Taking is nice but giving feels so much better

Since September I have been volunteering at a series of Give and Take Days organised by the charity Waste Watch. The aim of the 3 month campaign running across 7 North London boroughs was to encourage the reuse of unwanted items within the local community, divert reusable items from landfill and improve community cohesion. For each of the events, which were held within schools, churches and community halls, emphasis was placed at a local level but for me the idea represents a very global issue. It occurred to me whilst volunteering that the Give and Take Days highlight one of the biggest problems we have in the world relating to resources. When people talk about resources they often refer to the concerns we have regarding the shortage of materials left in the world. However, in my opinion, the problem lies within the spread and distribution of resources. This was shown through many examples of people attending the Give and Take days. To generalise, there were those who came purely to give large amounts of good quality items they no longer needed (perhaps because they could afford to upgrade to a newer model) and there were others who came in search of second hand items that they may not have been able to buy new from the shops. It was a refreshing experience to see resources in a positive light and to celebrate what people do have and what they can give to others who have less then them. Totting up the weights of items at the end of the day showed us how many tonnes had not only been saved from a landfill site but also how much had been redistributed within the local area.

As you would expect from any free-for-all event there would quite often be a bit of hustle and bustle at the beginning of the taking session. For busy events we had to use the decorative bunting to create a starting line to hold back eager attendees who with their eyes peeled for prize items were chomping on the bit as they waited whilst the minutes ticked away until taking began. This gentle ruckus helped to keep us volunteers on our toes and also developed our crowd control skills. Although all the argy-bargy behaviour was resolved with the greatest professionalism, we couldn’t help but be amused by some of the mild disputes that occasionally broke out. Thankfully, the few “but I saw it first” misunderstandings were calmly negotiated and settled amicably for all parties.

As a volunteer it was very rewarding to see large volumes of items being redistributed and passed on to new homes. On one occasion, deciding to  make the most of a quiet moment at the donations table, I went for a perusal of what had been left after the initial rush of taking. Whilst leafing through a couple of old books a young girl came up to ask me if she could take a book. I replied enthusiastically that she could take a handful if she wanted but she informed me that she only needed one. When I asked her about the book she had chosen - a Jacqueline Wilson classic that I remember pouring over excitedly as a teenager – she remarked:

 “ I am taking it for my little sister because they are her favourite books and I didn’t have enough pocket money to buy her one for her birthday.”

For me, this sums up the whole aim of the Give and Take days, giving all that you can, taking only what you need and being grateful for what you have received.

Pond Opening @ Cordwainers

Today was the official opening of the pond which Doug and Charlotte created at the bottom of the garden. We celebrated by launching a paper frog, cunningly crafted by Jan, which floated, hooray! A great sunny day for gardening and also enjoying lots of homemade yummy cakes, scones and ginger beer.

 Enjoying the afternoon sun and garden in all its glory

 Little girls "Get it, get it" maybe they wanted to kiss it and turn it into a prince ?!

Harvest Festival at Regents Park

 Twas a lovely sunny day to celebrate a very successful and bountiful season at the Allotment Garden in Regents Park.

 Colourful flowers in bloom in the bed we planted at a training session earlier in the year with green manure

 Keeping everything in order and warding off garden enemies

One of the beds of squashes all intertwined and climbing over each other

 

 Wood-burning oven on hand for all the bread baking and pizza making

Possible the biggest and most finely crafted loaf I have ever seen

 We were spoilt will so much delicious food all sourced from the Allotment garden. You can't get more fresh or local than that!

Squash and ricotta mixed salad, yum!

Taking advantage of the kids activities on the 'Make you own Scarecrow' table. Keeping this one to watch over my window sill plants as think she's a little delicate to brave the cold nights outdoors.

Claire helping with the final straw-trimming to finish off scarecrow

Colours from the garden

A range of roots I dug up today, particularly happy with the 3-fork fat carrot which made me laugh. Must remember to keep sowing radish seeds throughout September to keep a steady flow of little roots as we traverse through Autumn.

Big Pumpkin and little Butternut Squash. I was very sad to find that some garden animal (definitely a fiend and not a friend) has dug up the pumpkin plant at its root and ravaged it to the point of no repair so I am hoping it will ripen on its own since it has already started to go orange on its bottom. If not, it will be a controversial green Halloween lantern.

Ah, pretty, pretty, pretty. The Nasturtiums are absolutely thriving and are happily climbing their way all over my patch, while other flowers including a few Calendulas are sadly starting to run out of Summer time steam. The late planted Borage is now also offering plentiful supplies on delicate blue flowers. I'm going to freeze them in icecubes to have in the homemade ginger beer!

HARVEST...a totally homegrown meal

Tonight was a very special night indeed. After nurturing it for months my Turks Turban squash was finally ready to be cooked up and shared with my friend Rose, another squash enthusiast.

If you are a squash fan you will know that the main downside to this wonderful vegetable is the cutting process made even more tricky with a healing broken arm! After successfully cutting up said squash into chunks I cooked it up with other veggies, chili, garlic and ginger and we enjoyed it with a mixed flower salad and kohl rabi yoghurt sauce. In lieu of wine we had my homemade ginger beer which this time had a great fizz (last time I killed the fermented 'ginger bug' making it ginger cordial instead)

So apart from the ginger - which I am going to try and grow next year as an experiment - it was a fully homegrown meal. And what better way to finish off than with a lovely slice of Apple Cake made by Rose, mmm yummy Wednesday!

Ginger Chili Squash and Mixed Vegetables Recipe
A few cloves of garlic
Knob of ginger
1 Onion,
Small chili
2 courgettes
1/2 squash
Handful of beans
A few beetroots
Yoghurt
Kohl Rabi
Salad leaves and edible flowers

1. Lightly boil the squash, courgettes beans and beetroot
2. Fry the garlic, onion, ginger and chili in some oil, then add in the squash, courgette and beans
3. Leave the beetroot to boil a bit longer until it is soft
4. When the beetroot is done remove and slice into chunks and pour a little of the cooking water in with the veggies (Keep the rest for soup stock or for watering herb plants, my thai basil loves it!)
5. Season the squash and veggie mix with salt and pepper as desired.
6. Serve with salad leaves ( I used baby chard, baby spinach, wild rocket and a variety of lettuce leaves) with edible flowers (calendula and nasturtiums)
7. Grate Kohl Rabi and mix with plain yoghurt to have on the side with chunks of beetroot.

Save their souls!

Assortment of dry seed pods and husks

And by souls I mean seeds. Seeds, glorious seeds, those little organic packages bursting with all the intelligence and potential for new plant life. I think my fascination with plants stemmed from my initial learnings about the cleverness of seeds. It amazed me that something so small, delicate and lets be honest a bit feeble looking could sit in the ground throughout the cold winter, biding its time until the warmer months when it somehow knew it was time to pop out and start growing. Ignorant in my young age, I now understand a bit more about the life cycle of plants and how their methods have evolved to enable them to procreate and reappear year after year. I'm not going to get all scientific now about the reproductive tendencies of plants because that would make for a very long blog post. I'm focusing on the aptly named self seeding plants which i have so much respect for. These cunning plants - knowing they are sadly not going to survive the frosts of winter - leave behind hundreds of potential offspring at the end of their flowering lives. Although many of these don't make it because they get eaten, rot away or were not properly fertilized in the first place, some survive and go on to germinate when the soil warms up as Spring approaches.  


Broad beans shelled from dry pods

Even though I have every faith in some of my favourite self-seeding flowers (Calendula, Borage, Poppy....) re-appearing each year I make seed collecting an imperative activity. Saving seeds is also a great idea because it means next year you can also start off some plants earlier indoors before planting them out giving them a head start against their brother and sister seeds left in the ground.  It is also great to have a seed bank as a store for the future and also to have seeds which you can swap with others. In terms of vegetable seeds, you can save a lot of money by collecting your seeds (provided they are not hybrid - as these seeds are not guaranteed to have the same characteristics as the ones you planted). You can also pick and choose, selecting the crops that did really well and if you continue to do this year on year you will have plants that are well adapted to their conditions. Collecting seeds also brings you closer to being self sufficient and means you can spend less on buying new seeds each year. 


Plant maracas, poppy seed heads



There is nothing particularly difficult about seed saving, it all comes down to timing. Its best to wait for seed pods to dry on the plant and then collect them and store in old envelopes/paper bags/packets made from newspapers. If you are saving seeds from fruits like tomatoes, make sure to remove all the goopy bits and let the seeds dry out before storing as damp seeds will just rot.



Calendula seed husks and seeds

As many plants are nearing the end of their seasonal life, it is the best time to start collecting their seeds now, so that you can build up a bit of store for next year. It's not just about planting them, seeds also have a many other beneficial uses. Many veg seeds are great edibles such as toasted sunflower and squash seeds make great nutritious snacks. Leftover dry beans can be soaked and cooked up in winter soups and casseroles. Herbs seeds like coriander are also great for using in cooking. I'm also going to use the poppy seed pods as decorations with other dry flowers. 

So when you next venture out into the garden to pick flowers or harvest your veg spare a thought for those little seeds and start stashing them away to begin your own seed bank. In my opinion, it will be this years safest and most enjoyable investment!

 

  

Would you eat that?

Compost food waste to stop it going to landfill

Yesterdays Countryfile's Sunday show on BBC1 bought to our screens the disgusting truths about food waste in the UK. John Craven explained the shocking figures relating to the mountains of good, often unopened food that we toss nonchalantly into our general household rubbish on a daily basis. One of the main problems it seemed was that people these days don't seem to be able to tell whether the food in their fridges and cupboards is still safe to eat. This is made even more complicated with the myriad of date labels put on by the food producers and retailers. The recommended dates are often overly cautious and should be used with a persons good judgment about the state of the food. While analysing the 'to be chucked' pile of food from one mothers food store, Emma Marsh, from Love Food Hate Waste explained what the food date labels really mean. Display until is used by the retailer to know how long to leave the product on the shop shelf for and can generally be ignored by the consumer. Best before is simply the date after which the food will not be at its best, but is still perfectly safe to eat. Use by is the date you should take notice of especially if the packaging of the food has been opened. However, in my opinion, depending on the food, there are plenty of occasions when it is ok to eat food that has passed its Use by date, even more so if it hasn't been opened. This is where personal consumer judgment needs to be more effective. It's not rocket science, if a food looks alright (no signs of mould or weird colouring), smells ok (not putrid and festering) and tastes ok (not fizzy or too offensive) then it is probably ok to eat. I'm not encouraging people to take risks, just to be a little bit more independent when deciding what is still edible.

A new plot in the East

My new growing plot at Cordwainers Garden, a Capital Growth community urban food growing project in Hackney and a stones throw away from my new home up on Morning Lane. With the heavy lifting stage of constructing the raised bed (from recycled scaffolding planks) and putting in the soil/compost mix complete, it is now time for the seeds to do their thing. This late in the season I stuck to planting a mixture of hardy winter crops and fast maturing crops that will be ready before the colder weather hits us in a few months time. This includes some winter veg (kale, spinach beet), hardy lettuce (trying out Mizuna), beetroot (for young little roots), winter carrots and some radishes. Watch this space!

 New plot complete with recycled wood, re-used wooden cutlery as crop labels, last years jerusalem artichoke stalks to hold up the protective netting and re-used bricks to hold down netting.

 If you go down to the bottom of the garden...

A few little friends already popping us....Good Morning radishes :)

Breading with Gluts

Owing to the fact that we are at the peak of glut season with all the great fruit and veg around here are a few bread recipes I adapted to make use of the abundance of tomatoes and courgettes...

Basic bread recipe
3 cups wholemeal flour
2 cups of white flour
Yeast (usually 1 sachet)
Pinch of salt
1 or 2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil (or more if you want a richer bread)

1. Put the sugar and yeast into a glass and add some warm water ( Do this first so it starts activating while you are weighing out dry ingredients)
2. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the yeast
3. Mix these together, adding a little more water if needed and the oil
4. When you have formed a douch knead the bread well for 15 minutes
5. When you have reached a good elasticity and soft dough leave in a warm place for at least 30mins (1 hour is good if you have the time)
6. When the dough has risen nicely need it again briefly and shape
7. Place on baking tray and leave for 15 mins before baking at 190C for about 30 mins or until the bread has a brown crust (i sometimes turn the bread over towards the end to help it cook right through)

Adaptions for gluts.
- Add in a cup of grated courgettes ( you will need a bit less water beause of the juice from the veg)
- Add is a cup of chopped tomatoes
- Before baking rub some oil onto the bread and roll through fresh herbs like rosemary or oregano

Baking bread is also a great way to use up things reaching their best before dates lurking at the back of kitchen lardars and stock cupboards such as old nuts, dried fruits, olives, chocolate (!), spices (great for adding colour too) or whatever takes your fancy, get creative!

(Camera currently on strike but photos to follow soon!)

Blackberrying 101

In the foragers calendar the blackberry season is one that never fails to excite me. Hedgerows overgrown and exploding with little bundles of juicy goodness, and for FREE! I couldn't believe it when a friend told me she had found some early blackberries whilst out on an evening run and so being the freegan that I am jumped to it and headed out to the fields. In my excitement I had completely forgotten as I often do year after year that along with the sweet pickings of blackberry foraging come the rather hostile environment of painful thorns. On arrival to my first tangle of brambles I began thinking that my chosen outfit of shorts and flip flops (in the heat of the day) had been a slight oversight. Not deterred by my lack of protective clothing I continued with the task at hand and started picking.

I had bought with me a tupperware container which in my opinion is far superior to the plastic bag owing to the fact that a plastic bag offers little protection to fragile berries and also often gets caught on thorns and rips leaving you standing next to a pile of blackberry escapees on the floor and a limp piece of plastic in your hands. However, carrying a container leaves you with only one picking hand which is not the most effective picking method. The best option is to take a basket handily slung over one arm, thus allowing a double hand picking action, maximising you speed and eventual yield.

Many people have their own style when blackberrying and this often depends on the abundance of brambles in your area. I like to move around and cover a big area taking a couple of handfuls of berries from each section thus not depleting a single area and showing some foraging etiquette. This time of year there are also still a lot of unripe fruit on the brambles so make sure you check what you pick is sweet and not too sharp unless you are that way inclined. This brings me on to the eating part of the activity. It is crucial to eat or should i say sample as you go when out picking, you know, just to check they are still good. It is also good to get your fill while out in the field so that you do succumb to eating all your goods on the return journey only to arrive home with red fingers, a mucky face and some squished blackberry dregs at the bottom of your tub ("I thought you were going to make blackberry pie?!").

Another thing to watch out for in addition to all the thorns - although a few scratches are the signs of a dedicated picker - is dog poo, especially if you are picking in an area frequented by dog walkers. This is because it is very easy to move along a row of brambles focusing only on ripe fruit and forget to check that you are not walking into anything unsavoury. Also watch out for thorns, which will go right through thin soled flimsly flip flops (mental note to self).

After about 45 minutes of forage-fueled ambling I was done. With an overflowing container, a satisfied bellyful of berries and an impressive amount of minute scratches I felt satisfied with my hoard and headed home for a much needed cup of tea.

Colourful harvest and squash report

 

Wednesday afternoon harvest. A collection of beets, kohl rabi, radish and carrots along with some runner beans, various salad leaves, chard, herbs and colourful edible flowers. The heavy rain a few days ago and sunny days have helped things along in the garden and the tomatoes are starting to become red finally. My squash plants are also coming on leaps and bounds after a slow start and tricky pollination ( I had to reverted to self pollination for one of them which the bees had obviously turned their noses up to, if bees even have noses to turn up to things that is)

 

Bill the butternut squash produced this lovely specimen which is now nestling amongst some cosy straw to stop it getting blemished by the tiling.

After training herself nicely up some canes (owing to the lack of horizontal floor space) Trinny the Turks turban squash, happily settled in amongst the cabbages and beans is now flowering and producing fruit with her first baby now hanging effortlessly as it ripens. I have never grown TT's before but am excited for them mainly because of the strange nature of their appearance, you'd be pressed to find this rather ugly (obviously beautiful in my eyes) squash down at the local supermarket. I'm keeping my eye on it and will be constructing it a netting hammock if it gets too fat!

Ethical trainers, yes please!

Last Thursday I went to an event at The Hub in Kings Cross, 'The Amazon - Can fashion help saving the rainforest?' The discussion centred around the work of Bia Saldanha, a Brazilian fashion designer turned eco-pioneer who moved from her boutique in Ipanema in 1989 to Acre in the heart of the Amazon. She was heavily involved in the ecological movement in Rio, the Green Party and also worked alongside Chico Mendes the social activist. Mendès, a rubber tapper and trade union leader was another passionate environmentalist in Brazil and was an integral part of the fight to preserve both the rainforest and communities who lived there before he was assassinated by a rancher in 1988.

On moving to the rainforest, Bia’s plan was to create a fair trading system in rubber production by supporting the local rubber tappers whilst also promoting sustainable forestry and preventing deforestation. Her belief that the money from the forest should stay in the forest lead her to help the rubber tappers produce and process products which could be sold on, instead of just exporting the raw material. In her early days she worked with top designers like Hermes to provide Treetap a vegetal leather fabric.

She is now working closely with Veja providing them with rubber soles for their trainers (which are also made of organic cotton). The rubber comes from within the Chico Mendès reserve where the rubber tappers – Amopreab, an association of Seringeiros – use a new technology developed at the University of Brasilia. The benefits of the new FDL (Liquid Smoked Sheet) process is that it enabled the rubber tappers to process the latex into rubber sheets without the need for industrial intermediary processes. This rubber can then be sent directly to the factory where it is ready to be molded. By supporting the communities within the forest, traditional skills are retained, livelihoods are protected and the precious resources of the Amazon are sustainably preserved.

To make my home greener...

 

This picture was taken at Morden Hall's Green Day Out by Paula, a National Trust volunteer. as part of the National Trust's - Heart of the Park project. Paula who is working on an MA in Design for Development told me that these photos were going to be used by Kingston University students and Living Green Lab for getting an insight into what actions local people are willing to take to make their home greener. Having previously attended a great workshop on setting up your own wormery by Vertical Veg Mark at London Permaculture Festival I felt inspired to put this down as my action.

For more info see the design for development blog and the Heart of The Park blog

Sunnyside Up!

The arrival of one of my favourite flowers...

I'm alternative because...

Continuing with my current 'jack of all trades' mentality I jumped at the opportunity to be an event planner and to oragnise my own sustainable living event. After just a few weeks of planning it all came together this Monday night at Camden Lock Market. 'Another Way' - The Alternative Living Fair was celebrating alternative ideas which are currently shaping our lives in London. With a mix of stalls, workshops, music and spoken word a really nice atmosphere was created and quite an intimate event as we moved the originally planned outdoor set up into the Lower Dingwalls gallery. We managed to squeeze everyone in and despite the rain our spirits were raised with some great jazz music and a space full of inspiring ideas. Chili Hawes, founder of the October Gallery, gave us a talk about her experiences with alternative living throughout the 60's and shared with us stories about various ecological projects she had been involved in from the high desert of New Mexico to the Outback of Australia and the south of France.

Tom explaining the benefits of locally produced, seasonal food with a  market stall featuring veg picked from the Regents Park Allotment Capital Growth site

Alisha Bailey's Pop-up Cafe with lots of tasty goodies from her recently set up independent cafe on Balls Pond Road

 Up and coming designer Kharise Francis with her beautifully designed women's wear collection

 

 A selection of handmade soaps from Weatherstone Therapies also on hand to provide calming massages and treatments

 Individual handcrafted and bespoke textiles by designer Louise Kamara who founded the Eco Design Fair

 Mark Ridsdill Smith, founder of Vertical Veg sharing ideas of urban growing and high food yields from the tiniest of city spaces

 The jazz duo Sam Braysher and Joe Price from Guildhall School of Music and Drama

 Why are you alternative tags were filled in by all with some very entertaining ideas!

 

Emma Gleeson setting up her Ethical Fashion Workshop teaching people basic sewing skills, customisation and how to breath life into your sad old threads!

Had my camera not been stolen I would have liked to share more photos of those who aren't in these like the stunning bikes bought over by Adam from Cloud 9 Cycles, the super tasty microgreens from the Sow Gourmet guys Thom and Vish, Russell and his foodcycle team, the Green Stage workshop and the Conservation workshop. The rain also prevented the lovely Mandy of Perfect Circle Poi from giving us a fire dance performance but we'll save that one for next time!

After the rain comes sun

After all that rain the garden is looking fresher than ever. Harvesting things like salad leaves, leafy veg and roots like radish after lots of rain also means you get lots of juicy produce, perfect for a summer salad. Best enjoyed in the sunshine after the rainstorm has passed!

Hampton Court Flower Show

A few photos from my afternoon spent at the slightly damp RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. Some lovely show gardens, heaps of grow you own things and more beautiful plants for sale then you could ever carry home...i'll be adding them to my wish list!

Wild in the City designed by Charlotte Murrell featuring planting focused on the importance of urban biodiversity. Although I was excited by many predominantly food growing orientated gardens this was my favourite.

Amazing schools scarecrow competition inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Excellent examples of recycled art and creativity from youngsters!
Gloomy skies but pretty reflections across the long water
Overly perfect lines of veg outside the Grow Your Own tent. Just look how huge those kohl rabi are and lettuces with not one single blemish or bite mark, completely unachievable for the humble gardener!! Well, something to aspire too perhaps.
3 happy geese chilling out at the RHS Edible Garden
Floating tap at the Control the Uncontrollable perfumed garden designed by Jill M W Foxley

Iconic LED light feature at The Great Idea garden by Tom Harfleet