Jungle News December 2005

JUNGLE
NEWS

December 2005-
January 2006

The Annexe, 100 Mary Street, B12 9JU near the corner of Mary Street and Edward Road

0121 446 4798

www.jngl.org.uk

Contact Us

text 07952 909804

GET YOUR FRUIT TREES SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER 2-4 pm

Fruit trees for planting now will be ready to collect on Saturday December 3rd from 100 Mary Street between 2 and 4 pm.  If you have ordered something you will need to pick it up that day to get your full discount. If you haven't ordered, phone us and we will tell you what kind of trees are left.

“L”-PLATE GARDENING

This group is now up and running every Friday between 10 & 12. Midge has been visiting paticipants' gardens and helping them to get started growing food. The group has also visited Moor Green Allotments and done some work together there. After the work members have been enjoying a shared lunch together to ask questions and share experiences. If you are new to food growing and would like some support to get started come along to Jungle on Fridays and join the fun.  Come by 10am.  Phone first if you can.

JUNGLE EVENTS at 100 Mary St.

Saturday 3rd December 2-4pm: Fruit Tree Collection Day. Collect pre-ordered fruit trees and bushes, get advice about planting, buy composts, seeds and other gardening inputs, have a chat, have a cup of tea. You can buy a tree if you didn’t order in advance, subject to availablity.

Tuesday 6th December 7pm: Committee meeting.

Saturday 4th February 4-9pm: Special Event Gardening stuff at 4pm, eat at 6pm, Growing Words II at 7pm.  PUT IT IN YOUR DIARY NOW!

Saturday 4th March 2-4pm: Annual Members’ Meeting.

Holiday period Thurs Dec 22-Tues 3 Jan inclusive: No Open Saturday or newsletters in January. No open Tuesdays or Thursdays in school holiday.

>Saturday 7 and 14 January: Two Jungle members and a Council tree officer are going to start mapping local trees. If you would like to join the walk be at 100 Mary Street before 11am. If there is a tree you love in your street let us know: it may need a Tree Preservation Order. Being ambitious people, we hope to produce a beautiful map of local trees. (We are also going to change the world before breakfast.)

YOUR GARDEN IN DECEMBER

More info from www.gardenorganic.org.uk

Plant fruit trees before the end of February while the tree is dormant (“asleep”) - the buds start to open in March.

1. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the roots.

2. Break up any hard layer at the bottom.

3. Mix some compost or leafmould in with the soil you've taken out.

4. Put some soil and compost at the bottom.

5. You can put in 2 SHORT stakes now, on either side of the tree

6. Put the tree back in at the right depth with the roots spread out. Make sure it's straight – get someone to hold it for you.

7. Put the rest of the soil mix back in.

8. Put about a square metre of newspaper or cardboard around the trunk to keep grass and weeds out of the way.

9. Pile loads of soil improver (e.g. Lakeland Gold from us!) or home-made compost on the paper.

10. If you used stakes, tie them in with a bit of inner tube in a figure of 8. Stakes do more harm than good if you let them rub the bark, so check it every few months.

FREE ORGANIC MATTER!

Jungle has been offered a supply of horse and chicken manure from a friend in Northfield. It comes bagged but would need collection. If anyone would like any please get in contact with us on 0121 446 4798.

Run a Muck, a local community composting project has a large amount of shredded green material for mulch at the Formans Road allotment site in Sparkhill. Again this needs to be collected but if members without cars need it we will TRY to arrange a pick-up. If any member has a suitable vehicle to shift some and could help us please get in touch. Run a Muck can be contacted on 0121 328 5330

NUT ROAST

Ingredients

• 8 oz mixed chopped nuts and seeds

• 4 oz breadcrumbs

• 1 onion chopped

• 1 pepper chopped

• 4 mushrooms chopped

• 7 fl oz veg stock

• oil and mixed herbs

Method

1. Fry the onion, pepper and mushrooms in a little oil until they have softened.

2. Add the nuts, breadcrumbs and some mixed herbs, stir well.

3. Add enough stock to make the mixture stick together.

4. Pile into a roasting tin and squash flat.

5. Bake in an oven for about 30 mins Gas Mark 6/ 200C until golden on top.

This is lovely with roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and gravy!!

HERBAL REMEDY SESSIONS

Sure Start mums and local women enjoyed 3 lively sessions with local herbal practitioner Noreen Lopez (N.I.M.H.) During the sessions they made a traditional cough remedy using onions. Noreen also demonstrated some simple flu remedies. Participants were delighted to find out that many of the foods they ate and enjoyed had medicinal properties and helped keep them healthy. To see the recipes and some photos visit our website www.jngl.org.uk. Many thanks to Sure Start Balsall Heath for funding these sessions

BE A JUNGLE TRUSTEE

The Annual Members’ Meeting is not far away – March 2006 – and we are always on the look out for new committee members. Many thanks to all our present committee members whose help is invaluable. We hope they will stand for re-election.

Balsall Heath Jungle has been in existence since 1999 and during this time its membership has grown whilst Balsall Heath has gained many new fruit trees in its gardens. We have been lucky in securing funding for the last two years from the Big Lottery Fund but this grant ends in March. We would like to continue our work in Balsall Heath but in order to do this we need to form a “Charitable Company”. Balsall Heath Jungle is looking for local people who would be willing to form a board of trustees. It would involve a commitment to attending a quarterly meeting and being involved in decision-making via a website. If you would like to find out more then please get in touch.

_SpOtlight

_{Dying For Some Chips?}

Palm oil is used in many foods and make-ups. Some reports think that it could be found in one out of every ten processed foods. It is often used to cook chips and other fast foods.

Palm oil is grown in tropical countries like Indonesia. It is worth a lot of money to the people who grow it and it has become a very big “cash crop”.

In Indonesia forests are being cleared to grow more palms to produce more palm oil. The forests are the homes of many different rare animals and plants. Orang- utans live in these forests and nowhere else in the world. Elephants have even been poisoned with pesticides to stop them from eating the palms.

In a few years’ time we may lose wild orang-utans from the world as well as many other species. Friends of the Earth are calling for action to help stop this problem.

_{www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/case_studies/palm_oil/}

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS

Saturday 26^th November: International No Shopping Day. A good day to get out in the garden and maybe plant some broad beans and garlic.

Friday 2^nd December: Critical Mass Bike Ride. Meet at St. Phillips Cathedral to ride around the city at 6pm. The ride is to celebrate cycling and promote human-powered vehicles as an alternative to cars. Some people come on unicycles, skateboards or rollerskates.

8^th December: Saving Energy in Community Buildings. Free training day at BVSC, 138 Digbeth. Contact phil.beardmore@groundwork.org.uk

Sunday 11^th December (TBC): Balsall Heath Walking Group. A fresh walk in the glorious winter countryside. See some new places and meet some new faces. Enjoy some local countryside. There is sometimes free transport available. Please call Martyn on 4642552 for details.

Wednesday 14^th December: Birmingham Organic Gardeners. Christmas Party 7.15 - 9.30pm – Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Hall, Bournville. All most welcome. Bring a contribution of party food.

JUNGLE REGULARS

Thursdays, 10am–2.30pm: Women's Gardening Group. Good food, good company, lots of chat and informative discussions about gardening. In a women-only environment. (not 22 & 29 December)

Tuesdays, 10am-3pm: Drop-in Centre. Come and tell us about your garden, get advice, buy gardening supplies and share lunch. 12-1pm: Shared Lunch. Bring some vegetarian food, share a meal and chat about growing food. (not 27 December or 3 January).