Waste streams – November has been the month of the stone (and reinforced concrete). We have now unearthed enough stone to build the great wall of Hounslow – fortunately one of the courses we are hoping to offer is dry stone walling – although we hope to unite rather than divide communities with it!

The Faggs Road Lottery – HCFA is delighted to see that, after a lot of hard work, the site has finally been opened up to private plot holders. The plots seem to have been allocated according to the vagaries of a roulette wheel – in no particular order. Turn up, sample the soil, take measurements, .....is it south facing?..., stake your flag in the ground and hope for the best. Together with Continental Landscapes, HCFA is trying to ensure the site is well planned in the future to accommodate both HCFA and private plot holders.

Forks, the economic miracle – this month has also seen a number of broken forks repaired and broken again and repaired …… someone should tell Gordon Brown that we have found the magic bullet for jobs and the economy!

The perfect fire – ingredients; one old shed, a break in the weather, a generous helping of weeds and roots, a splash of petrol and a match (or 50). Add to this good food and live music and a week later the fire, taste buds and eardrums will still be a glow.

All dug – four months later and HCFA has cleared and dug over an acre of land. Granted a plough could have done it quicker but without the dexterity of the human hand it would have left much waste in its wake. We did it the hard way but sometimes the Luddite philosophy is best.
 
Further details can be found at: www.hcfa.org.uk/faggs-road-site/plots-a-work-schedule

The Heart and Soil

Without members and volunteers enthusiasm and dedication a large part of the Faggs Road site would remain a wasteland today.

Thank you – This month saw a total of 122 hours of labour donated to the project. One Saturday the cross winds were so bad even the planes were aborting their landing. “Abort” was far from the lips of the dedicated HCFA following. Work continued in spite of the weather and the site is really starting to benefit from the hard work. Pictures of the site can be viewed at www.hcfa.org.uk.

Acorns to Oak trees

HCFA is very grateful to Continental Landscapes for agreeing to allocate 20 plots to the Association free of charge for a year. This is a real breakthrough in our development and hope it will catalyse the start of great things – thank you.

Show me the money – well we can smell it. HCFA has asked members to contribute towards the HCFA fund since allotment fees have been waived. This will be our first down payment. HCFA has also applied for a grant of £1000 specifically earmarked for first time training providers – fingers crossed. 

Early learning – HCFA has started to look into putting together a training package. HCFA has been researching the possibility of linking with a local college to provide a City and Guilds qualification in horticulture.  So far HCFA has had a positive response and we are looking to train trustees and members to deliver the qualification.

Green awards – HCFA has been nominated for the Green Guardian Awards. A separate, more prestigious award, should go to whoever can accurately define the term “being green”. However, HCFA must be a strong contender if the judging criteria have anything to do with the colour – the Faggs Road site is now a carpet of green manure.

Reparation (since it didn’t do much good after WW1 we’ll just call it lending a hand) – HCFA has started to work with the Hounslow Youth Offending Services. HCFA gave the young adults the opportunity to work of some steam and get their hands dirty. The Faggs Road site isn’t the place for idle hands – the devil has little opportunity to make light work when you are lifting boulders from the soil.