Summer’s in full swing and Vine’s here to help you make the most of the sunshine in Sevenoaks.
You’ll find extensive coverage devoted to families and kids, beginning on page 18. We’ve hand-picked 10 great days out and 5 local water attractions plus there’s 10 professional family portrait sessions up for grabs, a prize wordsearch and a fabulous fudge recipe. And as if that isn’t enough, Vine guides you through August with over 70 local events listed on page 40 (there’s an extra 50 online too).
Elsewhere this month, we’ve got a complete roundup of The Sevenoaks Summer Festival. John Morrison delivers the Vine verdict on all the key shows from page 10. Do you agree? We’d love to know. Has the property downturn hit Sevenoaks yet?Find out on page 16 – we spoke to all the key estate agents. Plus there’s local coverage of fashion, food, fitness, wine, art, politics, golf and collectables.
Starting this month, you can now send us videos, pictures and texts from your mobile. We’ll be featuring the best submissions each month online and in the magazine. Got some interesting and exciting Sevenoaks-related material? Type 07757 596144 and hit send.
If you’re not already a member, don’t forget to join the Vine book club too. It won’t cost you a penny and you don’t have to attend meetings or buy the books – just read our titles with a Sevenoaks connection and tell us your thoughts. Full details are on page 39.
Meanwhile, our online offering continues to grow in popularity and content so don’t forget to pay us a visit between issues for daily Sevenoaks news, polls, prizes, chat rooms, forums and much more.
We hope you agree that all this makes Vine the one and only Sevenoaks magazine you need. Enjoy the issue...
Due to the continued growth, success and development of Vine, an opportunity has risen for a part time graphic designer. You’ll have an imaginative, diverse and impressive portfolio of print-based media work and be fluent in Adobe CS2 working on a Mac. Above all, you’ll be bursting with passion, ideas, ambition and enthusiasm to drive the creative area of our business forward from the word go.
Briefly, your role will involve:
Designing page layouts to our 5 column template, adhering to Vine's style and format, using Adobe InDesign on a Mac
Designing and proofing adverts
Working to tight deadlines
Planning, designing and producing additional supplements, pull outs, inserts, media packs and products
Developing and updating sections of our website, which currently has over 700 pages of interactive content, running within a Joomla framework
Uploading, checking and approving PDFs for press
Working closely with our editor and art director, you could operate from home or there’s an office share option with us at our studio in Seal.
Rates are negotiable depending on experience.
To find out more, drop us an email, go online or call Owen Hunnam on 01732 760823. We can’t wait to hear from you!
DISTRIBUTORS REQUIRED
Door to door distributors required in Ightham, Plaxtol, Underriver, Ivy Hatch, Otford, Brasted, Sundridge and Westerham. Good rates of pay for reliable and hard-working team members.
We’re also looking for someone with a full, clean driving licence to drop bulk copies to our distribution outlets across Sevenoaks. Please call 01732 760823 for more details. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Last Updated ( Monday, 04 August 2008 )
Sevenoaks property downturn
John Morrison asks local estate agents how far the headlines about a property slump have affected Sevenoaks
Simon Eade's guide to growing your own strawberries
May is one of the busiest times of the year with plenty to do in the
vegetable garden. If like me the thought of home grown English
strawberries is enough to make your mouth water then now is the time to
get to work. If you‘re starting afresh then you can find a full range
of plants in any good garden centre. For that perfect summer flavour I
can recommend ‘Cambridge Favorite’, a king amongst strawberries.
To ensure a good yield remove any runners before they start to creep
along the ground as leaving them will only sap energy from existing
plants. However if you need new plants for next year, pinching off the
flowers from a couple of selected plants will encourage shoots and
runners instead. Remove them carefully from parent plants in early
autumn and pot them on separately using John Innis No 1 or No 2.
As the fruit develops their weight will cause them to drop to the
ground, but before this happens it’s important to cover the surrounding
soil with straw or black plastic. This prevents the fruit from rotting
on the soil. In fact it’s from the traditional use of straw that
strawberries got their name. Where plastic is used, punch small holes
in the plastic to help drainage and to stop water pooling under the
fruit.
If you have a problem with birds then the plants will need to be
protected with light weight plastic netting. Put in place when the
fruits begin to swell, making sure that netting is well clear of the
plants. Depending on your situation you may wish to invest in a fruit
cage.
Considered by many as a gourmet vegetable, the asparagus is often over
looked as a garden crop. This is a travesty as shop bought imported
varieties just doesn’t have the same sublime flavour.
These are now ready to be harvested from established plants and can be
continued for a further six to eight weeks into early summer. Be warned
though as harvesting spears from crowns less than two years old will
only weaken the plant and effect cropping in subsequent years. Try to
keep weeds down by hand as young spears are easily damaged using a hoe.
Make sure that they receive plenty of water during the summer months
and mulch with well rotted manure when the fronds die back in late
autumn.
What to sow in May
Seeds for French and runner beans, squash, cucumbers and pumpkin seeds
can now be sown directly into beds outside. Keep an eye out for late
frosts although a double covering of horticultural fleece should
provide enough protection. French beans are best sown in traditional
rows at a spacing of 15-22cm (6-9in).
Can't be bothered to grow your own strawberries? Pick your own instead at Stonepitts Farm, Seal. More info here.
Sevenoaks Festival roundup
Vine sent John Morrison to check out the drama offering at this year’s Sevenoaks Summer Festival. He found a mixed bag
