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

Procrastinating and breadmaking

Today i reminded myself that home-made bread is good for the soul. Making your own bread is not only an enjoyable activity but the eating part of the exercise is in many ways unbeatable. Especially when everything goes the way it should do - the yeast works to raise the bread, your hands knead and shape the bread and the oven provides a cosy environment just long enough for the middle to cook without the crust going to crispy.
There is nothing like a nice slice of freshly baked bread with a cup of tea during a well deserved break from Sunday chores. Today mine involved sorting out all my plants, pots, overflowing bag of potentially re-usable items ("Don't throw that away, i'm sure I can re-use it somehow") and clearing up my garden workstation! All of this has been bought on by the fact that I am moving out next week and need to get the most important things - mainly my plants - prepared for their relocation (those which are coming with me!). So, my main task was to pot together all my wayward herbs and lettuces, sort out pots of seeds which hadn't germinated and put away all the extra pots that had been collecting along the garden fence. Rather like a Spring clean but at the beginning of summer. Having done all this and taking much longer than i should have - blaming this on my mild OCD for pot organisation - it was time for afternoon tea accompanied by some nice wholesome bread (wholemeal with mixed seeds). With my plants now all ready for their journey eastward it is now time to move onto the bigger challenge of packing up everything else. Easier said than done for me the serial hoarder who believes everything can be re-used in some way.

A few tips for storing miscellaneous useful objects you don't want to throw away:
- Sort out all that you have and place smaller objects inside each other e.g. milk caps inside of yoghurt pots inside of butter tubs inside detergent boxes inside of cereal boxes
- Use random items to make a recycled mobile come scarecrow device for your veggie plot
- Decorate containers and use them around the house
- Compost anything biodegradable
- If all else fails put them in a bag and hide them in the cellar for a rainy day!