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What's New at Offshoots?
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The Offshoots 10th Birthday Bash
- Saturday 8th September 2007
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We are a decade old and, thanks to all the hard work of the volunteers, management committee
members and friends of the site, we are stronger than ever. In order to celebrate our birthday and lay down the foundations for the
next 10 years, we are having a big ‘DO’. Everybody is invited and you can look forward to the following free entertainment and workshops
on the day:
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- Introduction to Permaculture workshops @ 12.30 pm and again at 2.30 pm
- Home composting workshops @ 12 noon and again at 2.00 pm
- Beekeeping workshops @ 11.30 am and again at 1.30 pm
- Cob oven cooking @ 1.00 pm
- Offshoots guided tour @ 3.00 pm
- Puppet theatre in the yurt @ 12 noon and again at 3 pm
- Whistle- and flute-making workshops throughout day
- Live music throughout the day
- Carbon-footprint workshops throughout the day
- Permaculture demonstration stand
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Green Woodworking (click on images to enlarge)
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April 2006 has seen the beginning of our green woodworking courses. The courses are taking place in a purpose-built
cabin made with timber from the surrounding woodlands, roof slates from locally demolished houses, wool from local
indigenous sheep (Lancashire Lonk!) and labour from local volunteers!
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The courses, being run throughout the summer, autumn and winter, are led by Glen Roberts, a local bodger from Bolton.
Glen has been bodgering for most of his life and is a highly skilled, patient teacher who likes to sing while he works!!!
Glen is tutoring local groups in the art of making milking stools, chess sets, Welsh love spoons, shave horses and Yurts!
(Mongolian nomads' tents).
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The courses have proved to be such a success that the Yurt-building team has received commissions for two more. They
will be built during the winter months here on site. If you are interested in coming down to see how it's done, or
indeed to get involved, then please contact Phill through the contact page.
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| Composting Japanese Knotweed |
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Spring 2006 has heralded the beginning of our unique scientific research trial into the possibility of 'in-vessel'
composting of Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica). Groundwork Pennine Lancashire, through the Offshoots
Permaculture project, is the only organisation in the country to have been given support by the Environment Agency
and DEFRA to attempt this trial.
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This groundbreaking research work has generated a lot of interest and, as a consequence, we have already been
interviewed on Radio 4 and appeared on local TV news explaining our plan to design an environmentally safe way of
dealing with this £1.56 billion national problem (DEFRA estimate, 2005).
We have also just secured our first tranche of funding for this research (many thanks to Andrew at Lancashire County Developments
Ltd) and are investigating obtaining a patent for this innovative project.
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Japanese knotweed is a non-native, invasive plant which grows just about anywhere and is wreaking havoc in the British
countryside. It is a huge environmental problem which is usually dealt with by herbicide spraying over three years or
by digging up the plant and surrounding soil for disposal in landfill sites.
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We cannot discuss our detailed future plans, as we are now subject to confidentiality agreements. We believe, however,
that with the assistance of our academic partner (Myerscough College) and our technical partner (Accelerated Compost)
we may be able to not only find a way of solving this big eco-problem but also provide ourselves with a sustainable income.
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