26th March 2013 – AGM Outcomes
Here are the minutes of our AGM on 26th March – click here. I’ve tried to keep them brief.
We need to act quickly on the one single action we need to take to ensure COCA survives – recruit more members. I’ve created a simple poster advertising COCA – click here. Please print one or two out and put them up wherever you think we might attract some members. If you don’t have any printing facilities, then let me know and I will send you a good colour copy printed on thin card. I’ll also put a few in the share shed this afternoon at the harvest, so you can pick one up when collecting your veg
Main points and decisions from the meeting:
- Your new Core Group meets for the first time on 23rd April – please let us know if you have ideas on recruiting more members
- Harvesting has switched back to Fridays – from 3pm onwards
- Sue Whitmore offered to have a veg share pick up point at her house in Trefin
- Fiona Michael offered to have a veg share pick up point in St Davids
- The annual membership fee will be folded into the monthly subscription as of January 2014
- Remote hubs are being progressed with Transition Bro Gwaun Cafe in Fishguard and The Ark healthfood shop in Haverfordwest.
If you have any questions about the AGM and the topics we discussed please email secretary@coca-csa.org.
As is often said, if everyone could bring in just one new member we’d be in fantastic shape, but it is unbelievably hard for that to happen.
The largest obstacle to COCA membership is the trip to Caerhys to pick up the veg. We want to make that easier by having remote hubs in major areas of population. We’ve moved one step closer by boxing the shares, but there are still challenges. Having an accessible location to store veg shares is something we’re working on now, but transporting the shares after harvest is a thorny problem. If you know anyone who would want a small, but regular job doing this in return for a free veg share and fuel costs, then let us know.
The easier route is if members can pick up veg shares for people living near them – a sort of “home hub” if you like. Could there be anyone living near you that would become a member with such an offer? Of course it can also ease the burden of travel and associated fuel costs if we help each other out. I will distribute a map showing members locations, so that you can see who else, near you, is already a COCA member.
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Crimbo at the Miles House!
What a wonderful night of fun had by all. Thank you to Gerald and Anne Miles for having us for a pre-Christmas warm up to stretch our bellies and prepare our mulled wine palettes. The evening featured inspired and optimistic conversation, our first ever Secret Santa, open fire and games… and of course a colourful spread of delicious organic food and plethora of drinks to accompany it. Including homemade mulled wine and irish cream! (Thanks Gill). If anyone has any photos of the night, please email them to the COCA Secretary so we can share them.
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2012 Strategic Meeting and General Meeting
Both held in November and both very successful. A more detailed write up on the events and the outcomes coming shortly as we gear up for a great 2013..
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2012 Harvest Celebration a wonderful success!
Following weeks of preparation and cool Autumn nights in the stables building wood fire ovens and drinking quarters, this years Harvest Celebration was a real success. During the daytime, we ran an open day ‘Food for Our Future,’ which was a chance for new and existing members to spend time on the farm, gain a better understanding of what we do and refuelling with a mouth watering cooking demonstration and delicious organic lunch. This day was made possible through support from Organic Centre Wales – thanks Tony, and our tireless and favourite chef Andy, who once again made the trek to Pembrokeshire to treat us with his culinary excellence.
The evening kicked off when our bar serving local cider and ale opened, Rupert and Andy rolled dough in preparation for producing hundreds of calzones and Adam started frying onions and organic pork sausages…
Next came the music and the dancing and the organic conversations round a big bonfire outside. Kids, youth, parents and elders alike, partied the night away as the ceilidh band continued to entertain us. We also held a successful ‘open mic’ session where local artists could show their talent in a supportive environment. The night wrapped up with Gerald’s cows escaping and many guests sleeping overnight in their cars in one of the fields. Another another fantastic COCA event, well done to all those involved. All proceeds from the night went back into COCA CSA.
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Check out this inspiring and delicious story…
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Gourmet Tapas Night
One chef. One cook. One small kitchen… and one huge success! From humble beginnings, the COCA Tapas Night grew into one of the most memorable events to date. Featuring a sell-out number of tickets, collective of smiling faces and high spirits, world music and most importantly a mouth-watering array of fresh organic Welsh produce, transformed into gourmet dishes with Moroccan, North African and Middle-Eastern influences.
A warm summer evening and the backyard of Curtis House drenched in sunshine, it was the perfect place to bring everyone together to experience our COCA vegetables in a new light. Accompanying the vegetarian dishes, was succulent Caerhys pork and steak, and mackerel freshly caught. A HUGE thank you to Cordon Bleu chef Andy Haimes, who came all the way from London and volunteered his time and expertise to feed us. Of course he was very well assisted by Rupert and Indre, through the days of preparation and well into the night of the meal (and the days after!)
Proceeds from the event will be contributed toward: a new poly-tunnel for the farm and/or training for Caz Miles (COCA Farmer.) Everyone who came along should agree, that the food was incredible, the location perfect and the COCA spirit strong. A mammoth effort from everyone who contributed, and with a truly spectacular result.
