by Mark
December 18, 2011 in Food, Marina, markets, Uncategorized
Mmm! Love the sharpness of those organic Blackcurrants in this delicious pudding. Marina celebrating at Duke of Cambridge @dukeorganic
by popmoc
November 5, 2011 in apricot centre, clay oven, community, Community-supported Agriculture, Food, Great Food Swap, local economy, Marina, reskilling, transition valley, Uncategorized
This is the first of a regular monthly series of Newsletters from the Apricot Centre providing news, ideas, and
upcoming events. In this newsletter we will be catching up on what has been going on since the summer. This has been an incredible bumper year of fruit production on the farm, starting the season with many varieties of soft fruit, and then from late summer and into autumn with many tonnes of apples picked, packed, played-with, and pressed.
The Dedham Vale Food Hub research and networking is now in full swing following a grant from the Dedham Vale Sustainability Fund. After months of inviting the contributions from and participation of local organic producers and processors a firm group of 4 local growers are now forming the hub which will centre on the Dedham Vale, but whose spokes will spread out to surrounding communities, schools, and local markets. An opening event was held at the end of August 2011 at Chris and Ian’s Farm and saw many people young and old coming from local communities to savour local produce; hand pressed apple juice, local fruit sorbet/ ice-cream, barbequed meats and salads, ‘make-your-own-pizza’ fired in the newly made Clay Pizza Oven. If you haven’t done so already, please do 
fill-out one of our questionnaires which can be found on the DVFH website. Find out how the food hub can work for you.
Visits to the Apric farm continue this season with groups such as a Bangladeshi women from London, who last time showed great enthusiasm in discovering Fat Hen which they use in a particular dish fried with garlic and spices. This time they brought with them a wide range of dishes which were shared with Apricot Centre staff. Visits from schools have included apple pressing and other apple activities, as well as a session making adobe and willow nesting boxes.
During the half-term holiday we were delighted to have Ann Sweg join us in making a replacement Earth Oven having knocked down the one we made in 2007. We worked together all day between bouts of heavy rain, using a sand form, and creating as large as possible an oven. By the end of the day this was complete and Ann brought her mosaic magic decorating it with geometric shapes and small mirrored tiles. 
The principles of the Apricot Centre have always been a focus on Food, People & the Land. As well as the local food hub, we are now moving with intent towards developing our work around community wellbeing. A Local Community Wellbeing project is in the pipeline with fabulous workshops, events and projects which we hope will engage local community members and organisations. We are only steps away from contributing to working in association with Lifeflows and Process Work Scotland towards helping to deliver Process Oriented Psychotherapy training in Slovakia. Mark will be giving a seminar in Slovaki and in the UK in Spring 2012 on the theme of ‘It takes a village – Child & Family Wellbeing’. The Apricot Centre has yet to realise it’s ambition to become a Care Farm, but this now looks increasingly close.
We thankyou for your interest and support. Please do let friends and colleagues know us, and invite people to subscribe to the website to receive the Newsletter and get involved. You can also unsubscribe with the details below.
Mark and Marina O’Connell – Directors
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by popmoc
October 22, 2011 in apricot centre, Food, local economy, Marina, markets, organic, organic orchard, peak oil, reskilling, reskilling project, sustainability, The Great Reskilling, transition town initiative, transition valley, Uncategorized
Hello, I thought I’d let you know how the ‘electric pony’ aka Wallace and Edward 3-wheeler milk float renovation project is going. As you may remember the Electric Pony was conceived during a ‘Ways and Means’ walk through the Dedham Vale as part of the Reskilling Project in March 2010. I was inspired by Val Belsay’s (Green Lanes) description of how produce and resources were moved through the valley and marketed in years gone by, using; green lanes, packhorse and ponies for transporting fruit and vegetables as well as other important resources. 
They seemed also to have the networking role of sharing news across the valley also.
This led to the idea for an ‘electric pony’, a retro-modern vehicle, to move and market local seasonal foodstuffs through Dedham Vale and the surrounding area. Later that year we found a 1946 Wallace & Edwards 3-Wheel Electric Milk Float. The float was purchased from a farm just off the M25/A12 when it was found on Ebay.
The vehicle is looking much the same, however we have done alot of work stripping down the components and having them tested. The good news is that it is mechanically sound, and even the electric motor is working! The downside, which was expected is that the lead batteries are no longer working, and this will be the most expensive thing to replace.
This year (2011/12) the Apricot Centre has collaborated with other organic producers and sellers in and around the Dedham Vale and is working on the Dedham Vale Food Hub researching the possibility of providing a wide range of organic foodstuffs (the whole basket), educational visits, seasonal celebrations etc.. And the Electric Pony is planned to play a role in delivering to local venues, schools etc.. reaching out to local communities from the hub.
We hope to gain some further funding in January 2012 towards completing this project and bringing this delightful vehicle to fulfill the dream of linking up local communities with local organic food, and local news.
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by popmoc
June 24, 2011 in allotments, apricot centre, Food, gardening, local economy, Marina, Permaculture, sowing seeds
This will be the 3rd Permaculture Design Course in 3 years at the Apricot Centre. Full Permaculture Design Course
(PDC). The Apricot Centre has been hosting and helping to run PDCs with Hannah Thorogood here on the permaculture farm since 2009. By June 2012 3 cohorts of students will have undertaken the training, and there are now quite a few people going forward to the full Permaculture Diploma.
The PDC course covers: Permaculture principles and ethics – Renewable energy and sustainable building – Simple vegetable growing and fruit growing – Forest gardening – Simple livestock management – Woodland and timber – Transition movement – Design skills – All delivered with creative and practical teaching methods. A place is booked on receipt of a £50 deposit.
The PDC is a 12 day course starting and ending with a full weekend, running on Saturdays through the autumn, winter and spring each year. This course will be mainly run at the Apricot Centre venue on a permaculture organic farm.
Dates:
Sat & Sun 1st & 2nd October
Sat 19th Nov
Sat 10th Dec
Sat 14th January
Sat & Sun 11th-12th Feb
Sat 10th March
Sat 14th April
Sat 12th May
Sat & Sun 9th-10th June
Contact Marina at info@apricotcentre.co.uk for more details or to book.
by Mark
December 2, 2010 in Food, Jam, markets
Our sugar order came today so we can make jam for our customers in London. We were very surprised to hear he had come from Halifax, and he came with his snow shovel. We had to meet him on the main road in a blizzard, to transfer the goods. 
We weren’t expecting a delivery today. We appreciate his dedication.
Thanks ‘Suma Man’
December 2, 2010 in Food, Marina
Middle of November and we picked the medlars – they are not yet quite ripe, or “bletted” 
but this year I have @ 30 kg and this is quite a marketing feat to sell 30 kg ! so I thought I would start early – familiarise the customers with them … I think I have a month to sell them all or I will have to make medlar cheese from them – which is a labour of love in itself. Best avoided if possible – my medlar cheese scars have only just healed from last year – it becomes very hot and kinds of explodes at you so you have to cook it wearing tea towels wrapped around your hands.
The Medlar is an ancient English fruit, common in tudor and Victorian times, and it seems very common and much loved in Hungary and Turkey – judging by my customers excitement in London yesterday. I had never realised that I had so many Hungarian customers, but they all revealed themselves with medlars on the stall – with much excited gesticulation and discussion and phone calls to buy some for people at home.
It very pretty, with ladybirds hibernating in it calyx, rusty brown colour, with its own word for ripening – “Bletting” – which I found our is French for ripening or rotting ? So you wait till it is almost rotten soft and brown inside then you squeeze it and eat the pulp from the middle, full of stones that you then spit out. I can best describe it as a tangy apple flavour. It is referred to as the “open arse” fruit by Chaucer and Shakespeare, because of its appearance, and this doesn’t really help its marketing fruit appeal to the masses .. or the middle class of Stoke Newington !
The reason it was popular in Tudor time I suspect is that it is the last fruit of the season, nothing more till the strawberries come in June, and a few wrinkly apples … they didn’t import bananas then … I think every one should start planting them up now as a kind of post peak oil banana or at least start eating them.
Here are some recipes;
Squeeze the medlars and put in a pan with a tiny amount of water, just enough to make the pulp runny enough to push through a sieve. Cook for just a few minutes and then push through a sieve so that you have the pulp.
Add sugar and cinnamon to taste and then fold in cream, or greek yoghurt and you have “Medlar Fool”
Medlar cheese
The Victorians and Tudor cooked the fruit in some water, sieved it, cooked with sugar until it went very think the same consistency as soft cheese, then the Victorians put it in moulds and served it with cheese and meats as a savoury dish. They used allspice to give it some spiciness. They obviously had more burn resistant hands than I have ! I use @ 700g of sugar to every litre of pulp.
I put this hot in to jars and seal straight away and it will then keep for up to a year if not opened.
by Mark
August 22, 2009 in Food, Great Food Swap
Tell all your friends with food to spare about the Great Food Swap which is part of the Manningtree Beach Bash. You will find us somewhere obvious on Manningtree Beach between 10.30 and 12 and it’s a good opportunity to chat about Transition (Stour) Valley too!
This article appeared in Friday Aug 21 Manningtree and Harwich Standard
by Mark
August 10, 2009 in Food, Great Food Swap
The Great Food Swap will be taking place in Manningtree as part of the Manningtree Beach Bash.
Come along and bring the produce that you have made, grown, picked or found to swap with others.
Made – Preserves, Pickles, Jams, Cakes, Yoghurts, Breads.
Grown – Fruit and Vegetables
Picked – Herbs, flowers, berries, nuts.
Found – Mushrooms, wild food, fish
FREE ! OPEN TO ALL.
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