Oxford Get-Together

15 September 200828 January 2019

Oxford: Final Update

For those of you coming to the Oxford meeting on 20 September, here is a little last minute information.

Important! Don’t pay the entrance fee at the Botanic Garden. Just tell them you are there for the Food Growing Bloggers Get-Together. The entrance fee is included in the price of our room, and I will collect 15 pounds from everyone later to cover our expenses.

There are a few spaces available if anyone still wants to come. Please email me, leave a comment here or call my mobile number below. After Thursday it’s safer to call, because I may not have regular access to the Internet as I’ll be traveling.

Tentative Schedule

9:30 – 10:30 Coffee and tea. Please arrive at this time, and spend a little time chatting with everyone.

10:30 – 11:10 Ben from Real Seeds will give a presetation about seed saving in general and the seeds he sells.

11:15 – 11:30 I will talk a bit about the garlic I’m growing.

11:30 – 11:45 Simon will talk about allotment related things

11:45 – 12:30 Seed swap

12:30 – 1:30 Picnic (indoors if necessary)

1:30 – 5:30 Time to visit the Botanic Garden, or use our room for more coffee and tea.

Route information to the Botaic Garden is here.

My mobile telephone number is: +31 6 4010 9417

For the picnic, be sure to bring everything you need to eat or drink with (plates, cups, etc). It also might be handy if you bring something to sit on. Please try not to bring excess trash, because we are responsible for disposing of our trash ourselves. We can accommodate a reasonable amount of trash. Remember to think about bringing things from your garden to share, but don’t worry if you don’t have anything along these lines to offer.

A simple kitchen is available for our use, but we have been asked not to prepare any food there because it is not licensed for catering. If you need to rinse a few vegetables, need some hot water, or need to do a little washing up afterwards, these should be no problem.

A few people have not yet confirmed. There is still space if you want to come, but please get in touch first to confirm, because it is still possible we could run out of spaces. I would also appreciate hearing if you have decided not to come.

People with a * next to their name have confirmed.

Bifurcated Carrots (2)*
MustardPlaster (2)*
Spade Work (1)*
Daughter of the Soil (1)*
The plot thickens (1)*
Joanna’s Food (1)*
Growing Our Own (2)
A Blog Called Fuggles (2)
Veg Plotting (1)*
Soilman’s Allotment Blog (1)*
My Tiny Plot (1)
Manor Stables Veg Plot (2)*
Fluffius Muppetus (1)*
NomeGrown (1)
Hills and Plains (1)*
Speaker: Ben – Real Seeds (1)*

8 August 200814 June 2009

Oxford – Please Confirm!

It’s been a little while since I last posted an update on the status of the upcoming meeting in Oxford, so I thought I would do a quick post.

Please Confirm Your Attendance by 20 August

The following bloggers have said they may attend.

Those marked with a * have already confirmed, or I’m pretty sure are going to come, and don’t need to reconfirm.

The number next to the blog name is the number of seats I have reserved for you.

Bifurcated Carrots (2)*
MustardPlaster (2)
Spade Work (1)
Daughter of the Soil (1)
The plot thickens (1)*
Joanna’s Food (1)*
Growing Our Own (2)
The smallest smallholding (2)
A Blog Called Fuggles (2)
Veg Plotting (1)
Soilman’s Allotment Blog (1)*
My Tiny Plot (1)
Manor Stables Veg Plot (1)
Fluffius Muppetus (2)*
NomeGrown (1)
A Nice Green Leaf (1)*
Hills and Plains (1)*
Horticultural (1)
Speaker: Real Seeds (1)*

Total people attending: 25

Total number of seats available: 25

Please check to make sure the information I have here is correct, and let me know if it’s not as soon as possible! If you need an extra seat, I can probably figure something out. If you have an extra seat, please let me know!

If I don’t hear from you by 20 August, I will try to contact you directly. If I can’t get a firm answer from anyone by 1 September, I won’t necessarily cancel your reservation unless someone comes along who says they want to come. If you are still unsure by 1 September, you are welcome to wait until the last minute to see if there’s still space available.

If there is anyone else who wants to come, let me know. If I have unconfirmed seats on 1 September, I will happily offer them to you. At the moment I have no waiting list, and it seems likely at least one or two people listed above won’t attend.

It’s still the intention to find a place for everyone who wants to attend, if at all possible.

Speaker

We have one speaker already arranged. The Real Seed Catalogue have said they would send someone to meet with and speak to us.

We might consider a second speaker if anyone has concrete ideas. The best thing would be if you contacted the person you were thinking of first and get an agreement in principle they would be available, then give me contact information and I will confirm it with them.

It needs to be clear to me the person is appropriate for our meeting.

Costs

I am still expecting the costs to be between £10-15. It depends on how many people show up to share the costs, so I will calculate it on the day.

The cost of entrance to the Oxford Botanic garden is included in the price of the room we have reserved. Please don’t pay the usual entrance fee, just tell them you are there for the food growing get-together.

Place and Time

20 September 2008, 9:30am – 5:30pm

Oxford Botanic Garden, High Street, Oxford

Please arrive between 9:30am – 10:30am for coffee and tea. We will begin shortly thereafter.

Closer to the time I will publish a proposed schedule for the day. Much of the time will just be spent socializing, and perhaps visiting the gardens, but there will be a few planned speakers as well as the picnic and seed swap.

Picnic

Rain or shine we will have a picnic, so bring any food you want to share with others. Since most of us are gardeners, consider bringing something from your garden, but anything you want to bring is fine.

Also bring something to sit on, and anything else you want for the picnic.

Our room can be locked, so personal belongings can be left inside while we go outdoors.

In case of bad weather, we can eat indoors.

Seed Swap

Be sure to bring any seeds or other propagation materials you want to share with others. I will bring some seeds and other things from my garden.

The most interesting of course are seeds you have grown and saved yourself, but don’t be afraid to bring any seeds you think anyone else might be interested in.

You don’t need to bring seeds in order to receive them from others.

We Have a Banner

FoGroBloMe

For more information see Simon’s post.

Phone Number

I will have my mobile phone with me on the day, and you are welcome to call anytime until then if you have any questions: +31 6 40109417.

21 June 200814 June 2009

Food Growing Get-Together, Speakers Needed!

Date and Location

These are now confirmed, and as follows:

20 September 2008, 9:30am – 5:30pm

Oxford Botanic Garden, High Street, Oxford

Coffee and Tea provided

Costs

I am not looking to make any profit on this, so I will total up the costs at the end and ask everyone to pay a portion of this according to the number of people who attend.

I expect this to be about £10-15 per person, including entrance fee to the garden.

An International Event

Kate from Hills and Plains Seedsavers will travel from Australia to be with us! I will come from Amsterdam.

Accommodation in Oxford

I expect most people attending will travel to and from their homes, but if you want to stay overnight in Oxford rooms are available at some of the colleges. I will be staying at Queen’s College, within walking distance of the Botanic Garden.

Limited Spaces Available

There are a very limited number of seats available. The room we have holds exactly 25 people, and there is simply no space for anyone else to stand to the side or to squeeze in one more chair. I hope to accommodate everyone who wants to attend, but may have to turn away some late comers. It’s very important you tell me if you decide later not to attend, otherwise your seat will be empty and someone else may miss the opportunity to come.

For anyone who has not already told me they want to attend, I’m afraid I won’t be able to confirm space until closer to the time. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested.

Are you expecting to come, but you don’t see a link to your blog below? Get in touch, it probably means I’ve forgotten about you.

Is there a link to your blog below, but you don’t plan to come? Let me know! Someone else wants your seat(s).

I will be sending emails in August to everyone confirming their attendance. If you will be away all or most of August, please let me know in advance so I can confirm this with you before you leave.

Picnic

Also bring something to sit on, and anything else you want for the picnic.

Our room can be locked, so personal belongings can be left inside while we go outdoors.

In case of bad weather, we can eat indoors.

Seed Swap

Be sure to bring any seeds or other propagation materials you want to share with others. I will bring some seeds and other things from my garden.

The most interesting of course are seeds you have grown and saved yourself, but don’t be afraid to bring any seeds you think anyone else might be interested in.

You don’t need to bring seeds in order to receive them from others.

Speakers Needed!

At the moment we don’t have any speakers scheduled, except I plan to say a few words about what I’m growing in my garden. If you would like to talk about your garden or anything else, please let me know. Please let me know if you have other ideas about people we might invite, or just things you would like to hear about.

With or without speakers the event will go ahead. If necessary we will just chat with each other, or walk around the gardens, but it will be a lot more interesting if we can find some people to speak to us too.

Sunday

The main event is on Saturday, but I will be around Sunday as well. Are you interested in making informal plans on this day too? Let me know. Kate from Hills and Plains will be around Sunday too. I may visit some people’s gardens or allotments this day.

Other Get-Togethers

Ours is not the only blogger’s get together being planned! On August 24th in a number of places in Australia, France and the US there will be several blogging/food growing gardener get-togethers. Have a look on Ian’s blog for more details. If you are planning or know of other get-togethers, please leave a comment below and let people know about it.

MustardPlaster
Spade Work
Daughter of the Soil
The plot thickens
Vegmonkey and the Mrs.
Joanna’s Food
Growing Our Own
The smallest smallholding
A Blog Called Fuggles
Veg Plotting
Soilman’s Allotment Blog
My Tiny Plot
Manor Stables Veg Plot
Fluffius Muppetus
NomeGrown
Purple Podded Peas
A Nice Green Leaf
Hills and Plains

28 May 200814 June 2009

Food Growing Get-Together, Looking for a Place

Those of you reading this who haven’t seen the previous posts, we are planning a food growing bloggers get-together in the UK. I made a second post about it here.

A suggestion was made to ask the Oxford Botanical gardens if they had space for us, and they do have a room we could use. It only holds 20-25 people, and we could use it if it rains for an indoor picnic. I don’t think there is a kitchen available.

The only issue here is price. The room costs £150 for the day. On top of that, admission to the gardens is £3. If for example 20 people come, this means about £11 per person. This is of course just for the room and gardens, and perhaps there would be more expenses, I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s safer to count on about £15 per person. If we fill the room to capacity and have no other expenses it could be less than £10 each.

How do these costs compare to what most people will have to pay for transportation?

We are already up to 25 people, but several people have said they may not be able to come. I think a few more people will pop up who want to come, but in the end I think 20-25 is a reasonable number to plan on. It’s possible we may have to turn a few late comers away, but I think that’s the price for needing to plan something now.

Some other people mentioned they might know of other possibilities, or would have a look. Has anyone else found anything?

I really don’t have any idea what everyone was expecting to pay. If we are unable to find a cheaper place, does this meet everyone’s expectations as far as price goes?

MustardPlaster
Spade Work
Daughter of the Soil
The plot thickens
Vegmonkey and the Mrs.
Joanna’s Food
Kitchen Garden in France
Growing Our Own
The smallest smallholding
A Blog Called Fuggles
Veg Plotting
Soilman’s Allotment Blog
My Tiny Plot
Manor Stables Veg Plot
Fluffius Muppetus
NomeGrown
Purple Podded Peas
A Nice Green Leaf
Hills and Plains

11 May 200814 June 2009

Food Growing Get-Together, Part 2

In a post a few weeks ago I proposed a Food Growing Bloggers Get-Together in the UK.

So far roughly 23 people, either publicly in comments or privately in email, have expressed an interest in coming (some of them very tentatively). It seems like every few days another person pops up, so I would say this number is likely to grow. I’m guessing that even if a few people on the current list drop out, more people will emerge, and around 20-30 people will come in the end.

It should make for a nice get-together!

So Far

It seems like Oxford, Berkshire or somewhere nearby is a good location for most people.

Saturday is better than Sunday for most people.

No one has expressed a preference for a particular date, so I suggest we plan for 20 September.

There seems to be a lot of interest in organizing a symposium.

Most people seem okay with something along the lines of a picnic or barbecue, indoors if necessary.

We need an indoor area to use, both for presentations and for our picnic in case it rains.

A number of people would prefer to meet at or near a pub, because we don’t know each other.

Did I forget anything?

Venue

There is not complete agreement on the type of location this should be held at.

For example there are people coming with little or no affinity with flowers, and while I don’t think anyone is against flowers per se, some feel meeting at a public gardens might be a distraction from the stated purpose of a food growers get-together.

I personally am very oriented toward non-commercial plants, and meeting some place that either sold or promoted commercial plant varieties would be a distraction for me. I think there might be others that feel this way too.

I think we have to be a little careful to choose a neutral location for the main Saturday event.

If anyone is around on the Sunday following the event, I would be happy to make less formal plans for a group visit to a public garden somewhere!

There have been some suggestions of trying to use University facilities, allotment facilities or perhaps a community centre, preferably with a kitchen, loo and picnic facilities nearby for use if the weather is nice.

Can anyone help with specific suggestions of locations near where they live that might be suitable for this, together with approximate costs?

Does anyone have connections with the University at Oxford, that might allow us to make use of classroom or other facilities? I had a look at the University website, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to formally request this kind of thing, but these facilities do of course exist. This sort of thing seems to be administered at the college level.

Presentations

What would everyone like to see in terms of presentations?

Is there anyone who would like to give a presentation, perhaps about what they are growing or interested in?

I might be interested in saying something about what I am growing, and perhaps hosting a mini heirloom seed swap.

Does anyone have specific suggestions of interesting people we might invite to talk to us?

Costs

Finally, what does everyone think is a reasonable amount to ask people to pay for something like this?

It’s certainly possible to do this totally for free. We may not be able to find free indoor accommodations besides a restaurant, pub or other facility where we would likely be expected to purchase something. What do people think of this?

While we can probably find people who will come and talk to us for free, some people who give talks at events like this expect to at least have their travel costs paid, and sometimes want a honorarium.

Should we only look for people who will talk for free and pay their own travel costs, or should we collect some money for this?

Can anyone think of anything else we should collect money for and provide as part of this?

What would everyone think about paying £5-10 (or more?) per person?

Links