Community Food

What does the jargon mean?

Eating Seasonal – Eating seasonally means eating food that is naturally ripe and ready to harvest in your local area at this time of the year, instead of buying imported produce. This reduces the carbon footprint of your food and is a much more sustainable way to eat.

Organic – Organic foods are grown without the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides and organic animal products such as eggs are produced without the use of antibiotics or hormones.    

Farm to Fork – This phrase can be used to mean that food is locally sourced, and it is also used to explain all the stages your food goes through from growing the plants in the field, to being eaten in your home. 

Shop Local – Shopping local means shopping at independent retailers local to your community rather than going to large retailers such as supermarkets. This type of shopping helps to support small businesses in your area and keeps the money within your community. 

Community Growing & Allotments 

There are many types of community growing projects in South & East Lincolnshire, including allotments, school projects and gardening groups, which are great to get involved with if you want to learn and socialise with likeminded people whilst enjoying the benefits of being outside. 

Having an allotment can help you learn more about where your food comes from as well as saving money by growing your own and reducing food waste. Allotments can also provide a haven for wildlife and support your health through gentle exercise.   

Please follow the link to find community growing projects in your area:- Incredible Edible in Lincolnshire – Greater Lincolnshire Food Partnership 

Gardening for nature can be very rewarding and is a good way to maintain your allotment or garden. The Wildlife Trust provide a number of guides about how to do this on the link:-  Wildlife gardening | The Wildlife Trusts

Orchards 

Traditional orchards are known to support a wide variety of wildlife, particularly pollinators, and they are a priority habitat, which means that they are considered to be under threat and in need of conservation. They are traditionally planted in a grid-style layout to enable maximum light and air flow through the orchard.

Orchards store carbon and increase biodiversity, as well as providing additional social, health and wellbeing benefits to support people through connecting and interacting with nature and each other. Creating new orchards in urban settings can also help to improve access to green space, which supports better health and wellbeing. Establishing a community orchard also provides an opportunity for community events such as Wassails and Apple Days which can bring communities together.   

South & East Lincolnshire Council’s Partnership runs a community orchard scheme and if you are interested in finding out more about this please contact heather.prescott@e-lindsey.gov.uk

Orchards do not require a large amount of maintenance or specialist knowledge to care for, however it is important that some maintenance is done to enable them to thrive. Planning regular visits to look around your orchard will be beneficial for you to see whether the trees look healthy, and assess what extra care they might need, such as extra watering during summer months. This monitoring will also enable you to see whether the trees are struggling with any pests or diseases. Tree bases should be cleared of grass and weeds regularly to stop unwanted competition for the water and nutrients in the soil and adding mulch and a natural fertiliser (such as chicken manure pellets) can also support your trees health. Formative pruning in the early years is vital to achieve a good shape which allows light and air to pass through the tree and will support better yields of fruit. Fruits trees such as apples and pears should always be pruned during winter when the trees are dormant to reduce the risk of infection, but stone fruit like plums should be pruned in summer during their growing season.