Our latest newsletter Family Workshop January Wassail went out to subscribers today: Check it out or read a text version below

Hello there

Just a quick note to say that this Saturday 21st January 2:00 – 4:00pm it is the first Family Workshop of 2023…

FAMILY WORKSHOP – Wassail

•  Singing to the trees and banging pans!
• Seasonal Cooking
• Fireside Storytelling
• Natural Crafts
• Gardening

Please bring an old pan to bang if you can.

Our Family Workshops are for all ages! They are for families to create and play together so all children must be accompanied with an adult. Simple seasonal refreshments are available.
We would welcome a £5 donation per family to help us keep our family workshops going

The workshop is at the Growing Our Future Eco Hub which is next to Okehampton College at the Courtney Road entrance.

Family Workshops are part funded by Devon Community Foundation

Please email hello@harvestworkerscoop.org.uk  if you would like to book. It would be lovely to see you!
Very best wishes
Kevin and Jo

Harvest Workers Coop

Our latest newsletter December updates from Harvest Workers Coop went out to subscribers today: Check it out or read the text version below

News from Harvest Workers Coop

It has been a busy November with several interesting partnerships developing and the the exciting possibiity of a new member for the Coop. Find out more about all this below!

Community is always central to what we do. It was great to see the Okehampton community out on the streets for Edwardian Evening. The challenge is to keep our community strong and together as Winter’s chill bites.

We look forward to seeing you in the shop with all its seasonal produce. There is no better sight than a crate of freshly picked cabbages crisp and full of goodness. Maybe we will see you at the last two events of the year this weekend with our Family Workshop on Saturday and Seasonal Wreath Making at Hilltown on Sunday.

Warmest of wishes 🙂

Martin, Sara, Jo and Kevin

We are looking for a new member of the team …

A NEW MEMBER

Do you want to be part of creating a better food system? Are you interested in being an active member of a small workers’ co-operative based in Okehampton? Would you like to help increase access to organic food and explore regenerative ways to raise awareness about the key role farming and food plays on our health, the environment and the local economy?

We are looking for a passionate, flexible and committed person to join our team. This will initially be as a trial co-op member for 10 hours a week in our farm shop with an opportunity to increase your hours if you are interested in growing your role within our organisation. You will play an active role in strategic planning and practical decision making using consensus and will also have the possibility to become a full member of our workers’ co-op after a successful trial year.

Download the full job description and application details

Please pass this onto anyone you know who may be interested

CHRISTMAS OPENING

We are still waiting for some of our suppliers and producers to confirm their deliveries so there are a couple of dates we are not sure about.

Saturday 24th OPEN
Sunday 25th CLOSED
Monday 26th CLOSED
Tuesday 27th CLOSED
Wednesday 28th tbc
Thursday 29th OPEN
Friday 30th OPEN
Saturday 31st OPEN
Sunday 1st CLOSED
Monday 2nd CLOSED
Tuesday 3rd tbc
Wednesday 4th OPEN

and ORDERS

We will have lots of the normal seasonal vegetables in the shop so do please come and choose your own as we will be busy with lots of boxes to pack. Do drop us an email or pop into the shop if there is anything special you would like reserved for Christmas! Please use measured quantities as “Enough sprouts for 6 people” can be a little hard to interpret 🙂

NEW ARRIVALS

Just in .. HODMEDODS .. uk quinoa, pea flour and green split peas; McGs .. apple juice and cider vinegar; Bundy’s CALENDULA Creams and more!!

STORIES of PARTNERSHIPS …

… in the LIBRARY

We really enjoyed our two sessions at Okehampton Library. Sara had a roomful of sauerkraut makers and Kevin enjoyed the storytelling and celeriac coleslaw down among the books. We will certainly be looking at doing some more sessions in partnership with the lovely people at the library very soon.

 … between FAMILY WORKSHOP and COMMUNITY FEAST

Our Family Workshop certainly had a cooking theme with soup, pumpkin pie, mincemeat making, apple pie, apple drying and more. It was lovely to take some of the food down to the Community Feast in the Ockment Centre. We will have to do some more collaborations like this!

 … within the HEALTH and WELLBEING NETWORK

It was good to join in with a meeting of Nutrition group of the Health and Wellbeing Network whose aim is to “extend Nutrition activity across the Primary Care Network using existing organisations and resources to develop community responses especially intergenerational projects” Representatives from the medical team, College, Family Centre, West Devon CVS were all discussing practical food initiatives. Very exciting and we will let you know how all this plays out.

… in the COMMUNITY with the MOBILE SHOP

A reminder of the stops and times for the market and mobile shop!

The Tuesday Route
Hatherleigh Market (market stall not mobile shop) 9am to 12.30pm
Sampford Courtney, The Square 1.15 to 2.00pm
The Beeches, nr Sampford Courtney Station 2.15 – 2.45pm
Belstone, Car Park 3.15 to 5.00pm

PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THE BELSTONE THE SHOP WILL BE CLOSING AT 5pm UNTIL THE SPRING AND LIGHTER EVENINGS

ALSO PLEASE NOTE THAT IN THE NEW YEAR THE MOBILE SHOP ROUTE WILL BE MOVING TO THURSDAY

Our next events

Family Workshop : WINTER WARMER

Saturday 10th December 2pm – 4pm EcoHub
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Pay what you can (suggested £5 / family) Booking essential through the Harvest Shop or email
* Seasonal Cooking & Celebrations
* Fireside Storytelling
* Gardening
* Natural Craft

Town to Farm Workshop : NATURAL WREATH MAKING

Sunday 11th December 11am – 1:30pm / 2:30 – 5pm at Hilltown Organics
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£25 per person (reduced rates available) Booking essential through the Harvest Shop or by email

Make your own natural wreath to take home

Thank you for supporting Harvest Workers’ Co-op

We are a not for profit workers’ co-operative made up of farmers, educators and storytellers.
We grow and source good organic food for our little farm shop in Okehampton.
We create opportunities for our community to explore all things food and farming and to celebrate Good Mood Food!

It would be lovely to see you in the Harvest Farm Shop or out on the Mobile Farm Shop
Monday – Saturday 9:00 – 5:00 in Red Lion Yard or Tuesdays out on the mobile shop

Our latest newsletter July News from Harvest Workers’ Co-op went out to subscribers today: Check it out or read a version below.

News from Harvest Workers Coop

Hello Friends,

As always a huge thanks everyone who has supported us. We very much hope that people will continue to value locally sourced food, grow vegetables in gardens and on window sills, and support independent shops and stalls.

It is very exciting in the shop seeing new season produce arriving – french beans, broad beans, peas, bunched beetroot, blackcurrants and glorious freshly picked spinach and chard!

Red Lion Yard is coming back to life. As I type the market is bustling, Alan French’s plant stall is vibrant with colour and the smell of coffee is coming from Grant’s Cafe over the alley!

Hope to see you soon!
Martin, Sara, Jo and Kevin

In the Shop

Our shop is open as normal from 9-5 for customers who are able to come and get their own shopping. We have simple social distancing and hygiene procedures to keep everyone happy and healthy.

We are continuing to deliver and prepare orders for collection for vulnerable people who are self isolating.

Sara has succeeded in a funding bid to The Princes’ Countryside Trust to support deliveries to vulnerable people across a wider geographical area. Read more below

More information about ordering and deliveries can be found on our page here

Most importantly please look after yourself and those around you! Eat healthily, sleep well, keep active and your mind alive.

TWO FOOD STORIES .. ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPLY US

Riverford (https://www.riverford.co.uk/) from South Devon make a weekly delivery. Old hand Trevor has been driving the delivery vans for decades and is always so cheerful when he arrives at the shop with our order. His catchphrase “That’s shallot!” as he finishes unloading always makes us smile.

 

Shillingford Organics (https://www.shillingfordorganics.co.uk/) grow lovely vegetables just outside of Exeter. All of us at Harvest have worked at Shillingford over the years and have a strong connection with the land and people. Here are David, Joe and Harry from the current team packing up our order.

Our next events

Online and Active
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We have added to our online workshops. Check below for the latest Family Workshops from Harvest’s Kevin and Jo, a Tree Walk with Ravenquest , Cooking and Growing with Sara from Harvest (https://www.harvestworkerscoop.org.uk) and cooking with Kate from the Holistic Kitchen Academy

Look out .. coming soon!
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A special on-line seasonal nutrition talk from Ellen McCallum – The Naturopathic Nutritionist

We are also exploring some practical sessions for small groups at the EcoHub in September. Look out for more detail in the next newsletter!

Family Workshop Summer Growth

Family Workshop Spring Blossom

Growing Plot to Cooking Pot Pricking Out

Growing Plot to Cooking Pot Hashbrowns

Exploring A Walk in the Woods

Growing Plot to Cooking Pot Gluten Free Pizza

A big thanks to Learn Devon (https://www.learndevon.co.uk/) and Okehampton United Charities (https://www.okehamptoncharities.org.uk/) for supporting these projects.

Project News

We have been awarded grant funding from The Prince’s Countryside Fund to help us increase the reach of our food delivery service to those who are self-isolating or vulnerable in rural settlements within 10 miles of Okehampton (not urban areas)

We have been delivering food parcels from our shop (and other local shops) to those who needed it from the start of the pandemic; in Okehampton (with the help of the Okehampton Support Volunteers) and surroundings.

We can now extend our reach and will be able to deliver further afield for those who need it and can’t otherwise access what they require. We are currently already delivering to Throwleigh, Germansweek and Northlew, but with this new funding we can now take on new delivery routes if the need is there and you can’t get what you need from a business closer to you. Please get in touch with us by sending an email to hello@harvestworkerscoop.org.uk or if you don’t do email you can call us on 01837 318050

We have fresh organic vegetables and fruit, sourdough bread, fresh milk, cheese and eggs and a whole range of cupboard essentials. Check our shop stock here

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We are continuing our partnership with Okehampton Food Bank  . Thanks to the new funding we can now extend the number of weekly bags of simple, organic, fresh vegetables and fruit to those in need of support in our community. If you or anyone you know are struggling to afford food and would benefit from this please contact Okehampton Food Bank directly on okefoodbank@gmail.com

The Veg Bag Project is funded by The Harvest Workers Coop, Okehampton Food Bank, Princes Countryside Trust and through donations from Harvest Farm Shop customers.

 

 

Our latest newsletter Autumn News from Harvest Workers’ Co-op went out to subscribers today!

Check it out or read the simple version below.

AUTUMN NEWS from Harvest Workers’ Co-op

DIARY DATES

FRIDAY 13th SEPTEMBER
LEARN and DINE– An inspiring talk by Ellen McCallum, the Naturopathic Nutritionist. Learn about the immune system through our diet and enjoy a seasonally linked meal. £15 7-9pm. @All Saints Church Hall, Okehampton

SATURDAY 14th SEPTEMBER
SOURDOUGH WORKSHOP with the Holistic Cookery Acadamy. Create delicious digestible bread and eat it together. Take a starter culture home. £45. 1-5pm
@The Eco Hub,Okehampton

SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER
AUTUMN APPLES
FAMILY WORKSHOP Apple pressing, fireside cooking, stories, creative activities, outside play and gardening.
Free through Learn Devon.
2-4pm @ The Eco Hub, Okehampton.

THURSDAY 3rd OCTOBER
BRAIN HEALTH
ReCODE practitioner, Ellen McCallum, will be talking a lifestyle approach to optimum brain health through what we eat. £7.50. 7-9pm
@Ockment Centre, Okehampton

SATURDAY 26TH OCTOBER
AUTUMN SQUASH
FAMILY WORKSHOP Pumpkin carving, fireside cooking. stories, creative activities, outside play and gardening.
Free through Learn Devon.
2-4pm @ The Eco Hub, Okehampton.

ALSO LOOK OUT FOR ..

Wildlife Walks,
Herb Talks,
Apple Pressing for Schools
Growing Skills workshops for adults
Book Now!

AUTUMN NEWS

What comes to mind as we enter the autumn season? conkers, a new school term, fungal forays, leaves turning to rich colours, birds migrating South, pumpkins, squash, apples and harvest celebrations (Harvest Moon is on the 14th September)

It is the time of year when growers carts are overflowing with seasonal abundance (and so are our shop shelves!) and we celebrate the annual bounty of all the hard work that has gone into the farm this year.
Winter squash and leeks are some of the early Autumn crops and are now ready for harvest. They are a great two to pair up in a warming and creamy soup (a tasty twist on the classic leek and potato soup; quick and easy recipe below). Squashes are an excellent low calorie food packed with nutrition. They are a good source of complex vegetable carbohydrates and dietry fibre, an excellent source of Vit A, C, B1, B3, B5 B6, folate, iron, beta carotene and omega-3 fatty acids and leeks are anti-bacterial and anti-viral.

Beat the winter bugs and ‘eat the rainbow’!! Some of the most nutritious vegetables become available this time of the year and now is the time to think about boosting and building our immune system to fend off the winter bugs

RECIPE .. Squash & Leek Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)
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* Large knob of butter/ ghee/ oil
* 1 Squash (butternut, cronw prince, uchiki-kuri or similar) chopped in small cubes (don’t peel it, the skin will get soft and it’s loaded with nutrients!)
* 3 large leeks, chopped
* 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
* 3 diced size chunks of ginger peeled and finely chopped (optional, will give it a nice kick : )
* sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
* ½ – 1 tsp of chilli powder (optional)
* cream/coconut milk/ dairy-free alternative (optional)

Directions
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1. Heat the butter/ghee/oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat and add the squash, leeks, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and stir. Cook for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the vegetables soften nicely.
2. Add the stock and chilli powder and stir before simmering for 20 minutes or until the squash is cooked through.
3. Using a stick blender or food processor blitz up the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency. Add a little more water or chicken stock if you prefer a thinner soup and season further if needed.
4. Optional: you can roast some of the seeds from inside the squash for ten minutes and add as garnish on top of soup. A Swirl of anything creamy would go well too (cream, coconut milk or any dairy free alternative)

FAMILY WORKSHOPS

We are really pleased to announce that Learn Devon (https://www.learndevon.co.uk/) have renewed our funding for our monthly Family Workshops! The workshops are great fun and open to all families. We always have stories, cooking over the fire, lots of seasonal creativity, outdoor play and gardening. The poster for our next one is at the top of the page! We hope to be extending the reach of our Family Workshops to other locations in Okehampton and beyond! Watch this space.

GROWING SKILLS WORKSHOPS

Learn Devon is also going to be funding a series of Growing and Seasonal Food Workshops for adults. We are still planning these but they will be based in the Okehampton area. If you are interested in finding out more then do drop us an email hello@harvestworkerscoop.org.uk or pop into the Harvest Farm Shop.

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Something else to look out for is the Harvest Photography Competition. We are setting a challenge of capturing the seasons – out on the farm, along the hedgerow, in the garden plot or the cooking pot! The results will be displayed in an Okehampton and maybe even our very won calendar! Look out for more details!

IN THE SHOP .. Apples!

Apples are back in season! We only buy UK grown apples. The first varieties in are
Discovery, Devonshire Quarrenden, Bramley and Worcester. But which is which? Pop into the shop and find out but be quick the Adam Pearmaines will be here soon.

IN THE SHOP .. Quinoa!

Must be an import you say? No UK grown and bought through Hodmedods (https://hodmedods.co.uk/) who support UK growers of beans and grains! Must be expensive? Well no at £6.75 /kg it is cheaper than supermarket organic quinoa (and most non organic!) Must come in plastic bags? Well that’s another no! We buy it in brown paper sacks and sell it loose so you can choose your container.
Now at the moment we buy it in 5kg bags but if we sell enough we can buy 25kg sacks and reduce the price.
Oh and the taste? Wonderfully rich and nutty!

THANK YOU for supporting Harvest Workers’ Co-op

Visit us in Harvest Farm Shop Monday – Saturday, keep an eye out for all our latest happenings on our website, in store, or on social media

 

In Education and Community

In our first 3 months of the grant we have engaged directly with over 250 people through

• 3 farm visits
• 1 film screening
• 4 food workshops
• 1 artists talk
• 1 creative workshop

Displays and Exhibition Space

We have bought and fitted simple display material. Our first exhibition by photographer Walter Lewis celebrated landworkers around the country.

The notice board hand crafted by local carpenter Edward Griffiths has enhanced the outside wall space and is attracting wide attention. We are now working on a changing sequence of local farming seasonal images to display.

Farm Visits

We have had three visits so far featuring no dig vegetable growing at Hilltown Organics, dairy farming at Taw River and light touch agro forestry at Silent Haven. We are pleased to be able to support these small scale farming activity.

We will be widening the range of farms alongside revisiting these three farms to give an experience of seasonal change.
We aim to approach and engage wider community especially people who might not normally visit farms. We’d welcome support in identifying such groups and we will be working in partnership with the primary school on this challenge.

Film

We were really pleased to have over 50 people come to the premier of the Landworkers’ Alliance film In Our Hands It was good to use the Ockment Centre as the venue it allowed to serve a local and seasonal supper and create a positive social atmosphere. We have two more films in the new year one of which will incorporate a seed swap.

Workshops

We have started our food workshops with two on Sourdough bread making and another on vegetable fermentation techniques

These were followed by an Community Apple pressing day in Red Lion Yard. This was done in partly in collaboration with Okehampton Primary School. We are looking forward to starting a monthly family workshop and a series of seasonal creative sessions.

In the news

Our education and community work has featured in various publications.

Recently we have been in …

• Oke Links Online (end of Sep)
• Okehampton Times (2nd Oct week)
• Devon Live Online (2nd Oct week)
• Okehampton Times – apple pressing (9th Nov)
• Oke Links (Nov / Dec issue)

We have established our working practise, developed organisational infrastructure and made good links with local venues. We look forward to extending the reach and breadth of our provision.

A huge thanks to Okehampton United Charities for supporting this work.

Download the Autumn program here

We have been really pleased with how the Harvest Farm Shop has been re imagined and reworked. It could not have happened without the support of so many of our friends and customers. A huge thanks to them. We have not finished … there will be more information and education displays and an ever changing seasonal display of all that is local and organic. However this post is to give a little sense of the journey so far up to our Launch Event on Friday. Thanks for coming with us.

Why fund Harvest Workers’ Co-op?

We are doing a new reason each day for the remainder of our campaign. This post will be updated each day so stay tuned for more! So far we have:

1. So that our community can access affordable food – that is food that is produced sustainabilty so it is good to eat and good for the earth. This means that it will not have the inflated prices of “organic” food in the supermarket. We price check our produce so that it is an accessible price for everyone in the community.



2. To reconnect people with the land and where their food comes from! We’ll run farm-based activities for children and adults; because when kids get to dig a few spuds out of the ground, they are in total awe at the wonder and never will forget where potatoes come from! is the best way to learn…
3. We will provide jobs for people in our community. Our seven members all live locally in Devon, and all will be employed by the co-op. We hope in the future to be employing more people in the area who want to be part of the Okehampton food revolution!
4. We will provide a selling platform for smallscale, local growers like Down Farm Winkleigh, and Hilltown Organics
5. Where else can you buy a salad, loose or bagged, with over 50 different varieties of leaf, herbs & flowers?
6. We’ll be making seasonal smoothies with Okehampton Priory school today (Friday 23/6) in Red Lion Yard, Okehampton, in partnership with our friends at Love Local Food! What fun! Let’s get future generations pondering the origins and seasonality of our food, not just for today, but at every educational event we run as the Harvest Workers’ Co-op.



7. So that our community can access affordable food – that is food that is produced sustainably so it is good to eat and good for the earth. This means that it will not have the inflated prices of “organic” food in the supermarket. We price check our produce so that it is an accessible price for everyone in the community.

Our Crowdfunding campaign launch was on Monday 29th May! We have been busy shooting the film. Red Lion Yard was full of scripts and props and action. It was really good to work as a team and we can not wait to see what people think.

Here is a little out take of Kevin and Jo clearing up at the end of the day. We would love the whole process to be just a little easier and that is just part of what our crowdfunding is about.

Watch our full video on our crowdfunding page crowdfunder.co.uk/harvest-workers-co-op

Please help us transform the Harvest Farm Shop and create a whole program of education projects

endoftheday from Kevin on Vimeo.