Amongst the categories for this year’s Sustainable Sidmouth Champions Awards, there were two which were were given to the same two people by the panel of judges.
Actually, Stefan Drew went further – by not only picking up the winner’s Award for Citizen, but also the two joint runner-up Awards for Community Group – for his work on his Bite Sized Gardening website and the Sidmouth Community Forest Garden.
So, congratulations!
Congratulations! Champion Awards 2023 – the winners! – Sustainable Sidmouth Champion Awards
Congratulations! Champion Awards – all the photos! – Sustainable Sidmouth Champion Awards
The winners were asked if they’d like to submit a piece on their projects – and so the Champion Awards are delighted to receive the following from Stefan, packed with information, inspiration and illustration:
Having left Devon in my 20s and travelled widely I chose to settle in Sidmouth when I eventually returned.
Why? Because, to me, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The Sid Valley, being the only valley in the UK where a river rises and reaches the sea in one parish, is extraordinary. And so are the people that live and work here.
When tracing the history of the area via tithe and other maps it’s clear how agriculture has shaped the local environment. From the small steep fields on the rising valley sides to the ancient plats on the cliffside plus the impact of the fishing industry the valley and coastline has been shaped by humans.
Of course that has not always been a positive experience and we’ve seen the loss of many botanical species since Dr WH Cullen examined the botanical biodiversity of the valley and beyond in 1849. His Flora Sidostiensis has since been contrasted by work carried out by members of the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group. Sadly we have seen a reduction in species found in the valley. But there is an upside.
The upside is the wealth of people in this valley that focus on biodiversity, sustainability and the future of the human race. For that reason, in being recognised for my work in the Sid Valley, I have to recognise that none of us can achieve much alone. The success of one of us is a measure of the success of everyone in the team that contributed to that success. We may stand on the shoulders of giants, but it is those giants and their supporters that are essential for any level of success.
BiteSizedGardening
BiteSizedGardening is a website that came out of Covid and the lockdown. I have been fortunate in having a varied career in the landbased industries, notably farming and horticulture, plus a second career as a marketing consultant.
So when Covid struck my wife, Sharon, suggested I put my two careers to some use and start a Facebook group for all those people that were now staying at, or working from, home. We’d seen shortages in supermarkets, queues and the need for local people to exercise and sustain their mental health was evident.
So I created a Facebook group called How to Dig For Victory. It grew faster than I expected but really wasn’t up to the job simply because I had a lot to say and Facebook limits who many words it allows in a post.
So I used my marketing experience and created a website, BiteSizedGardening.co.uk. The idea was to give me more space to write more in depth articles that answered the questions I was getting via Facebook.
Instead of being limited for space by Facebook I now had unlimited space. Some articles were only 400-500 word sling. But some, such as my article on 40 Unusual Vegetables To Grow in a UK Garden,are over 17,000 words long and still growing.
Before I knew it I had over 380 articles on the site, and Google started to take notice. My articles started to be found by gardeners on Google Search and site traffic increased. During peak gardening periods we now get 20,000 visitors a month and the site has extended its local reach to become international. We have seen visits from every country and territory in the world except the Vatican City. Maybe it’s time for an article on the Garden of Eden!
Recognition has also come from seed companies, some now reference the website on their website and in their newsletters. And I also get sponsorship offers and advertising requests. These are tempting, as the cost of the site hosting and related costs are high. But our aim has always been to provide free and unbiased advice. If we were to take on sponsorship we would no longer be seen as being unbiased.
Community Forest Garden
One summer’s afternoon, whilst on a plant ID foray with the SVBG, I casually said it would be great if Sidmouth had a community food forest. It was one of those throw away comments that many of us make in the hope that someone will do what we are not prepared to do ourselves.
Later I was asked if I really meant it and I (foolishly?) said yes.
It was then that I realised how so many of us know what is needed but expect others to do the work. And as I looked around me I also realised that in the Sid Valley we have a lot of people that aren’t just talkers, they are doers. They roll up their sleeves and get on with it.
So, obviously, I needed to do, not talk.
The hunt for land was soon on and I quickly had the offer of financial support to buy some land. But sadly suitable land in the Sid Valley is rare and extremely expensive. Plus the offer of financial help had to be channelled through a charity and the logistics were not easy.
However, by this time a few other people were interested in the project, and Tess Bisson (another sustainability award winner) discovered a piece of land belonging to EDDC and we started to discuss the options. So started the Food Forest and the rest is history!
Food Forests take time to evolve and ours is in its early stages. We are taking it slowly and it is gradually evolving. It’ll be unlike any other food forest because it’s community based, is the work of a growing band of volunteers and we are allowing the soil and local conditions guide us in the species to be grown.
What is again clear though is that no one person should be recognised for the progress of the project. It is a team effort and the recognition I was given is to be shared equally amongst all those that have helped in a myriad of ways.
More Websites
Soon after it was built the BiteSizedGardening.co.uk website was used as a template for two other websites.
The basic framework was used to rebuild the https://sidmoutharboretum.org.uk website and offered the opportunity to add interactive mapping whereby a user using the site can interact with Google Maps and get info on the tree they are standing next to.
The same website framework was also used to rebuild the SVBG website.
We are happy to discuss the production and management of websites for other local environmental and sustainability organisations.
Stefan Drew
October 2023
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THANK YOU STEFAN DREW!
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