Speakers and Workshops

This will  cover the principles of beekeeping in an urban environment. You can learn the basics about what beekeeping entails and how to care for bees.

Gardening can be a wonderfully satisfying activity for anyone, regardless of age and ability. Ecolocal have developed a community allotment where people can take part in gardening and learn hands-on skills. We run volunteer sessions on Fridays from 10.30am to 1pm and Sundays 1.30-3.30pm.  Come and learn all about it!

Did you know that when growing you don’t just have to stick to the usual old pots?  Oh, no!   Discover how container planting requires different gardening techniques compared to outside gardening and learn thrifty gardening – how to recycle containers, minimise your outlay when growing plants.

Interested in keeping your own chickens but don’t know where to start?  This talk will go through the basics of caring for chickens, what keeping chickens entails, including what to look for when buying your hens, choosing a suitable garden spot for your chickens, daily maintenance and breeds.

Any questions?  We have a range of experienced growers on hand to give advice and help you with your food growing queries.

Scarecrow Spectacular! Make your own mini scarecrow, or join in with our giant scarecrow making sessions …  1pm and 3pm – Giant Scarecrow making  All day – Mini Scarecrow making  

Why not bring your little ones along and have a go at planting and digging potatoes?

Try your hand at seed matching or (for the very brave) ‘Sniff the Whiff’ and you could win £20 worth of vouchers to spend at Wallington Farmers’ Market!

Participants guessed which food goes in which food group as well as picking up free recipe books.

All about dealing with weeds, pests and fertility without the use of chemicals

We did activities for children and families to find out how food grows

We showed participants how to get started in food growing

Why is local food likely to be relevant in the years to come? What is going on locally to produce food? How can you find out more and what’s involved? (Stella Chevallier from EcoLocal)  

In the Performing Arts Marquee. You may of heard a lot about Transition Towns, either on the Archers on BBC radio 4 or perhaps from hearing about processes such as Transition Town Totnes or Transition Town Brixton…. come along and find out about the local Transition Town group and find out what Transition Towns are [...]

In the Performing Arts Marquee.  What are your views on eating meat?  Does it matter?  Why do people go on about it?  Is it just a matter of being kind to animals or are there other considerations?  If so, what are they?  Join Alistair Cruickshank from Surrey Organic Gardening Group and Mike Dees from EcoLocal [...]

In the Performing Arts Marquee.  Mike Dees from EcoLocal talks about the new Local Food Network and Anna Francis from Bioregional tells us the latest on Sutton Community Farm.