2022-03-31-accounts

EAT CARY

Registered Charity No. 1154857

2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements

1[st] April 2021 to 31 March 2022

EAT CARY

Registered Charity No. 1154857

Annual Report for 2021/22

Introduction

We have largely recovered from the constraints of the Covid pandemic and Saturday afternoons have again become a time in the week when we try to meet up to work together and have tea and cake. But everyone is still free to come up at other times to work and harvest. Indeed the unusually hot summer made it imperative to carry out additional watering and plant care, and an evening visit as the day cooled down was a necessity but also a pleasure – sometimes with a glorious sunset thrown in.

Site improvement and maintenance

This year we have been catching up on maintaining and repairing some of the holes in the polytunnel and have invented a means of butyl taping replacement sections into the skin. There are several tears on the top skin . We are intending to hire a cherry picker this month to access the top of the polytunnel and also clean the surface.

This year a boundary fence has been erected separating the school area from the EatCary area. This provides a means to prevent the school's dog frequenting the site and has proved very effective. There is a removable section to allow vehicular access to the EatCary area for major deliveries etc.

The powered equipment is very much showing its age (10 years) however the trend this year has been to reduce the amount of mowing and leave as much as possible for wilding, so the general demand on the equipment has been less. Indeed, EatCary has purchased a scythe and sharpening equipment with a view to using this to replace or reduce the dependence on fossil fuelled mowers and equipment. In the spring we will sell off some of the redundant equipment.

The watering system has performed very well with minimal failure or breakdowns thanks to Steven Rymer and David Holmes . A big thank you to both. The wet beds for seedlings are effective, especially as we have workers willing to come up mid-week to replenish them in hot weather.

We purchased two solid oak raised beds, locally grown and made! These have replaced the failing existing ones. We aim to purchase more in spring 2023.as the remaining old ones deteriorate.

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Growing regime

Exceptional weather this summer made growing anything outdoors quite a challenge. Things coming on earlier – lettuces, broad beans, onions and garlic planted last year, forage beans (meant as green manure but we also ate some!), turnips, sweet peas – and things coming on more recently – carrots, runner and borlotti beans, beetroot – have all done reasonably well, but where the ground became just too dry and we were not able to water adequately we have suffered – potatoes, raspberries, fennel, rhubarb and the Hugelhumps in particular. The strawberry bed was a disaster; partly due to the plants getting old and tired, so we are going for a restart with these – all old plants pulled out and the bed given a good dose of compost ready for new plants in the spring.

In the polytunnel it has been a different story; the

Crystal lemon cucumber and watermelon - exciting new crops in the polytunnel.

timed water feed has provided a good regular supply and almost everything in there has done well – tomatoes, cucumbers, some wonderful melons, watermelons and sweet potatoes (these are a profusion of leaves at present – it remains to be seen what’s under the surface!). Some good aubergines and peppers too; only disappointments seem to have been the cucamelons which have not done nearly as well as in previous years and we have missed the little snacks they provide. The temperature in the polytunnel rose to 45 degrees Celsius on occasion and this seems to have impacted some of the aubergines and peppers adversely. They are recovering now the weather has changed and producing a welcome further flush of produce..

Composting – we have maintained good regular input to our compost-generating boxes and have produced some useful material. There never seems to be enough, but it is worth doing and we need to ensure good regular rotation of the boxes. We have also been using liquid nettle and comfrey feed we prepared last year and are busy making more – smelly but effective. The huge load of mushroom compost we have bought in should provide most of what we need for the coming year, so we can be generous with it – the raspberries, currants and gooseberries could all do with a good dose.

The outside growing area in early summer

The currants and gooseberries which we rescued from pots and bags early in the year and planted out, have managed to survive the dry weather, and with a bit of feeding, should crop well next year. The rhubarb is not doing well and is not a very tasty variety; could do with replacing.

Also planted along the edge nearest the road were some fruit trees – 3 apples, 1 Victoria plum, 1 damson, and a small ‘unknown’ plum. This last one has died, but the others are doing well and should produce a small crop next year.

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We already grow and encourage flowers as companion planting and for pollinators to enjoy. This season David has introduced a bit more diversity in our plant range by planting a few shrubs and small trees – including a mimosa, a bottlebrush, a bay and we have space for more.

In the polytunnel the old grapevine has been removed and gives us another place where something new might be introduced.

. Recruitment and links with other organisations and agencies

Castle Cary is growing, and so is the Eat Cary group! This year has brought forward a steady stream of interested and interesting new members, with diverse skills and ideas, or who simply have some spare time to help out. Community awareness continues to be promoted via the Castle Cary and Ansford newsletter and website, as well as through leaflets in shops and notice boards.

It is so important that youngsters experience the joys of growing vegetables and learn about how food is produced. Following a difficult two years the Beavers will be able to resume their involvement next spring and so we have allocated space for them. The Toybox Preschool will also restart regular sessions and we have many tiny tools and barrows for the youngsters to run around with and, of course, get grubby!

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Winning exhibits - lavender biscuits and
cherry tomatoes
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We were very happy to have the help of a Duke of Edinburgh Scheme silver award student last year, and now we have recruited another who has already proved her worth. As well as work in the polytunnel she is in the process of helping us compile a cookbook focusing on recipes using our produce..

EatCary entered the Castle Cary Gardening Association 2022 Show. The standard of competition was really high despite the heatwave and drought so we were really thrilled to win awards in a number of classes, including a first prize for delicious biscuits flavoured with EatCary lavender as well as two second, one third and a highly commended in the produce classes. Our competitive side was ignited and next year can’t

come soon enough!

Our annual harvest event for members, family and friends was a huge success. All food was provided by the members and prepared from EatCary produce and the table was groaning! We are incredibly lucky to have such a talented and diverse group of people who provided a veritable feast from vegetables originating from around the world.

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The future

We are looking now with all our volunteers at what we will grow for the coming year: Ideas include:

• The raised beds are an important area for growing various things (it seems that carrots are good in these beds provided they are “armoured” against badgers). We want to grow more carrots.

• Experiment with pruning the raspberries – Gardners’ World recently suggested pruning some to just half way down to get both early and late crops.

• As usual we have tried experimental crops this year – celeriac, Florence fennel, asparagus peas – with varying success and we shall find new experiments for the coming

Air Bee&Bee - a hotel for friendly fauna

year. We will also experiment with new

No, it's not a twig. It's a moth!

methods of managing and protecting our crops. One of the exciting advantages of our communal garden is that we have space to do this and learn from the results.

 Consider planting wheat somewhere to produce our own flour; we could then produce food dishes made entirely from our own produce. There’s a challenge!

We continue to garden organically, and to encourage biodiversity and environmental sustainability. We hope the local wildlife

appreciates the bug hotel we have built it (named Air Bee&Bee). We are rewarded for our efforts by the increasing variety of insects and small creatures we observe on site.

We think that with adequate patching our polytunnel skin will last one more year but we must seriously consider what happens after that – and it may require some serious fundraising in order to replace the skin with a new one. We need to review all our equipment both manual and mechanical to consider what replacements we might need in the future.

Our lease comes up for renewal next year, and discussions with Ansford Academy over this will need to be a focus.

October 2022

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EAT CARY

Legal and administrative information

Charity Registration Number : 1154857; Date of registration : 4 December 2013

Financial Year : 1[st] April 2021 - 31[st] March 2022

Trustees at 1 April 2021:

Bernie Logan, Tim Earle-Marsh, Rosemary Rymer, Laura Tilling, Nuri Fontanals

Resignation at 2021 AGM : Ida West

Terms of Office ending at 2022 AGM : Laura Tilling

Coopted during 2021/22: David Holmes and Rosemary Rayner.

To be formally proposed for election at 2022 AGM

Objects :

To advance in life and help local people through providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

To advance the education of the public, including the pupils at Ansford Academy, in the subjects of horticulture, gardening, cooking, healthy eating and related topics.

To advance the education of the local community in the sustainable use, protection and improvement of the natural environment.

Correspondence address:

Marshland, Station Road, Castle Cary, BA7 7BX

Primary Bankers:

The Co-operative Bank Community Direct Plus account

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EAT CARY Registered Charity No. 1154857 statement of financial activities for the year ended 31st March 2022 2021r22 2020121 Income analysis.. Donauon £ 931.12 £ 5.00 Total income £931.12 5.00 Expendltura analysis: Infrastructur& Raised Beds Water bLrtt Water timers Padlock. key safe. etc Sundries £ 387.93 £260.00 £ 36.99 £ 51.90 £ 40.08 £ 67.30 Insurance £100.80 £ 100.80 Total expendlturo £ 588.07 £ 488.73 Bank reconclllallon Balance at 31.03.21: £1.593.10 £ 931.12 £ 588.07 £2.076.83 5.00 Income for year. Expenditure for year. Balance at bank on 31.0322= £ 488.73 £1.936.15 £1.593.10

Independent Examineffs Report on the Receipts and Payments Accounts Roport to the Trustees of Eat Cary (Reglstered Charfty Number 1854857) on the aGcounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 Respectlve responsibllllles of trustees and examiner As the charivs Irustees you are resTX)nsible for the preparations of Ihe accounts" you conslder that th8 audit requirement of sedlons 43{2) Charities Act 1993 (the Act) do8s not apply. It is my responsibility to stste on the basis of pro¢edureB spocified in the General Dlrection given by the Charity Commissioneys under section 43(7) of the ACL whether partlcular Matte￿ have corne to my attention. Ba$ls of Independent examln8rf5 report My examination was carrTed out In accordanc8 wilh the General Directions giv8n by the Charity Commissioners. An oxamlnauon Ir￿deS a review ofthe aco)unting records kept by the charfty and a comparlson of th8 8ccounts presented with those records. It also includes con$lderation of any unusual items or disdosures in the ac￿unts, and seeklng explanatlons from you trustees con￿mIng any matters. Tha procedures undertaken do not provid8 a51 the eviden￿ that would be required in an audit and cOnsequen￿Y I do not 8xpre$s an audit opinlon on the vtew given ty the accounts. Indopendgnt ExamIne￿6 Statement In ¢onnection wltrt my ex8mlnation. no matter has ￿ffle to my attandon whlch gives m8 reasonable cause to belleve that In any matedal respect Ihe requlraments to keep accountlng records In aco)rdance wilh seclton 41 of theAc( and •• io Prepa￿ accounts whlch accord wlth th& aC￿UntIng records and to cornply wlth the accounttng requ1￿Ments of the have not been mel, c 2. to which, In my opinlon, attentton should be ifrawn in order to enabke a prop8r understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned-. Name.. Address: goMk-f2wf