions and less packaging but do want local skilled jobs and real production. Perhaps community does mean more than convenience. And co-operation and support feels more empowering than cut throat competition which ultimately only favours the few.

And perhaps we keep on farming and growing because though the peasant life will always be a credit crunch we have job satisfaction in a worth while craft.  Because feeding people is easy and fun when you have fresh air and some exercise. Because ultimately it all depends on what we value - Food.  The stuff that keeps us alive. We are truly grateful for it. And for your support. For all of the above. Thanks for being part of it.  From all of us at the farm x Ps. So,........who’s up for some rain dancing?.......Or a chain gang queue with buckets of water? Then we’ll dance!


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Winter Newsletter 2011

12/1/2011

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Happy New Year

WINTER/SPRING VEG BOXES RESTART ON:-   JANUARY 19TH & 20TH
FORTNIGHTLY DELIVERIES FROM JAN-MAY

Well here we are again! A new year, a new day, a new dawn. Probably the greatest thing about growing is the clean slate you get at the start of every season. So?!!... A few crops failed. The sun didn’t shine always when you wanted it to or the rain fell in the next town but not on your own parched ground. Paah! That was last year……

January, you will know is our only time when we can shut shop and not think about vegetables or delivery deadlines. Sleeping and indulging in festive fair – particularly large amounts of cake and chocolate is how we usually spend our week off (balancing our diet). This works well for us in two ways:
1. It’s important to have down time and recharge the batteries both mentally and physically.
2. We become so sick of rich sweet food that we crave beyond measure freshly picked vital greens and other luscious vegetables that lay ahead with the promise of each season.
And so, we are compelled to move off our sofas, brave the January weather and start to sow…..  It’s strange but true but it works every time. And with any luck, we hope that you too, will be feeling exactly the same way.

2011 :  We will be back to our winter schedule of fortnightly deliveries from 19th/20th January until May. For those of you that are new to the scheme, fortnightly deliveries work well enough while the seasonal variety is so limited. Hearty and warming winter roots store well
(just keep them in a cool dark frost free place) and while the weather is cold and the days are short, one week off a fortnight from collecting your box is no doubt welcome. From our point of view, we spend the alternate weeks when not delivering, preparing the ground, sowing and planting the new years crops.
As ever we are fired up with New years resolutions. We will be sending out a survey soon to get your ideas on how we should change and improve. In the meantime please do send in any ’seasonal’ winter recipes so that we can all continue to love our local veg.
Thanks as always for being part of the farm. Wishing you a truly happy, healthy new year,
From All of us at Ashurst x
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Veg boxes and a Happy New Year

31/12/2010

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Hello Everyone,   Just to let you know that we hope the first Ashurst Veg boxes of the New year will be on 20th January.   We would have let you know before Christmas but the snow made everthing here so hectic the newsletter did not make it to press.   As usual we are taking our 'winter break' - not going anywhere but having a much needed solid week doing as little as possible - before the seed ordering, sowing and the season begins again.   We'll be using the first few weeks of January to rethink and revamp a few things (ancient computer included) and will let you know the exact delivery dates, box sizes etc as soon as we can.   As ever, Many Many Thanks for being part of Ashurst Farm.  Lets hope for a stable, 'typically seasonal' climate in which to grow and an abundant harvest for 2011 on which to feast upon. Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy New Year. With the Best of Wishes Collette, Peter, Leif, Layla, Ruth, Tony, Marc, Mark, Tina & Chris xxx (Or All at Ashurst, for short)
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Christmas boxes

7/12/2010

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Download a pdf of the above (much more readable!), along with the all-important order form, here.  [This happens to be the Thursday version; Wednesday customers please read delivery day as Wednesday the 22nd!]
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Roots, shoots and leaves

20/5/2010

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Spring has sprung very slowly this year.  Giving the ‘Hungry
Gap’ more gaps than usual.  May is a month when there are
few vegetables around other than last seasons stored
roots, the odd broccoli shoot or asparagus (providing you
don’t let weeds smother it like we did) and the new
seasons leaves (spring greens, chard and salads).

Vegetables grow best when it is wet and warm. They need
sun and a warm biologically active soil to access the
nutrients. If you’ve spent any time out of doors this
spring you’ll be all too aware that it’s been dry and very
cold. The opposite of good growing conditions.

So we launch the weekly boxes with slight trepidation -
but we wont despair just yet. As is usual with newsletters,
by the time of going to print, the opposite becomes true.
So by the time you read this we will all be blessed with a
seasonally warm summer with light refreshing rain at
night. The veg will flourish and we’ll be struggling to keep
up and fit the abundant vegetables into your box.

Hope Springs Eternal….
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January 2010 newsletter

6/1/2010

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HAPPY NEW YEAR
WINTER/SPRING VEG BOXES RESTART ON:-
THURSDAY JANUARY 14TH
FORTNIGHTLY DELIVERIES FROM JAN-MAY
VEG BOXES ON ICE

Hard to think about food after the feast but fresh vegetables
are hopefully just the thing to counteract all the indulgence.
We will be back to our winter schedule of fortnightly deliveries
from January until the end of May. While local veg is less varied
and stores so well, a slower pace is still (while we remain a small
scale family run farm) the most practical way of giving us time to
start growing this years crop. Plus with the weather forecast as
it is - with more ice and snow on the way- bulk buying, picking and
delivering might well be a blessing in more ways than one.

Thanks as ever for being part of the farm. All our last years New
year resolutions have yet to be realised as far as the business is
concerned but…....such is life. Maybe this year!
Wishing you all the realisation of your sustainable hopes and
dreams in 2010 and plenty of veg of course. May the weather be with us!
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Autumn Newsletter

10/10/2009

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SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE
2009 has been a good growing year.  The soil has been warm enough and we've had sun and rain, mostly, in the right place at the right time.
  So this year we didn't hang our heads in shame but celebrated with an open day.  Our usual stroll around the fields, tea and cake (£50 raised for WaterAid), some very silly and dangerous games followed by the customary Harvest supper: feasting, chilling and chatting on what was again a perfect Indian summer eve.

A big thank you to everyone who made it out at what is a busy time of year for events.  And a special thank you to the Chanctonbury Road drop-off for bringing more than their fair share of the food.  Their consolation was that one of their lot won the prestigious 'Golden Marrow' in the hurling contest - yet again!

Defying all laws of physics, biology and health and safety was the Box-carrying contest--see photo below.  Also shown is Spud Sack Racing.

Ashurst open days tend to be more private party than slick presentation but in truth we prefer it that way.  It's key to our ethos of supporting the little and the local and keeping it real.  We prefer not to think of our customers as 'consumers' but as scheme members and part of the farm.  And we prefer to see ourselves not just as part of the organic 'market' but as part of the Community.  So thanks as ever for being there!

ALL YOUR OWN WORK, REST AND PLAY
Well, almost.  Summer got too buy to publish a newsletter to thank everyone for coming to the Hoe Down in May.  A major success on all fronts.  Whole beds of vegetables weeded in one go, followed by an evening of fun, food, wine and song.  It's amazing what you can achieve when there's a lot of you. 

BOXES WITH VEGETABLES IN THEM
This year we have veg!  What we have less of.... is people to eat them.  The last three bad growing years have prevented us from advertising too much for fear of nto being able to fill our boxes with our own home grown produce.  Consequently, our shceme membership has fallen, made worse by the year's successful allotments and the current (very worthy) craze of growing your own. 
So what we need right now, to keep the scheme and the business viable, is more scheme members.

We could put round flyers to convert non-box, supermarket-goers.  And we are keen to make better use of the internet.  But these things take time - the one thing we never seem to have.  So in the meantime, if you are happy with your boxes and being part of the scheme, please do spread the word amongst your neighbours/friends.  Recommendations and word-of-mouth are by far the most powerful means of persuasion when it comes to getting people to change their ways.

And veg-boxes aren't just products to choose from the shelf.  They do require an alternative way of thinking, cooking, eating and shopping... such as being able to delight in, and be inspired by, what's in season.  So, if you know anyone who is fed up with being labelled a mere 'consumer,' who would like to be part of the farm, then please prod them in our direction.      And THANKS for your help.

BOXES AND HONEY JARS WITH NOTHING IN THEM
Please return for re-use, thanks. 
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    Collette and Peter Haynes

       

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