Church Garden in Spring

Spring colour in the Church garden

Despite a horrible day for our last “Garden Party” our garden around the Hall is not looking too bad and the daffodils are in full bloom. The snowdrops are now beginning to spread and the crocus, though now past gave a good show of colour. To celebrate all this beauty please join us for our short Easter morning service in the garden on Easter Sunday at 9.00am. Coffee and muffins afterwards to keep you going until the main service.

Fairtrade Fortnight 28 Feb- 13 March 2011

Fairtrade Fortnight

By now I am sure most of you will be able to recognise the Fairtrade symbol that appears on all the goods we sell at the Fairtrade cupboard, on some wine labels and on many other goods from cotton T shirts to bananas. Some think it looks like the yin yang symbol, others that it is a wee man waving. The Fairtrade symbol means

• that a guaranteed minimum price has been paid for a crop or product
• the farmers have greater security through advance payments available on request and are often members of democratically run co-operatives
• they have greater access to global markets and knowledge about current prices
• they meet certain environmental standards to better protect the land, water and soil they rely on for next year’s harvest

• the producers receive additional money-the Fairtrade premium-to invest in the community as it sees fit. This might be a school, new seeds, a well or more equipment.

We would like you to bring in as many product wrappers carrying the Fairtrade mark as you can to add to our Fairtrade Mark wall in the MacFarlane Hall. Please hand them in to the Fairtrade Cupboard in the MacFarlane Hall or leave them on the top. Watch out for the Fairtrade mark appearing elsewhere in the Church and Hall as we “Show off our Label”.

Our Sunday school will also be taking part in an attempt to beat the record for the World’s longest line of hand-made bunting. At present the record stands at 2696 metres. Our contribution will be added to hundreds of others and as well as trying to break the record we hope it will make appearances at Parliament and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) meeting in Nov. 2011.

How Fairtrade Fortnight can add pounds!!

 

The Fairtrade Cupboard Girls will be helping you finish off those New Year resolutions to lose weight by providing goodies for morning coffee after the Service on the two Sundays of Fairtrade Fortnight (March 6^th. and 13^th.) All these delectable morsels will be made with Fairtrade products.

Want to save £430 per year?

Representatives from the Old Parish and Eddleston Eco- church committees
attended a meeting in Carlops Parish Church this month run by the Eco-
Congregation Edinburgh network.

 With the assistance of Miriam Adcock from the Waste Action Resources Programme the evening focussed on food, food waste and recycling. Some frightening statistics emerged. In Scotland we throw away 566.00 tonnes of food waste every year and of that 69% could have been avoided if we managed our food better.

This is an expensive habit and costs each household an average of £430 each year.

• Some ways were suggested to avoid wasting food.
• Plan your meals for the week and only buy what you need.
• Think up interesting meals using leftovers *
• Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards before you shop.
• Rotate foods in cupboards and fridge so that some doesn’t lurk at the
  back going out of date.
• Don’t be tempted to bulk buy perishable goods that will go off before you
  have time to use them
• Buy smaller loaves or put half in the freezer to use later.
• Most fruit and veg will keep fresher in the fridge but bananas, pineapple
  and tomatoes are best stored at room temperature while potatoes should
  be kept cool and dark.

    Leftovers Recipe*

  Rainbow Tumbler (Serves 1)

Ingredients:
Sm pot of natural yoghurt or leftovers from large one
1tsp Traidcraft honey
1 banana (chopped), small handful of berries, sliced
peaches, apricots or grapes (whatever is leftover)
Approx 1 tablespoon Traidcraft muesli or wholemeal
breakfast cereal

Method
Blend honey with yoghurt. Scatter some fruit in the base of a tumbler and
add a spoonful of yoghurt. Scatter with muesli. Repeat to the top of the
glass to make an attractive dessert.
(Recipe courtesy of Waste Aware Scotland)