Transition Town Tooting

Category: Community Garden

Community Garden in London SW16 run by Transition Town Tooting. Come down and get your hands dirty!

  • Six gardens to inspire us

    TTT people have made six fascinating garden visits (well five visits to new gardens, and our garden seems fresh every day). We want to share our impressions of things that excited us in many settings, from diverse and creative points of view, all of which can inspire our growing in Tooting.
    Yes we are only showing snapshots – on another day, and for another visitor, there’d be a different experience.
    Two gardens are in New York, in Manhattan’s Alphabet City – where guerilla gardening began in the early 1970s in a bid to develop community ties and reduce unsafe areas. It wasn’t set up by politicians, but by individuals mobilising together.
     
    Which is your favourite garden; what inspires you to grow?
    Share a comment below this post…
     
    First, the Tooting Community Garden. We have been sowing beans, corn, and more beans – one of our contributions for Growing for the 2014 Foodival. Come and see them at our Garden Open Day, from 1000-1700 on Sunday 15th June, when we’re open as part of Open Garden Squares and the Furzedown Festival.
     
    Bursting out on 21st May

    Sowing on 5th May
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Second, El Jardin del Paraiso in New York City.  Home to the most fantastic tree house (or should I say tree nest) I’ve ever seen. It was great to see so many children enjoying the space and hear music being played (much like our garden every Sunday).
    The tree nest was the result of a partnership with local artists, and

    reminded me of the Furzedown Oak project that we’re part of in Tooting. It really brought to life how art can inspire people’s connection with the natural environment around them and help their enjoyment of that space. http://evpcnyc.org/eljardin/

    Third, Chelsea Physic Garden.
    A paradise since 1673 for lovers of plants and botanical history, right on the Thames near the Royal Hospital (and the Chelsea Flower Show right now). It is very welcoming, and in beautiful condition, with the wow factor of expert planting and interpretation.

    I love the ‘Shelf Life’ project tucked away in the teaching area: growing common shop and supermarket foods in their sales packaging: from aloe vera to guava to wheat.

     
     
    Fourth, Rosendale Allotments in Dulwich. Founded in 1908, the allotment assocation has 480 plots (and a long waiting list). The site lies on a steep hill, and every kind of crop is grown around the gardeners’ benches and sheds – some for relaxing to enjoy the view towards Canary Wharf and The Shard. Thanks to the Site Officers Marco and Sophia!
    The website is full of good growing guidance http://www.rosendale-allotments.org.uk/

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
      
     
     
    Fifth, Sissinghurst Castle, in Kent.  There’s the stunning National Trust garden (really, there were no weeds in the beds), and also a new kitchen garden to reduce the ‘food miles’ of the fresh food used in the two cafes. There are two full time kitchen gardeners – yes we are envious!http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle/
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Sixth, it has to be the 6th Street and Avenue B Garden in New York City.
    What struck me about this garden was the beauty and variety of the space – it was full to bursting with flowers and plants, grouped closely together. The joy was the exploration along tiny paths and under canopies – each revealing another space – a pond with fish, plentiful raised beds for herbs, wild flowers, ferns and vegetables, a stage for community events, shady secret seating areas for tranquility and reflection, and much more besides.

    I discovered that this site is so loved by the community that it is now permanent, and welcomes 200 children through its doors every week as part of an education program that has gone from strength to strength. Truly inspirational.
    http://www.6bgarden.org/history.htm

     
     
    And:
    As well as coming to garden with us in the Tooting Community Garden any Sunday, another great activity is the wonderful and creative Chelsea Fringe, running now until 8th June.  

     
     

  • Growing Connections as Spring Arrives

    The clocks are about to go forward and it’s officially spring time!  We celebrated the start of a new growing season by donating and swapping over one hundred packets of seeds with local people on Saturday.  The event aimed to encourage and support people, young and old, in growing food and flowers in whatever space they have.

     
    It was a great opportunity to bring people together. We met some wonderful characters.  Two women excitedly took handfuls of seeds to share with friends and family, and a man, we coaxed in with offers of kale, shared a beautiful tale about how the scent of broad beans takes him back to his childhood in Cyprus.

    Following on straight after Foodcycle,there were plenty of activities to entertain everyone. Heather, from Tooting Library, told stories like Jack and the Beanstalk; Sharon taught us how to make origami seed pots from newspapers; Belinda helped us make flowers out of plastic bags for the story walk on 5th May; and Stephanie wowed us all with paper making from straw collected from the wheat harvest at the garden last year.

    One visitor summed it up, saying: “The paper making workshop was amazing. I’ve never seen paper made of straw! I enjoyed chatting with the gardeners and for the price of a piece of my overgrown mint plant, I left with poppy seeds, wild sweet peas, radish, sunflowers and hollyhock seeds – all grown in Tooting and so all the more special as I know that they could do well again this year. Thank you.”


    People as young as five and as old as seventy five took away sunflower seeds collected from the community garden, to grow at home.  Tooting Community Garden is running a challenge this year to see who can grow the tallest sunflower in Tooting.  All you have to do is take a photo of the sunflower you have grown this summer and post it to our Facebook page.  We’ll announce the winner at Foodival (13-14 September). JT

  • Spring Growing Celebration & Seed Swap

    Keen gardeners and even those with not-so-green fingers are invited to come along to a Spring growing celebration and seed swap, this Saturday 22nd March in Tooting. The event will aim to show how easy it can be to grow your own produce, even if you don’t have a garden or allotment.

    Click 4 Flyer

    Event organizer Jenny Teasdale said: “Anyone can grow food and flowers, whether you have a garden, a balcony or just a windowsill.  We want local people to come along on Saturday to learn about growing, to share their expertise and seeds, and to meet new friends and neighbours.”

    There will also be free activities on the day including story telling, papermaking, flower making and seed sowing.
    You don’t have to be an expert gardener to attend or even have anything to swap. Tooting Community Garden are donating seeds and seedlings, many of which if started now, will produce vegetables in time for Tooting Foodival, the annual festival, now in its 7th year, celebrating locally grown food, cooked by local restaurants and served up free to the community, which will take place 13-14th September.
    The Spring growing celebration will take place in the Mushkil Aasaan community space at 222 Upper Tooting Road from 2-4pm.  We hope to see you there.

  • Spring Growing Celebration & Seed Swap


    All welcome, and all activities are free:

    • Meet the Tooting Community Garden team and local growers in your area

    • Pick up seeds, swap seeds, plant seeds and celebrate growing food and flowers in any space

    • Activities – story telling, flower making, paper making from wheat straw grown in garden, and seed sowing

    • Help us map the green spaces and gardens in and around Tooting
    Don’t worry if you don’t have seeds to swap, just pop in and take some seeds with you to grow, donated by Tooting Community Garden and other local growers.

    And: the Tooting Foodival. We’re also encouraging local gardeners to grow and donate vegetables for this year’s Foodival, which will be on September 13th and 14th.
    The Foodival is a celebration of local growing, cooking and eating – and a lot of fun.
     
    Much more information to come through the spring and summer. Have a look at what we did in 2013 by clicking on FOODIVAL in the top line of this blog page – and talk to us at the Seed Swap about getting involved in ’14.

  • Growth in the Tooting Community Garden

    On a sunny day, after 7 weeks with mean temperatures a couple of degrees warmer than normal, it’s easy to hope that spring is here. (But last year there was a hard frost in March). Have a look below at some encouraging views in the Community Garden today:
    

    Robin’s-eye view: autumn-sown garlic is looking good
    We photograph these every year

    

    Winter wheat: future sourdough bread
    for the Tooting Foodival!
    March 25th 2013: Reception children inspect a perfect disc of ice

    Next to bloom: it look like it will be the primroses.
    The Community Garden is open every Sunday from 11:00-1:00, and we’re located at 5 North Drive, SW16 1RN, opposite Tooting Common. More info on our Facebook page.
    Don’t forget to come along to our Seed Swap (and more) event from 14:00-17:00 on 22nd March at 222 Mushkil Aasaan, Upper Tooting Rd.
    All welcome!

  • “An experience none of us will forget…”

    Celebrating the Community Garden & Gatton School rain water catchment project.

    In November and December 2013 we posted blog reports about the ‘Big Build’ project that we’ve been doing in the garden with Year Six children and staff from Gatton School, and with TTT volunteers. 
    We ran this for seven weeks, and today we managed to get all the main parties together to celebrate the successful completion of the project, and thank everyone who contributed.

    Wow!
    YES it rained a lot in January, and the water butts are full: with a theatrical flourish we lifted the lid off one of them and gazed admiringly at the beautiful water.

    NO we don’t need the water now! But last summer we ran out completely, and we want to garden within the natural limits of the place. Accommodating unpredicatable weather is going to be a key growing skill in the future!

    And as well as creating a tangible result with the project, we went through a fascinating process over the series of sessions with the children and volunteers. To see all the past TTT blog entries for highlights and pictures, click on Gatton School in the menu bar at the top, below the blog title.
    And we’ll share our learning as a practical case study.

    Today, eight children combined to give a speech they wrote themselves about the project (and also said a bit about the whole experience of coming to the garden). If you would like to read the whole speech by the children , please click here. Here are some of their delightful words:

    “Our newest project, to build a ‘state of the art’ water shelter, was an experience that none of us will forget. We helped to saw the wood, make concrete (not cement!) and build the structure. I doubt if any other experience we have will beat this one.” 

    “All this has been a phenomenal and amazing experience for us. We have not only benefited by learning to make a difference to the community that we live in but also how to be worthy citizens who are aware of what being eco-friendly really means.” 

    “For some of us, who have only seen vegetables in the supermarket, we were amazed to find out that potatoes grow underground and that sunflowers grow as big as our heads!”   

    We were also very pleased to welcome Naseem Aboobaker from Mushkil Aasaan, the local social care service which owns the garden site. In 2011 she talked to us in TTT about using the land for a community garden. Thank you, and we appreciate that trust!
    Thanks to Malik Gul of the Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network for joining us, too.

    More thanks to Richard who designed the structure – without his energy (and tools), the project would have remained just another nice idea.
    And respect to all the volunteers – twelve of us – who have been flexible and amazingly cheerful!
    Gatton School funded the water butts, the new timber and roofing materials: thank you! Special gratitude to the school kitchen for making the delicious tiffin today.

    Most thanks are due to the 60 Year Six children who were so involved with this. 
    Now we’ll aim to develop something together for the spring and summer which will catch all our imaginations in the same way – and link with the School’s Eco Project. We’re continuing to offer outdoor learning with the Reception classes, too.

    If you would like to contribute to this school project, or join in with other Community Garden activities, please email us

      All welcome!

  • The shortest day: looking forward in the Garden

    This weekend it’s the winter solstice.
    From now on the days start to get longer – slowly at first, just seconds per day. Yes it’s still winter, and the coldest weather is still to come – but for gardeners this is an exciting time!
    Over the next few weeks, come along to the Tooting Community Garden and you can feel that things are alive and moving outdoors.

    

    The winter wheat is
    coming up well
     Rocket and mustard
    leaves picked today



    Gardening helps you learn to look forwards (a New Year’s resolution?).
    This week we planted the Stella dessert cherry that Gatton School has presented to the Community Garden – there’ll be plenty of blossom and fruit to enjoy in the future.

    We’ll be open on Sundays 11-1 over the holidays.
    Check on the Community Garden’s Facebook page for any updates, and we look forward to seeing you!

  • Update 4 – Gatton School Garden Sessions

    Gatton School’s Year Six classes have had two more amazing sessions, on the 3rd and 10th December. While the rainwater catchment in the Tooting Community Garden – ‘The Build’ – has been growing fast, children have been trying out some of the skills involved.

    The pictures can tell the story:
    Year Six were practicing cutting timber joints on 3rd December, to copy how the roof supports are fitted together:

    

    Four timbers complete with two lap joints each
     
    On December 10th they made a pop-up roof with hand-held gutters to show how to collect and store rainwater from a roof. It worked!



    The pop-up roof takes shape
    
    No problem! From watering can to storage without any spills

    On both days, we explored how teamworking makes a better and stronger construction.
    As of today the roof is up, and next week sees the completion of the Build – with several linked projects planned for 2014.

    

    Sorting garlic before planting
    Year One classes have continued to visit:
    Garden activities can be solo and
    reflective, or social and active!
    Can maple seeds fly? Yes!






     

  • Update 3 – Gatton School Garden Sessions

    During this week’s session, the Year Six children caught up with the progress achieved by the previous school groups: raising the six main uprights for the rainwater catchment build, having set the posts in concrete (see earlier Updates below in this blog).
    

    Spot the socket wrench

    What was the next job?
    Making the roof trusses to support the roof itself. So..in four small groups, the Year Six children designed sets of models of the trusses, complete with an angled pitch to ensure rain-water runoff. The children measured lengths of timber, drilled them to fit their designs, fixed them with bolts or screws, and took them back to school to experiment further: co-operating to use brand new skills.

    We made these models! The real thing is behind us.

    And what did Year One do?
    They prepared the ground, marked out rows, and planted some jerusalem artichokes: plants which will grow much taller than they are next spring and summer.

    Covering the tubers with earth – job well done!

    Next stage in the Year Six Build project? Three more sessions to go: building the trusses..and then roofing, then the guttering and water butts. Look out for the next Update!

  • Late November: Six ‘new beginnings’

    Even though the year is moving into winter, there’s six ‘new beginnings’ to share with you below.
    We hope to see you at these events – all welcome to come along and maybe try something new..

    1 On Tuesday 26th November we are starting to plan for the 2014 Tooting Foodival.
    Do join us and suggest some new ideas, or become a new participant for next year.
    We’re meeting at The Selkirk, 60 Selkirk Rd, Tooting Broadway from 1900 to 2100 (details on Events Calendar opposite).

    2 On Wednesday 27th November there is a SMArT Meet and Make workshop at Sprout in Moyser Road, Furzedown from 1830 to 2030. All welcome (details in the Events Calendar). The meeting will also start to look forward to the Christmas making and craft event on December 7th at Mushkil Aasaan – details to follow.

    3 Also on Wednesday 27th November, along with the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, we are co-hosting ‘Community Responses to the Energy Crisis’ at the Furzedown project from 1930. The meeting will help participants make sense of saving energy and reducing costs now, and we will start to explore developing a local renewable energy project.  Plus refreshments from Naked Loaf…please come along. See the complete flyer here

    4 Naked Loaf made creative use of the bread flour we grew in the Tooting Community Garden this summer to make sourdough starter for dozens of delicious loaves at the Tooting Foodival in September. The new beginning for Naked Loaf is the exciting opening of their new organic bakery and deli at 70 Moyser Road, Furzedown, SW16 6SQ. They are finishing the decorating now and expecting to be fully open from Thursday 28th November, all day from 8:00 am. Best go and visit soon and try some of the great produce!

    5 The ‘Big Build’ with Gatton School in the Community Garden is beginning to take shape, building on the children’s enthusiasm and energy.
    There’ll be a celebration at the end of term to mark the rainwater catchment completion.

    6 Not quite a sign of spring, but the broad beans planted a few weeks ago are beginning to show through – a very encouraging sight as the weather turns colder.
    Do come and join us in the Community Garden every Sunday from 1100-1300.





    For more info on any of these ‘new beginnings’, contact us on email at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com