Get ready for a good food swap on Saturday 18th October - a celebration of our local harvest. It's a chance to share food you've made, grown, picked or found and in preparation you can learn something new or share your skills.

Prices indicated are for waged first then low income and unwaged.
Registration is appreciated and for sessions marked with * numbers are limited so please let us know if you are coming: email info[at]organiclea.org.uk or call 020 8558 6880.

Wednesday 20th August 3-4.30pm Baking for kids (age 4-10) £1.50/£1 *
Come and have a go: mix, chop, stir and bake simple biscuits, cakes or smoothies, then enjoy the results!

Saturday 23rd August 4-5.30pm Jam making £3/£2 *
Home-made tastes better… Discover the basic methods of this long-established way of capturing fruity goodness in a jar.

Wednesday 27th August 7-9pm Wine from the hedgerows: introduction to homebrew £3/£2
Brewing your own is cheaper and more satisfying. Find out how to make a fine wine from fruit you can find in the hedges, and get your cider started in time for the swap. Or just sample some we made earlier!

Sunday 14th September 11am-1pm Introduction to food growing £3/£2
Start early for next year's swap - find out the basic principles of organic growing and pick up some simple tips to get you started growing your own. At Organiclea's growing site, Drysdale Avenue, E4 - directions.

Wednesday 17th September Kitchen pharmacy: using herbs for common remedies *
3pm herbal walk - meet on the driveway to the riding stables on Lea Bridge Road, just up from the ice rink; but please register first by text/call to 07786 657713 £3/£2
6-8pm preparation workshop £3/£2 (£5/£3 for both sessions)
The herbs and plants that you can grow in your garden or allotment site have many uses beyond the cooking pot. This session will show you how to prepare your own herbal treatments and take advantage of the many benefits herbs can bring to your health.

Saturday 27th September 4-5.30pm Seed saving £3/£2
Find out why we save seed, learn the basic principles and gain confidence. Then have a go yourself and become part of a local outlawed seed saving mission!

Saturday 4th October 4-5.30pm Pickles and chutneys £3/£2 *
This workshop will take a peep at traditional uses of preserves and chutneys in different cultures. An opportunity to jar up goodness from locally grown and foraged fruit. Come along and share your recipes and ideas.

Saturday 4th October Scrumping apples & pears pick 'n' press day FREE
11am intro and picking (meet at Hornbeam, come by bicycle if possible), 2.30pm juicing
Fruit grows in abundance in Walthamstow and the scrumping project helps to ensure it doesn't go to waste. Come and take part in a picking session and using the apple press, and have a taste of the freshest juice you can get…

Thursday 9th October 7-9pm Cake baking £3/£2 *
Learn a simple recipe for dairy free cake which you can adapt and experiment with to add your favourite fruits and flavours.

Saturday 11th October 11am-4pm Apple Day FREE
Apples galore at Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road, Walthamstow - juice, fruit, games and information for all ages.

Saturday 11th October Seed sprouting drop-in at the Hornbeam market stall 12-2pm
Even closer than a balcony is space for one of the most nutritious, fast foods you can grow. Learn this simple growing skill - and produce a crop that will save you £££s.

Saturday 11th October Raw food talk 6pm and pot luck supper 7pm FREE
Find out how healthy and tasty raw food can be; bring something to share for the pot luck supper.

Thursday 16th October World Food Day discussion evening 7.30pm, with food served from 6.30pm FREE (donations for food)
On the day designated to mark food as a "requisite for survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity", take part in a discussion with Simon Fairlie, editor of The Land, to look at how we can break the corporate clutch on our food chain and how we can feed ourselves sustainably.

Saturday 18th October 2-4pm The great local food swap FREE
Bring your swapping goodies for registration from 12pm
Swap your grown-produce for somebody elses pickles and bakes in a locally celebrated 'good food swap'... it's about sharing food you've made, grown, picked or found. It's a chance to show off your produce and share good food by swapping what you've brought with other people, without the need for money changing hands.

What you can bring: please bring wholesome, naturally produced, vegetarian food. It could be vegetables you've grown, fruit you've picked from the hedgerow, jam or bread or cakes or pickles that you've made… we're excluding meat for food safety reasons, and in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

Before: please bring your food already packaged in swappable size portions, and provide some information about it on a label or card, eg. a list of the ingredients or where it was grown. If you have any questions about what you are planning to bring, please get in touch..

On the day: There will be a food swap registration desk in the Forest Recycling Project next to the Hornbeam Centre (on Bakers Avenue). You can bring your produce to the registration any time from 12 midday so you can then go and chat to other growers, browse the stalls and exhibitions or have something to eat in the café.

Unless otherwise indicated, all taking place at the Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe St, E17, where Hoe Street meets Bakers Avenue, near the Bakers Arms junction. Nearest tube station Walthamstow Central, served well by buses coming to the Bakers Arms junction on Lea Bridge Road and many cycle routes.

For enquiries and bookings call the Hornbeam Centre on 020 8558 6880