TLC Bulletin - February 2018

Nature Now

What's happening in nature this month

Coming Up...

Events in your
Environment

Please visit our events calendar for full details of all of the events listed below and others too!

February

Sat 3rd Feb, 10am-3pm - Seedy Saturday, Lewes town hall, £1, kids free

Sun 4th Feb, 10.30am-4pm - Seedy Sunday, BHASVIC, Hove. £3, kids free

Wed 7th Feb, 7.30pm-9.30pm - The chalk cliffs and platforms of Sussex lecture, Hove.

Sat 10th Feb, 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm - Makerlab Monsters, MakerLab, Brighton. £30 (Science Festival)

Mon 12th Feb, 10am-12pm - Fun with Fossils Children's Workshop, ONCA Gallery. £10 (ONCA)

Mon 12th Feb, 10.30am-11.30am, 1.30pm-2.30pm, 3pm-4pm - Minecraft Dinosaur Dig, Booth Museum. £8

Mon 12th Feb, 11am-1pm, 2pm-4pm - Blockbuilders Water Cycle Simulator, Brighton Marina. £15.

Wed 14th Feb, 10am-3pm - Family Wild Day Out, Mills Woods, Laughton. £30/£20.

Thur 15th Feb, 6pm-8pm - Future Scenarios in the context of climate change workshop, Brighton. Free

Sat 17th Feb, 1pm-4pm - Kitchen Swish Event, Brighton Unitarian Church. Free. (BHFP)

Tue 20th Feb, 6pm-9pm - Stargazing at Devil's Dyke. Free. (SDNPA)

Thur 22nd Feb, 7.30pm-9.30pm - Unwrapping Raptors, an identification guide, BHASVIC. £3. (RSPB)

Mon 26th Feb, 10.30am-2om - Baking Al Fresco at Saddlescombe Farm. £12 adult/£6 child. (NT)

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March

Sat 3rd Mar, 10am-12pm - Tidy Up Team Volunteer Litter Pick, Three Cornered Copse, Hove. Free. (BHCC)

Sun 4th Mar, 11am-1pm - Tidy Up Team Volunteer Litter Pick, Preston Park. Free. (BHCC)

Wed 7th Mar, 7.30pm-9pm - Sustainable Gardening, White Horse Inn, Ditchling. Free. (HKDT)

Sat 10th Mar, 10.30am-5pm - Green Architecture Day, Sallis Benney Theatre. £10-85 (BPT)

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Volunteers, Jobs & Opportunities

‘Kit out the Kitchen’ crowdfund campaign
Brighton & Hove Food Partnership need your help to create a Community Kitchen on Queens Road, Brighton. Find out more, donate by 28 Feb and choose a thank you reward.

Newhaven Growing Together Community Garden
Join this thriving Community Garden situated on the cliff tops - see growingtogethernewhaven.org.

Do you grow your own food?
Team PollinATE, a ‘citizen science’ project run by the University of Sussex, needs your help this summer to collect data about food and pollinators in Brighton & Hove. More info

Energy efficiency support for SMEs
The Utilise Plus programme offers SME businesses grants of up to £5K for projects and a range of fully-funded business support services: energy audits, events and workshops (http://sustainablebusiness.org.uk/utilise-plus-programme/).

February 2018

Food for Thought - The edible Living Coast

Dear <<Name>>

Whilst we're still very much in the midst of winter, there are signs of new life to witness if you get outdoors and open your senses - take a look at our monthly Nature Now diary for what you may uncover. Its not just wildlife that is stirring either, as it's also the start of the growing season for food (glorious food!) - the focus of our e-news this month.

Find out how you can savour the (incr-)edible nature of The Living Coast in our Bio Blog (see excerpt below right) by Vic Borrill, Director of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership (a Biosphere partner). BHFP has achieved a huge amount over the past 15 years of its existence to enhance our relationship with food - including promoting local and sustainable fare here.

There's so many different ways that you can get involved in food here, from growing your own to volunteering at a community garden - take a look at our 'WoW' section (below left) for some gardens where you can get a taste of what goes on.

BHFP are seeking your support this month for a crowdfunding campaign to create a 'community kitchen', and also invite you to get behind the bid to become the UK's first gold-standard Sustainable Food City!

February is very much a time to focus on food, especially this weekend at the annual Seedy Sunday event in Brighton - the afternoon includes a BBC Gardeners Question Time panel, as well as Biosphere partners speaking about butterflies and other insect pollinators. There's also Seedy Saturday in Lewes with lots on offer, including the 'Wildflower Lewes' project, plus a seed swap in Hassocks on Sat 24th Feb.

In fact our eco-events Calendar (selected summary list, left) is literally bursting with great things to get involved in this month! School half-term week in the middle of the month is especially busy, when the Brighton Science Festival has a huge range of engaging activities on offer. No time for kids to be bored!

Wishing you edible adventures in The Living Coast!

Rich Howorth
Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere Partnership

Window On
Our World

Community Gardens

Community food-growing projects open to public access in The Living Coast include:

~ Preston Park Demo Garden, Brighton – a welcoming productive space at the southern end

~ Brighthelm Community Garden, Brighton – in the heart of the city lies a bountiful garden

~ Saunders Park, Brighton – an award-winning space that has transformed this park

~ Wish Park, Portslade – orchard, pond and raised veg beds run by volunteers

~ London Road Station Garden, Brighton – a unique urban location that has won awards

~ Stanford Avenue Garden, Brighton – wonderful award-winning use of a residential street

~ Landport Community Garden, Lewes – a beautiful walled garden with a pond and seating

~ Newhaven Community Garden – a space for all that has been growing strong since 2010

~ Peacehaven Community Garden – growing plants and vegetables at the Oval

Bio Blog

The edible Living Coast

Food is about so much more than fuel and is central to life!

Since 2003 the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership has helped over 10,000 people to learn to cook, to grow food, to eat a healthier diet and waste less.

There are plenty of ways to get involved with food in The Living Coast and so boost your health and wellbeing by connecting with the edible bits of our biosphere!

The Food Partnership’s top picks include:

- Buy direct through veg box schemes and farmers markets – less waste and more seasonal food

- Support Downland grazing – order meat reared on the Downs and help to look after the landscape

- Enjoy the bounty of the sea – buy locally caught and sustainable fish, including healthy oily fish

- Volunteer at a Community Garden – get outdoors, learn new skills, meet people, and keep active

- Get cooking & eating together – cooking from scratch and sharing food with others is powerful!

Find out more about how you can enjoy the edible Living Coast!....read full blog