Postal Strike Update & The Recycle Works Deliveries

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deliveries, postal strike, recycle works, Sylvia Hopwood

Annoyingly the postage strike seems to be messing up deliveries whether it goes ahead or not, so we have a plan to outwit them!

There will be an option, that is, you can opt in or opt out, your choice. It will be offered on the shopping basket on our website. Only for small items that usually go by mail, we will send by overnight courier for a small extra charge of £2.50. This is to give you peace of mind if you need something quickly.

Further we will give you £10.00 credit for use with your next order  if these items are not delivered, or attempted delivery within 3 days of dispatch. All big items will be delivered on the 24 hour courier service at no extra charge as usual. If you have a question about your particular selection please give us a ring on 0800 0320377. It is a nuisance, but we believe this will work seamlessly!

Love Your Environment!

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Sloe and Apple Jelly Recipe

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recycle works, sloe and apple jelly, sloe recipe

Berry Picker - Perfect For Gathering Sloes

In this weeks ‘Sylvia’s Briefs’ (our weekly newsletter) we asked you for your recipes for Sloes. Frederica responded immediately with this gorgeous recipe for Sloe and Apple Jelly – which she assures us is absolutely delicious with lamb and ham! A huge thank you to Frederica.

How To Make Sloe and Apple Jelly

Cook until soft (I put mine in a low oven overnight) equal amounts of sloes that have been pricked with a bodkin and roughly chopped windfalls/crabs or any apple with sufficient water to cover. Upend into jelly bag or muslin, leave until no longer dripping (don’t squeeze!) then combine the juice with sugar at a ratio of 1 pint juice to 1 lb sugar and cook until set. Love the site and the newsletters!

Best wishes Frederica

Do you know another good recipe for using sloes apart from soaking them with gin? If so, please do email us at sylvia@recycleworks.co.uk

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Sylvia’s Challenge to Prime Minister on Support for Local Businesses

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Gordon Brown, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, sustainability, Sylvia Hopwood, The Recycle Works

Sylvia Hopwood

Yesterday I was asked if I would like to put a question to ‘a senior member’ of the Cabinet, in person at a special gathering at the Preston office of the Local Evening paper, the Lancashire Evening Post. So full of interest and on behalf of The Recycle Works, I presented myself to the small gathering of local people to ask the Prime Minister what he was doing to help Small businesses who promote sustainability of the environment.

As it was, he was almost an hour late and the questions were limited to a handful and my question had to go into a pot to be answered later. This will give him time to decide if he can do something constructive!

The range of questions were limited to behavioural problems amongst the young, employment prospects for the defence suppliers in the area, MP’s expenses, the doubtful commitment of some members of parliament in marginal seats to put their weight behind local issues for fear of losing votes and why the banks are not lending. Not bad really for part of a morning’s work. I met some interesting people there, all who had good reason to ask their question. All in the life of……..

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Simon Explains Why To Use Cloche Hoops!

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cloch hoops, grow your own, growing vegetables, raised bed gardening, raised beds, recycle works

Cloche Hoops for Raised Beds

This week, we recieved an email from a customer asking for our advice Simon has expertly provided. At The Recycle Works we try and share as much information as we can so we thought you may like to read the details yourselves…..

Q; Dear Recycle Works I purchased some fantastic raised beds from you this summer and am now thinking about buying some cloche hoops. Could you first give me please some guidance about how they’re used? What do I put on the outside of the hoops to protect against pests and how do I fit extra material on? Do I need to use cloches this time of year or only in the spring -summer? I recently planted some baby turnips that were gobbled up by caterpillars so I’m thinking Kent’s weather is pretty pest-friendly. thanks Emily

A: Emily, The cloche hoops slot into the unused grooves on the outside of your raised bed’s posts.  Just slot one end of the plastic strip into one of the posts and then bend it over and slot the other end into the opposite post – as simple as that! Depending on how far down the groove you push the strips, governs the height of the hoop.

You can then either drape some plastic sheet or netting to make either a mini polytunnel for winter growing or in the case netting/fleece, a barrier to butterflies and therefore no caterpillars! Hope this helps!
Simon

So if you have any questions, send us an email to sylvia@recycleworks.co.uk and we’ll do our very best to answer it and share the details.

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Raising Beds for Care Homes – Thank You!

Wooden Raised Beds

As you’ll no doubt know, as part of our celebrations for Older People’s Day, we launched a campaign called ‘Help Us Raise Beds for Care Homes’.

Our aim is to provide as many wooden raised beds as we can to care homes with your very generous donations and in return for your generous gifts, for every two wooden raised beds collected, The Recycle Works will donate the third.

Also I know a lot of you have been asking us for the link to last week’s radio interview where Sylvia Hopwood shared her life story with us and what an absolutely riveting broadcast it is too. Linda is an absolutely natural interviewer and we wish her every success with her forthcoming book which Sylvia will be featured in. To listen to the podast, simply click here.

The campaign is set to continue for the foreseeable future as we’ll be donating the raised beds on a regular basis. Also, if you’re a care home who would like to participate in our campaign, please do let us know as we can set up a special link so that donors can give especially to raise equipment for your own care home.

So Older People’s Day may have been on one specific date, but surely every day should be celebrated, especially because of the wonderful contribution that so many older people have made to society.

Love Your Environment!