Photo Galleries

How to Grow Flax.

In August of this year (2011) we attended an introductory course on How to Grow Flax run by MERCi, in East Manchester. The following gallery of pictures summarises the stages involved in growing, harvesting and eventually processing the flax. For more information, about this exciting urban growing project please click here.

Introduction.
Uses.
History.
Planting.
Harvesting.
Retting.
Laying Out.
Drying.
Scutching.
Heckling.
Processing.
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Hand Pollination of Courgettes.

If you have a variety of courgette you are particualrly fond of, why not save some seeds for planting next season? You can't just take the seeds from a mature courgette because there is no telling what its cross-pollinated with and you may get a surprise when the new courgettes begin to grow.  However, if you intervene early enough you can ensure a pure variety by hand-pollinating the female courgette flowers. 

The following gallery gives a simple introduction to the hand pollination of courgettes which can also be used on marrows, pumpkins and other squash.

Courgette Plants.
Female Flower.
Male Flower.
Flower Picking.
Remove Petals.
Open Female Flower.
Pollinate.
Repeat.
Tape Shut.
Label.
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Sieben Linden Eco Village

Sieben Linden (Seven Limes in English) is an eco-village in the heart of Germany. It is home to over a hundred and twenty people and is an inspiring example of sustainable living. Established in 1997 it has been growing steadily with the aim of housing 250-300 residents.

Chris visited the village in July 2010 as part of a permaculture design course and returned with photos, stories and information to inform Kindling's development.

Tags: 
Agriculture
horticulture
social change
sustainable activism
sustainable living
sustainable production
Sieben Linden 1
Sieben Linden 2
Sieben Linden 3
Sieben Linden 4
Sieben Linden 5
Sieben Linden 6
Sieben Linden 7
Sieben Linden 8
Sieben Linden 9
Sieben Linden 10
Sieben Linden 11
Sieben Linden 12
Sieben Linden 13
Sieben Linden 14
Sieben Linden 15
Sieben Linden 16
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Apple Grafting Course

Over a weekend in March 2010, Kindling in partnership with Abundance Manchester and OTAGS ran an introductory course on Apple Grafting (cutting & combining a shoot of one tree to the rootstock of another and binding them together until they grow into each other).
The following gallery gives a simple introduction to apple grafting with photos from the Sunday course at Parrswood Rural Education Centre kindly run by Adam Davies.

Tags: 
Agriculture
sustainable food
horticulture
manchester
sustainable production
organic
The Benefits.
Adam Davies running the Apple Grafting Course.
The Basics.
Flip chart diagram of apple grafting.
Tools & Equipment.
Tools and equipment for apple grafting.
Practising on Willow.
Practising on willow twigs.
Whip & Tongue.
Whip and tongue grafting techniques.
Side Grafting.
Grafting onto thicker rootstock.
Taping.
Taping the graft.
Rootstock.
Rootstock.
Types of Rootstock.
Flip chart diagram of different types of rootstock.
Scions.
Bundle of collected scions.
Wax.
Melting grafting wax.
Waxing the Graft.
Waxing the graft.
Waxing the End.
Wax on the end of the scion.
Planting.
The planted resulting apple tree.
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Orchard Management Course

We’ve attended a few orchard management courses (the latest by Cheshire BTCV in December 2009) to learn the basics of looking after apple trees & have a go at some winter pruning. The following gallery of pictures gives a taste of the issues and techniques involved.

Tags: 
Agriculture
sustainable food
horticulture
manchester
sustainable production
organic
Introduction.
Ripe apple still on the tree.
History.
Timperley community orchard.
Conservation.
Duddon St. Peter's Primary School orchard with eight year old trees.
Why Prune?
Two people reviewing a tree's shape before deciding what branches to prune.
When to Prune.
Pruning impliments next to a pruned tree.
Considerations.
Worcester apple tree variety.
Tools.
Box of pruning tools.
Pruning Techniques.
Pruning branches at a sloped angle.
Cutting Branches.
Cutting load bearing branches.
Rootstock.
The trunk of an apple tree showing where it has been grafted onto rootstock.
Reducing Vigour.
Methods of stressing a tree to encourage more fruit.
Varieties.
Withington Welter variety of apple tree.
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FeedingManchester #2 Event

In October 2009 the second FeedingManchester events took place with twenty organisations from across Greater Manchester continuing to look at practical and strategic ways to increase access to sustainable food in the city. The day involved two informative and inspiring presentations by Kath Dalmeny from SUSTAIN and Jenny Hall from Climate Friendly Food, with the afternoon dedicated to workshops on exploring ways to influence the delivery of Manchester City Council's Climate Change Action Plan.

Tags: 
Agriculture
sustainable food
urban
social enterprise
manchester
sustainable activism
The publicity.
Intro to the day.
The agenda.
Attendees.
Networking.
Local & national policy.
Climate friendly food.
Climate friendly farming.
Afternoon workshop.
Afternoon workshop #2.
Website planning.
Community Presentation.
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FeedingManchester #1 Event

June 2009 saw the first of a series of FeedingManchester events, looking at practical and strategic ways to increase access to local organic food in Greater Manchester. The day brought together thirty local sustainable food practitioners, ranging from commercial growers to restaurant owners, grocers and community growing projects.

Tags: 
Agriculture
sustainable food
urban
social enterprise
manchester
sustainable activism
The publicity.
Intro to Kindling.
Introducing the day.
Food projects.
Alan Schofield.
Alan Schofield #2.
Marketing workshop.
Community workshop.
Workshop feedback.
Allocating tasks.
Next event planning.
Commercial workshop.
Commercial workshop
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Beekeeping Course

Manchester Beekeepers' hold regular courses at their head quarters in Heaton Park in North Manchester. In the spring of 2008 we attended an introductory course, to learn about the importance of bees, the basic steps of looking after a hive and making honey. Their website can be found at: www.mdbka.com and offers beekeeping advice and information about their courses.

For further information about beekeeping visit the British Beekeepers' Association website: www.britishbee.org.uk.

Tags: 
sustainable food
urban
manchester
sustainable production
heritage
Beekeeping.
The hives.
The bee suit.
Bee smoker.
Inside the hive.
Inside the hive 2.
Inside the hive 3.
Super Frame.
Making Honey.
Making Honey 2.
Making Honey 3.
Manchester honey!
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Seed Saving Course

In the autumn of 2008 Kindling in partnership with Old Trafford Amateur Gardeners and Garden Organic ran an introductory course on Seed Saving.
The following gallery gives a simple introduction to seed saving with photos from the day and from Vicky Cooke’s presentation, which she was kind enough to give permission.

For more information, visit Garden Organic (www.gardenorganic.org.uk) and support their crucial heritage seed library which aims to conserve and make available vegetable varieties that are not widely grown.
 

Tags: 
horticulture
organic
food production
The basics.
Why save seeds?
Pollination.
Pollination 2.
Cross Pollination.
Isolation.
How many?
Harvesting.
Selection.
Harvesting tomato seeds.
Harvesting tomato seeds 2.
Harvesting tomato seeds 3.
Storing seeds.
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Charcoal Making Course

In June of this year (2009) we attended an introductory course on Charcoal Making by Bodfari Charcoal. The following gallery of pictures summarises the stages involved in making sustainable lump charcoal using a ring kiln. For more information, either visit BTCV’s online manual or better still attend one of Rod’s courses (www.woodlandskillscentre.co.uk) as they are great value for money.

Tags: 
sustainable production
heritage
resources
The Centre.
Selecting timber.
Preparing timber 1.
Preparing timber 2.
Transportation.
The Ring Kiln.
Selecting the fuel.
Preparing the kiln.
Preparing the Kiln 2.
Filing the kiln.
Filling the kiln 2.
Lighting.
Lighting: 2.
Lighting: 3.
Sealing the lid.
Closing down.
The charcoal.
The charcoal 2.
The charcoal 3.
Emptying the kiln.
Emptying the kiln 2.
Bagging.
The finished charcoal.
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FarmStart Started.
Shipping Container arrives at our FarmStart site.
FarmStart Manchester has started, with 6 people signed up for ¼ acre plots to start their vegetable growing businesses.
Mapping Success.
Open Source Mapping of food growing land in Old Trafford.
We had a lovely sunny evening mapping potential food growing land in Old Trafford.
Growing Stronger.
Moss Side Community Allotment
Three day course on strengthening your Community Growing Project.

The Kindling Trust is a not for profit social enterprise with charitable aims (Company number: 6136029).
Kindling Trust Ltd - Unit 19, 41 Old Birley St, Hulme, Manchester. M15 5RF