The Trough

Andrew and the homemade fig tool

On my way to the studio this morning I noticed a man holding a stick to the crown of a tree, gently twisting it. Andrew was harvesting gorgeous, bloated and ripe green figs.

His stick was a home made and well used length of timber with a securely tied fig sized plastic cup at one end. You place the cup under the fig and twist until it comes loose.

fig tool in action

I wasn’t convinced that these would be unlike the milky and unripe nuggets I usually come across, but I persevered in asking for a taste. The Cypriot way is to snap off the top and break it in half before inhaling it. They were sweet and heavenly and completely distracted me from Andrews detailed description of their annual harvesting ritual. He could see that the fig had transformed my day. He knew that I understood his passion for the edible jewel he’d given me and gave me another for the journey.

Babysitting a jar of jelly brain like structures called Kefir is more interesting than you might imagine.

drained kefir

They bubble away in a corner, after a couple of days they produce a liquid that can be used to ferment ginger juice into ginger beer. Or lemon juice into lemonade. Hurrah! well – the first lot went pink and tasted a little sour – the second lot was so spicy it made me sneeze… Hopefully this time I will get it right. The bacteria and yeast combo are quite addictive – I check them every morning and evening and remain mesmerized by their monotonous reproduction.

As they are apparently quite hard to kill  – we’ll see about that:)
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It's even got the seasons!

Farmville scares me. People virtually growing nothing but nice graphics on screen. This sparked a short discussion with Phil, around this project of a similar nature called  ‘le verdure del mio orto’ roughly translating as food from my garden. You create a virtual garden and grow what ever you want – the difference being you receive a box of your harvest every week. An interesting approach to Community Supported Agriculture.  The Site has recipes for the vegetables too.

I wonder what else we need to virtualise before consuming it – so we feel like we’ve put in a little effort. I’ve got stagnant screen shots of second life in my mind… mmm.

Keep finding lots of Community Agriculture stuff this week. here is Food Connect in Brisbane. They have a pools of 80 farmers producing for the scheme and deliver the Veg boxes through ‘City Cousins’ who provide centres for collections three times a week. It’s like a box scheme but there are more chances to meet the growers and locals who are involved in the scheme. not bad!

View Larger Map

There will be a meeting to confirm the space we are going to use for the garden at Banister House, so I’ve done a few sketches of how the space could be laid out to start the conversation. I warn you now I am not a garden designer and these are the first sketches, I am pretty sure that some areas are not to scale…
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On the out skirts of London

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Common Ground 8th April 09

Though I’d share this article about joint land ownership. A friend pointed out to me the other day as it mentions community-owned land used for food growing. Really great to see how people can groups together and invest in their surroundings . A guy named Phillipe Castaing wants to set up a site in Brixton. (strangely enough there is another guy named Phillipe Castaing on Linkedin  who works with Monsanto…)

To see the full article click here.

I’m off to see a rather fitting film tonight called Winstanley about 17th Century group called ‘Diggers‘ who tried to create an area of land that they could sustain them selves on. Its amazing to think that they did this on common land in Surrey and such a shame to know that it no longer exists. I’m sure the film will still be an inspiration.

So. Here is the spot that could be transformed into a aromatic haven of food growing.

Get your shovels and seeds!

I met the man who knows from Hackney Council today. So good to meet the people who help make these things happen and strangely also great to hear about the projects that don’t work (so we can avoid that happening), and the fact that more people want to grow their own.

I hope with a spot like this in the centre of the estate everyone will look after it.

This looks ace. I will be going.

Here are some picks from Farmadelphia by Front studio. Dare I forget the importance of designers in visioning the future and giving people an idea of what’s in store (and how they can do it). Front Studio also share their daily diet here. Its good to reflect on what we consume and even better to take the time to consume and celebrate it.

Images by Front Studio

Main Gallery, 9 April – 30 May 200.

The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, off Tottenham Court Road.

Dipping salad, the best way to taste it (the train was moving too fast so all the pics are blurry)

After a weekend of sea breezes and sleepy sunshine we dinned on fresh leaves tasting of wasabi, mustard and butter, dipped in a jar of salad dressing and buttered wholemeal bread with fresh eggs filled with velvet yellow yolks.

I had been visiting a place called Embercombe, it is a community… maybe… a farm… sort of … a place to learn about the land, yep that’s it. It’s in the rolling hills outside of Exeter near Doddiscombsleigh (what a great name).

We spent Saturday chicken proofing the polytunnel doors and shoveling compost whilst spring showers were indecisively deciding whether or not they should rain loads or let the sun shine.
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Some thoughts on Banister house. There will be a big meeting next Friday to see what residence think of the community gardening project. I had a long discussion with a guy named Derek today, he was doing some work on the estate and commented on a poster I put up inviting people to the meeting. ‘It would be great to pick a tomato and just have it with your lunch’.

Banister House in Pencil