Transition Town Tooting

Category: Other stuff

A place to gather things that have no category!

  • Calling out for local fixers and menders!

    Our regular fixing and mending workshop – Restart/Sewstart – has been getting more and more popular lately.

    Whether it’s broken electrical or electronic items that people don’t want to throw away – a favourite bit of clothing or a bags that needs altering or mending – or a sewing machine that someone isn’t sure how to use – more and more people are keen to fix things rather than throw them away.   Our September session had more than twice as many objects bought along to fix – check out all the happy people who were helped out by our volunteers!

    But our growing popularity means we need more local fixers!

    We’d love to find more people locally who’d like to join in.

    Do you know someone who loves tinkering with things and making them work again?  Or someone who is handy with a sewing machine or a needle and thread and would be happy to share their skills?  

    Do encourage them to come along and say hello at our next session  or email us for more information transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

    13.30 – 16.30 on 30th November
    Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s)   

    We get lots of support from our partners The Restart Party with online resources and workshops – and we offer lots of thanks and cups of tea and biscuits on the day!

    Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing! 

    More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www,therestartproject.org)
    More about Transition at www.transtiontowntooting.org, on twitter @tttooting or email us at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

  • Tomorrow – the movie – comes to Tooting!

    We face a climate emergency – but all over the globe, solutions already exist! 

    Join Transition Town Tooting for TOMORROW, our first Film for Action 

    with All Saints Church Tooting, Brudenell Rd SW17 8DQ
    2.30 pm on 16th November 2019

     

    Tomorrow (Demain) provides a comprehensive look at ways in which activists, organisers and everyday citizens are trying to make the world a better, greener, more sustainable place.

    Check out the trailer for the film!

    ‘The overriding message? It takes a community to make change.’
    New York Times

  • In Tooting This Week …

    Tomorrow, Weds 9th, we have a Tooting Green Drinks on Ecobricking at The Selkirk pub 7.30 – 10pm

    On Thurs 10th we have a Foodival Debrief at Mushkil Aasaan 7.00. All welcome to give feedback on this year’s event or help plan the next one.

    And on Sat 12th there is a meeting re TTT Governance at Ravenstone Primary School Balham (probably but TBC)

    Come along to any of these to find out more about TTT.

  • Extinction Rebellion Back On The Streets

    Extinction Rebellion is back on the streets, this afternoon peacefully blockading much of Westminster including the bridge, Parliament Sq, Whitehall and the Mall. Some fabulous creativity was in evidence in the outfits and signs people had put together.

    XR Wandsworth is based at The Future Is Here site in the Mall – full briefing on how to get involved HERE while the Map below shows where XR action will be focussed. 

     
    This inspring non-violent mass protest is well worth a visit or if you can get more involved the XR site has details of the actions in London and worldwide.  
    THERE IS NO PLANET B

  • Foodival 2019: “I Grew This”

    Most of this year’s Tooting Foodival growers are here immortalised in the traditional I Grew This montage!

  • Thank Yous for Foodival 2019

    Thanks everyone for creating a memorable Tooting Foodival No.12 last weekend. We hope we have not forgotten anyone!

    Venue Hosts:
    Naseem & Mushkil Aasaan thank you as ever for the provision of your special community space for us
    Brian & BJ Hardware, thank you for the use of your yard, power and handyman skills!
    Residents of Hereward Rd thanks for lending us your streetscape for the day

    Volker, Sarah & Isla preparing vegetables

    Donors:
    David & Malsara, Ramsden Rd: marrows, tomatoes, sage, rocket, thyme, oregano, mint, St John’s Wort
    Ben, Endlesham Rd: many cooking apples
    Rod & Jane, Streatham: apples
    Sarah, Balham Park Rd: beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, borlotti beans
    Chuck, Becky & Becky, Kay, Ryan, Katherine, Rosalind, Anuja & all at Tooting Community Garden: Picasso potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, leek, garlic, cucamelon, Jerusalem artichoke, herbs, pattypan squash, runner beans, kale
    Susie & Mike, Earlsfield: tomatoes, snake squash, butternut squash
    Maggie, Burntwood Lane: mint & nasturtiums
    Debbie, Nimrod Rd, Charlotte potatoes, apples, Gris de Provence and Dinizza squashes, rhubarb, courgette, leeks, apples, potatoes
    Becky, Tooting High St, carrots
    Kath, Garratt Park alloments: 2 wonky courgettes, runner beans, rainbow chard
    Lea, Price Close: salad greens, chilli, tomatoes, cavello nero
    Rachel, Ruislip Close: baby peppers, aubergines, cucamelons, courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot, chillis
    Jenny, Larry, Erin & Harley, Moffatt Rd, apples
    Poppy & Teo, Streatham: tomatoes and beans
    Elisabetta, Dahomey Rd: apples, chard, beetroot, carrots, beans
    Hilary, Trevelyan Rd: plums
    Fio, Dahomey Rd: apples
    Jane, Tamworth Allotments: marrow, cucumber, courgette
    Ian, Cotefford St: cucumbers, apples
    Rose, Balham: bay leaves
    Libby, Tamworth allotment: apples
    Nikki, Tooting: potatoes, apples

    Special thanks to local not-for-profit veg supplier Local Greens who donated butternut squash, courgettes, onions and potatoes.

    Emily and Annette front of house

    Chefs
    Volker of Essential Ingredient for co-ordinating cooking in the street with help from local chefs Manisha from Pooja, Rick of Rick’s Dining Room, Elisabetta from Minestra and gluten-free chef Sarah.

    Volunteers
    Richard, Sharon, Hilary, Ben, Jenny, Mita, Emily, Annette, Larry, Millie & Lewis.

    Tooting Community Garden Team
    Anuja, Barbara, Becky H, Becky K, Katherine, Kay, Rosalind & Ryan.

    Creative Activities Team
    Annie, Chuck, Nicola, Nikki, Matt, Paul & May from Butterfly Conservation. Beata & Think Outside tucked in with us.
    Enterprises who were donors to the creative activities included Brindisa, Flashmat, Get Juiced, Milk & Work & Play Scrapstore.

    Everyone who spoke on the Soap Box with special thanks to Mermaid Jasmine for her eye-catching performance and ocean plastics talks. Also special thanks to Millie & Erin for their help with the creative activities & their impromptu speeches. 

    Kay and Ryan hosting the Community Garden Table

    Top Tooting Cook
    Thank you Sophie @thecornerplot for co-ordinating and judging with co judges Sarah and Mark. And thanks to all those who entered the competition!

    Music
    Thanks to Dermot for co-ordinating his meltdown and to his support team of Stave, Howard and Tye. To all the performers including Dermot himself, Resina Chowdhury, Natyalaya Academy of Tamil Art, Dan Caleb, Friend’s Circle Group, Ranjit’s Karaoke, Vincent Burke, Pensa & Reid, Georgia Maria, The Troubadors de L’Avenue Verte and Alex Wonderland  

    PhotographersBryony & Franco, the latter taking all images in this post.

    Logistics
    St Anselm’s Catholic Primary School for gazebos, Volker & Charlie’s Catering Hire for catering equipment, Furzedown Network for the PA, Miss U Stationers for printing, The Phantom Knitter for the Foodival banner and Jane for knitting an edit to show this year’s date!

    Thanks also to all stall holders and Foodival visitors who made this a memorable day in the sun.

    Love from the organisers, see you in 2020!

    Chuck, David, Mal and Volker

  • Foodival Continues … Thank You Donors!

    Thank you to everyone who donated fruit and vegetables last night. We seem to be doing well for apples, but could do with more squash! 

    Head down to Hereward Rd off Tooting High St, by Mushkil Aasaan (see map) from 11-5 TODAY to see what our chefs cook up, tuck into the Community Feast, enjoy the music, stalls and creative spaces at Tooting’s sustainable food festival. Late entrants to Top Tooting Cook accepted!

  • Foodival features …

    A Grower 2018

    This year’s Tooting Foodival includes some new features alongside some familar favourites. We start this coming Friday evening with donations of fruit and vegetables from local growers. Can you spare anything from your allotment, window box or garden? These donations are used by our chefs to cook up a great sustainable feast in the Hereward Rd on Saturday 14th.

    Here’s where to find the Foodival

    The Top Tooting Cook Competition is an annual keenly fought tussle between local cooks to rustle up the best home made locally sourced dish. Follow the link to find out how to enter.

    This year we have several special guests including May Webber from Butterfly Conservation and Ocean Plastic Warrior Mermaid Jasmine Seales. Don’t miss the chance to catch a selfie in a sea shell!

    Mermaid Jasmine Swims By Foodival

    Of course we have a good array of sustainable and foodie stalls plus a long rosta of dance and music action via Dermot’s Meltdown.

    Dermot Melting Down

    In a late change to the running order we expect to hear Dermot himself opening the show with his eclectic trug of homegrown songs and lovingly plucked instrumental covers!

    So we look forward to seeing you this Saturday for what should be a great event. Friday evening for the much needed produce donations at Mushkil Aasaan 222 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 7EW.

    A full schedule of events will be posted shortly.

  • Vegetables, fruit, creativity….

    The Tooting Foodival on 14th Sept would love and appreciate your veg and your fruit to help us co-create our low food-miles community feast! 
    You can donate produce on the day or the evening before – from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Mushkil Aasaan (SW17 7EW). When you see the range and quality of what grows locally, you’ll be amazed! Thanks so much for any contribution you can share – simple or exotic, small or large. 
    Here are some examples from recent years, starting with Tooting tomatoes picked in the heat last Sunday (they’ll last until the 14th if we make them into sauce).

    How will you feed your imagination at the Tooting Foodival? The Foodival mixes sustainability, food, growing, fun, wellbeing and reducing waste. We’re going to offer an activity which will inspire you to be creative: all ages welcome. We’ll have fruit peel from Tooting’s juice bars, Foodival veg scraps, beautiful saved-from-waste materials from Work and Play Scrapstore – South London and Wandsworth Oasis and stories from our Jellybrella project to help you create playful magical micro worlds. We’ll tag photos of what you make on Instagram at #createfoodival and once you start creating, you’ll see the potential for imaginative re-use everywhere! 

    Make a Microbrella

    Enjoy our examples in the photos – subtle objects of mystery and fascination! We look forward to what’s dreamed up on Sept 14th. As well as creative activities there’s the main event: community cooking and the shared feast. Plus live bands, the soap box, boutique stalls and much more…for free! 

    What will you make?

  • Three weeks to Tooting Foodival 2019!

    This year’s Tooting Foodival is only three weeks away! 

    Our annual sustainable food celebration takes place in central Tooting between 11am and 5pm on Saturday 14th September. We will close half of Hereward Rd and fill the street with cooking activities, stalls showcasing local products and organisations, creative activities, music and soap box talks. 

    The premise of Foodival as ever is that we seek donations of fruit and vegetables from local growers that will be cooked up by local Tooting chefs and served to you, the hungry public, as the central part of our street festival. We seek to show that you don’t need to import food from miles away; you can enjoy sustainable locally grown low food mile delicious fare right here in SW17. 

    I Grew This!

    We collect donations of fruit and vegetables the evening before (Friday 13th September, this year) where we also hope to immortalise each of our growers in the now famous “I Grew This” photos. This is also the time when prospective entrants to the Top Tooting Cook Competition can pick up produce to conjure a prize winning dish for the following day’s competition. There will be some great prizes! 

    If you would like to get involved there are several possible ways to do so: 

    1) Are you growing any vegetables or fruit that you could donate? We would be ever so grateful, as Foodival only happens due to home grown produce. 

    2) Would you like to help out on the day? We have a reliable team but can always do with a hand from anyone who wants to get involved in some random community fun! 

    3) Do you fancy entering the Top Tooting Cook Competition? What is your speciality dish that will wow the judges? Or would you like to be a judge? Here is all the TTC info you need: details of the TTC and the registration form. Good luck and we look forward to what you make!

    4) Do you have something to say… about food, sustainability, plastics or anything a bit related? You could book yourself a spot on the Soap Box! 

    Whatever, contact us on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com to find out more, check us out on Instragram @tootingfoodival or on facebook

    We look forward to celebrating local food and local cooking with you on the streets of Tooting in September!