01592 858458

222 High Street, KY1 1JT

info@greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk

Abundance Kirkcaldy

Abundance Kirkcaldy is a new project to harvest the seasonal glut of local fruit like apples, pear and plums. Each year hundreds of fruit trees go unpicked either because people don’t notice them, may not be physically able to harvest them or there is just too much fruit at one time. We can offer a team of volunteers to help harvest fruit and redistribute any unwanted or surplus to the community on a non-profit basis – to community groups, nurseries and individuals. We may also juice some of the fruit and make jams, chutneys and preserves to redistribute or sell.

If you have a fruit tree and want help with harvesting please contact us – you’ll get the first pick of the fruit and we’ll take the surplus. If you’ve noticed a fruit tree that isn’t being harvested then please let us know about it.

And if you’re interested in helping with picking, distribution or processing please contact us. Volunteers have the pleasure of eating fresh, ripe fruit from the tree, finding out more about urban food growing and working alongside enthusiastic people of all ages. You’ll need to have some free time between August and the end of October, usually at the weekend.
Please also contact us if you would like to receive fresh fruit for your community group.

Get in touch at info@greenerkirkcaldy or call us on 01592 858458.

Photography Competition – win £100 in vouchers!

Take the Greener Kirkcaldy Photo Challenge, get your skills noticed and win £100 in vouchers.

We all love to see our own photographs published – here’s your chance! Greener Kirkcaldy has teamed up with the Kirkcaldy Photographic Society to launch a photo competition. We’d like to invite local photographers of all levels of ability (apart from professional photographers) to submit a maximum of three beautiful and unusual images which display your interpretation of ‘Greener Kirkcaldy’.

The competition will be run in two categories (Under 16 and Adult) with a winner and finalists in each. The deadline for entries is 10th September 2010.

How to enter

Submit up to 3 (up to 2Mb) photographs reflecting your interpretation of ‘Greener Kirkcaldy’.  Email your entries to info@greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk or send digital images on a CD to: Greener Kirkcaldy, 222 High Street, Kirkcaldy KY1 1JT marked ‘photo competition’. Please make sure that each entry is labelled with your name, address, telephone number and email. Also provide a title and a brief description of what you have photographed, where the shot was taken and its relevance to our environment.

The closing date for entries is 10th September 2010. Images will be judged by a panel consisting of members of Kirkcaldy Photographic Society and Greener Kirkcaldy.

Competition Rules

1. An entrant can submit a maximum of 3 photos.
2. In the spirit of the competition, it is suggested that photos should have been taken locally, or have local significance.
3. All images must be submitted as digital files in jpeg format.
4. Digital images should be of high resolution and be submitted by email (maximum file size 2MB), or on CD.
5. Images should be enhanced only to remove spots or scratches and not be manufactured by photo-imaging programs.
6. Entrants must be the sole author and owner of copyright of all images entered. Copies of other peoples photos will not be allowed.
7. Copyright of all images submitted remains with the respective entrants. Where Greener Kirkcaldy use an image, the photographer will be credited. The purpose of the competition is promoting the understanding of green issues in the area. Consequently it must be understood that each entrant grants Greener Kirkcaldy a licence to feature competition entries in its publications or website, for a period of no more than five years.
8. The competition is not open to employees of Greener Kirkcaldy.
9. All entries are submitted at the owners risk. Greener Kirkcaldy cannot accept responsibility for damage or loss. Entries will not be returned to entrants.
10. Winners will be notified by 24th September 2010.
11. Greener Kirkcaldy reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules if necessary.
12. If the winner proves to be non-contactable after reasonable attempts to do so, Greener Kirkcaldy reserves the right to either offer a prize to a runner-up or to re-offer the prize in a later competition.
13. These rules are governed by the laws of Scotland.
14. The decision of the judges is final.

Types of photograph permitted – any photo that highlights the positive or negative consequences of our actions towards our planet. Composite or trick photos are not allowed and may be disqualified if detected. Spots and scratches may be edited out and brightness and contrast may be adjusted. However, cropping, cloning and photo-manipulation by means of programs such as Photoshop or Paintshop Pro, will be considered to be against the spirit of the competition.

The main objective of this competition is to raise awareness amongst the entrants and the people of the Kirkcaldy area, about our local environment and the greater environmental issues faced by our society. The competition also has the objective of instilling passion in the fascinating hobby that is photography.

Free TV ‘Power Down’ energy-saver

The Power Down energy-saver.

Those little red stand-by lights on your household appliances are needlessly wasting energy and costing you money, but eliminating standby use in our homes is not always easy. A TV Power Down will save you money and hassle by automatically switching off any equipment linked to your TV when you switch off your TV, without having to turn anything off at the mains. When you switch your TV back on again, everything else connected to it will be powered up and ready to use.

Greener Kirkcaldy are currently giving away TV Power Downs (worth £16 each) when you complete a quick Home Energy Check questionnaire about your home. To take advantage of this offer, simply drop into the Greener Kirkcaldy Environmental Advice Centre at 222 High Street and claim this clever, money saving gadget!

Greener Kirkcaldy Cyclists Gear Up For Summer

Now that the summer is finally here (fingers crossed) more people want to be riding their bikes. To celebrate national bike week, encourage more people to cycle to work and promote a greener and healthier means of travel, Greener Kirkcaldy held the first of its free Bicycle Maintenance Workshops on Saturday 19th June.

Fifteen local people brought their bikes to the event run in association with Bike Works Fife. The attendees took part in demos covering a variety of different aspects of basic bike maintenance while receiving advice about their own bike.

Nan from Bike Works Fife said “Maintaining and repairing your bike isn’t rocket science. All you need are a few tools and a little knowledge.” So with workshop tools at hand, the participants spent a sunny couple of hours receiving invaluable instruction on roadside repairs and advice on how to keep their bikes in tip-top condition.

If you missed out on this time and would like to attend future events, then join our mailing list via the website. We’ll keep you up-to-date with what’s coming next!

Wild Food Walk a success

Greener Kirkcaldy’s first Wild Food Walk was held on Saturday 22nd May, in glorious sunshine. Tony Wilson, plant and wild food expert from Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, led a 23-strong group of intrepid foragers who gathered for our first wild food event. Our foray led us along the edge of the Beveridge Park, up along Wizard’s Walk and down around the area of the old Mill Dam. Over the course of two hours the participants identified and tasted a multitude of plants, some of which can also be found in many local back gardens.

Some of the plants we found along the way were:

• Nettles – steam like spinach or make into a soup
• Ground elder – use chopped as a herb
• Cow Parsley – leaves are excellent made into a soup
• Burdock Root – julienne and sauté
• Sweet Cicely – use the leaves raw as a great addition to salad dressings or omelettes
• Garlic Mustard – great raw in salads
• Chickweed – use tender leaves raw in salads
• Hogweed – chop and boil or fry

Sourcing and eating wild food really opens your eyes, your mind and heart to an appreciation of and connection to the natural world around you. Please, however, do ensure that you correctly identify all plants before eating them. Tony’s recommended books are: Wild Food by Rodger Phillips; Food for Free by Richard Mabey.

Many thanks to Tony and indeed to all of you who came along! For those who are disappointed to have missed out, further walks will be held in the Autumn – join our mailing list for the latest information.