Transition Town Tooting

Tag: Growing

  • Seed and Plant Swap 2020

    Seed and Plant Swap 2020

    Tooting Community Garden’s 
    🔁Seed and Plant Swap 2020🔁
    Sunday 1 March 2020
    Supporting Tooting’s Diverse Seeds
    Take a look at the photos to see what we did on the day
    We created a growing structure and it has a wind sock!
    We folded newspaper to make compostable pots
    We used our homemade potting compost!

    People selected an edible seed to grow from the Seed Swap table
    We sifted our homemade compost. The fine soil can be used for potting and the larger compost for mulch.
    Between the 50 participants there were a lot of seeds and plants!
    Thanks to Work and Play Scrap Store for the yarn and fabrics used to weave our dream catcher growing structure
    The structure will be a great support for our cucamelon plants later in the year
    We liked this seed swapper’s choice of packaging. 
  • Seed and Plant Swap at TCG

    Seed and Plant Swap at TCG

    Heads up & a date for the diary, for an early spring celebration in the Tooting Community Garden. On March 1st, we will be running a Seed and Plant Swap. Bring any spare plants or seeds you would like to swap or donate to others. It is fine to turn up with absolutely nothing and see what interesting plants or seeds you can pick up! 

    It’s also a great opportunity to think about growing something for Tooting Foodival in September.

    We will include house plants, vegetable and fruit plants and seeds, rooted cuttings, divisions and bulbs.  It’s all going to be very informal, family friendly and of course will be a FREE EVENT. 
     
    Sunday,1 March 2020 1pm – 2.30pm 
    Tooting Community Garden 5 North Drive, SW16 1RN (opposite the common) 

  • 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.

  • Time to be growing for the Foodival!

    There are over two growing months until the Tooting Foodival.

    That’s plenty of time to grow local vegetables from scratch to donate or cook for the Foodival community festival on September 14th.

    What can you grow well in your garden, containers or window box in a couple of months?
    Who can you get involved? There’s a school summer holiday soon, and could the children be in charge? The RHS has a guide to getting children interested in gardening, here.

    The varieties below will all grow fast.
    Click on the vegetables in the list for more information from gardening websites.
    Are some of these new to you? Try them out:

    Coriander

    Cress
    Lettuce

    Mizuna

    Radish

    Rocket


    Kohl Rabi  and Beetroot
    are worth a try too.

    Click here to download a copy of these suggestions with the links to the gardening websites.

    What else could be grown quickly? Please share your ideas with us all: Tooting Foodival and Tooting Community Garden are on Instagram, and the garden is on Facebook too.

    Happy growing and see you at the Foodival. 
    It will be great to see your produce and we’ll add you to our ‘I Grew This!’ poster, 2019 edition

  • Foodival Poster 2018

    TTT is running its 11th sustainable food festival – the Tooting Foodival – this September!  This year’s Foodival poster celebrates the core elements of growing, cooking and eating!  If you are a connoisseur of any of these activities we urge you to get involved in this year’s festival either as a grower donating some home grown produce, a cook helping to produce tasty locally sourced meals for the masses, entering the Top Tooting Cook Competition, or as a taster of these wonderful dishes on the day.  Perhaps you could be all three?!!

     
    If you interested in finding out more about Tooting Foodival 2018 EMAIL US or check out the links below:

    Download poster here
    Latest Press Release here
    Stalls Application Form here
    Foodival Website here

  • Ready Steady GROW! for the 10th Tooting Foodival

    The Tooting Foodival celebrates local growing, cooking and eating together. It’s based on what people locally grow and donate – so we can all admire Tooting’s skills and productivity. Plus we can offer super ingredients to the Top Tooting Cook contest and the chefs’ delicious demonstrations. More info here.

    Sowing radishes
    Radishes harvested just 4 weeks later

    There’s still time to grow from scratch so you can donate to the Foodival on Saturday Sept 16th. It’s about sharing the love rather than growing big quantities. We’re  delighted by the diversity of what’s donated
    every year!

    Starting now, what can you sow, grow and harvest for the Foodival?

    If you can get sowing by the end of July, you could harvest these by mid-September:

    • Rocket
    • Coriander
    • mixed cutting Lettuces
    • Mustard Greens
    • Cima di Rapa (that’s turnip tops)
    •  And more – do share your suggestions.
    Rocket
    White turnips


    Alfalfa spouts, 5 days from starting

    Much closer to the Foodival date:
    > you could start Radishes as late as mid August
    > you could start Sprouting Seeds just a week before (here’s our handy guide)
    > you could sow Cress just a few days before

    Cress, 3 days from sowing

     Where can you grow?

    • In your own garden or allotment
    • In containers on a terrace, balcony or windowsill
    • At a nearby community garden

    Even if you’re a beginner, why not give it a go?

    Expert or newbie, everyone is included in our annual amazing ‘I Grew This’ celebratory Foodival poster:

    If you would like to ask questions or get advice, or come and grow from scratch with us at Tooting Comunity Garden – all welcome on Sundays and Wednesdays, 5 North Drive SW16 1RN. Check for updates on opening on our facebook page.

    NB there’s a highly-recommended session on container gardening by our friend Mark Ridsdill-Smith and more at the London Permaculture Festival on Sunday 30th July – see you there.

  • ‘Stay With Love’: Gardens of Refuge Project update

    We’re reporting back every six weeks on the Gardens of Refuge Project. That’s our local project running throughout 2017 with refugees and asylum-seekers living in and nearby Tooting, alongside our project partners CARAS and The Grange.

    Our previous summary at the end of May can be read here.
    In June and July we’ve worked with the CARAS Saturday Youth Club. 

    Elly Brown, MD at CARAS says:

    “We’ve already witnessed the
    transformations that take place
    when people from far and wide
    can use their skills and knowledge
    to create something shared.”
    What have we been doing together?
    ‘Stay with Love’ Making instant pallet benches:

    In one mighty 4-hour session, a loose and changing group from the CARAS Youth Club co-designed, shared ideas, problem solved and brought in new team members to make four of these pallet benches.
    Hats off to that dedicated group whose pride meant they insisted on eating their communal lunch sitting on the new benches.
    Part of the production line was to write messages of welcome and invitation on the seat backs. 
    These are in many languages.
    These young people have come to the UK in search of a welcome, safety and to put down new roots. It’s poignant that they felt comfortable to contribute their own personal invitations so directly to all-comers.

    These benches went on to the pop-up village green of the Tooting Twirl and now they’re in the Community Garden. Come and have a seat!
    ‘Stay with love’ as one young man wrote
    on a bench.

     

    Beetles and Bees 
    Making planters for Hillbrook School:

    Construction was more straightforward than the benches. With carpentry finished quickly, in June we painted the new planters cream.

    In parallel we spent time drawing insects (real and imagined) – offering this in the crowded hall alongside ping pong, pool and games. It was a fun experiment to have youth clubbers drop by the ‘insect table’ to sketch….a new experience for everyone.

    Our plan was to scan these drawings to make laser-cut plaques and cut-out insects to fix  onto the planters as fascinating decoration.
    It worked! Many thanks for patience & persistence to Dermot, the South London Makerspace and Nicola.

    Passing around these 3-D cutouts at the start of the following sessions, everyone could see the young people’s feelings of ownership and achievement.

    The planters were delivered to Hillbrook School this week. In September we’ll have a celebration there with youth club members to ‘cut the ribbon’ to launch children’s growing in the beautiful planters.

    PLUS: We’ve continued to work alongside young people looking after the planting done over 3 years at the CARAS office and the Hall around the corner. Thanks Rose, it’s looking very good!

    Now we’re planning the next steps for the Family Days we’re facilitating in August in the Community Garden.

    We’ve also begun to explore what we can do together with a new CARAS beneficiary group – single adults who don’t join the family days or the youth club.

    If you would like to co-facilitate or contribute your time or materials to the Gardens of Refuge project – please email us, we’d love to discuss it.
    – Charles

  • All welcome at The Tooting Twirl! This Sunday 16th July, 12noon – 4pm

    4 days to go to Tooting’s Pop-Up Village Green comes to life at the Bus Turning Circle, Longmead Road.

    We’d love for everyone in Tooting to come along to the Tooting Twirl on Sunday to celebrate all the cultures of our town, make a grey space green and have a good dose of fun by opening a highway to games, music and food!

    What’s happening when?

    12noon – 1pm: Come join in building the Village Green – hang some bunting, place some benches… give the Bus Turning Circle a beating heart!
    1pm – 2pm: Twirling Street Games and a sharing picnic
    2pm: Parade around the Bus Turning Circle in your Twirly best!
    3pm – 4pm: Meet, mingle and relax on the pop-up village green

    Do you do social media?

    Please do tweet, Facebook and share on the day #TootingTwirl

    We’ll also be joined by the Tooting Bec and Broadway Neighbourhood Plan…

    What is it about Tooting that you love? What might you want to change? What do you think we don’t have that we need? What stories or places from the past do you cherish? The Tooting Twirl is the perfect place to collectively imagine what good change might look like for our town.

    Would you like to take part? It’ll take all of us to make the town green… 

    Bring a colourful potted plant for the Giant Twirly Flowerbed or plant up a wheelbarrow to turn this grey space green…

    Make something Twirly to wear in the ‘What’s your Twirl?’ parade…

    Bring a skipping rope or a street game you’d be happy to share…

    Decorate your wheels to cycle in the ‘What’s your Twirl?’ parade…

    Bring a sharing picnic and a blanket…

    All images: Rachel Miller

    Jeni, Lucy and Rich – Co-Twirlers from TTT!

  • Gardens of Refuge project: updating you on 4 fascinating strands at the end of May

    We’re sharing our monthly update about Gardens of Refuge.
    Gardens of Refuge is our 2017 partnership project with CARAS and The Grange to provide therapeutic and positive experiences for people of refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds who live in South-West London.
    There are four interrelated project strands to share:
    > Carpentry project with the Youth Club  
    > Family Activity Days
    > Vertical gardening with the Youth Club  
    > A 4-day trip to The Grange in Norfolk 

    1. Carpentry project with the Youth Club 
    We’ve developed a relationship with a nearby primary school who need planters for their own outdoor space.

    Led by Dermot, last weekend we began a series of 3 sessions to build and decorate these planters. The young people took on the design brief and modified the build based on other planters we have made together. In this case we’re making beds that are low enough for young children to use, and also tough enough to stand up to inevitable playground clambering.

    The session ran to twice its expected length because there was so much energy!
    Later on we have access to laser-cutting equipment or 3D printing to make plaques to fix to the beds.

    2. Family Activity Days
    This half term we have helped facilitate the fourth Family Day of 2017 – partly social, partly to do an interesting activity, partly to join together for a meal (allowing for Ramadan).


    Led by Jeni, we continued our mural project – the delightful idea of a ceiling decoration, based in images of water, for the underneath of the 4.5 metre-long rainwater catchment roof at the Tooting Community Garden.
    We started with impromptu storytelling in groups of 3 people of all ages, based on graphics done in April’s session.

    Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end, and each person supplied one of those – whatever their age.
    For example, using a painting of a snowflake, one story ran: ‘Once upon a time a beautiful snowflake was gently falling…..then the sun came out….and the snowflake turned to water and went plop on my head’. Hearing 9 or 10 of these imaginative stories was fantastic!

    Tuned up to be creative, we turned to painting details of our water images – either swirls and waves or drops (or petals…) – on the fascinating range of recycled scrap materials – metal, plastic, wood, CDs, buttons. (All from our friends at the Work and Play Scrapstore). Later we’ll arrange all these on the rainwater collector ceiling when we offer two Family sessions at the garden itself.

    3. Vertical gardening with the Youth Club
    In March and April Youth Club members made a pair of planters out of scrap pallets.  Since then we’ve been involving young people who want to work in depth with plants and keep all the planting looking good – all led by Rose, our team gardener.

    Each pallet has 3 very narrow beds, and we fixed them to the outside of the railings at the CARAS office at Blakenham Road. Both pallet-beds are planted with young plants grown in Tooting at Share Garden.
    Go and have a look – the beds symbolise the young people’s wish to look outwards, to interact with the wider community, to make something attractive for all to appreciate – and to enjoy the process.

    4. A 4-day trip to The Grange in Norfolk
    Earlier in May a group of 8 of us went to The Grange near Norwich – a respite centre combined with gardening and much more that CARAS has been to several times over the past 2 years. We were 4 young people from 3 countries, plus 4 adults from 3 countries, all helped by the two Grange hosts.

    We lived in the comfortable old house within ten acres of farmland, walked in the woods, looked at moths and grass snakes, cooked our meals, made bread and pots, made plant prints, played a lot of instruments and games, played with our mobiles.  On the middle day a larger group of 15 local people, including other refugees, joined for the weekly work day when a big list of jobs was tackled.

    The purpose is to have a positive, enjoyable, safe time together in a setting that is totally different from Tooting.
    It was a big privilege to join and help facilitate!

    Remember our Gardens of Refuge funding campaign and success?
    A proportion of the funds helps CARAS attend The Grange.
    More trips are planned for 2017.

    Thank you for reading about these diverse activities. We believe they add up to experiences which are valuable for all of us involved: we’re all beneficiaries.

    If you are interested to contribute either your time or other resources to help these projects – at a distance or hands-on – we’d love to talk about that. Please contact Charles by email.

  • Two local food growing workshops June 4th & June 10th – everyone welcome!

    All the plants shared out through Pollinator Paths Wandsworth are settling into their new homes – a delightful fact to think about when you consider there are 60 participant plots in the borough!

    June 4th: 
    As part of the PPW project we’re offering a diverse set of free monthly workshops at the 4 project hub gardens. (We’ll share the year’s plan.)

    On Sunday 4th June there’s a good-looking event with several practical themes at Bramford Community Garden near Wandsworth Town.

    For a copy of the details, click here. You’ll see the plant feeding and composting session is repeated as we think this will be particularly popular. Plus there’s Old York Road Unplugged happening in parallel, right at the garden gate. The day is open to all – you do not have to be part of the Pollinator Paths project.
    And everyone can join the Pollinator Paths Wandsworth facebook group – click here!

    June 10th:
    On Saturday June 10th there’s the 1st session in a series of monthly classes that will run from June to November. The series is called Grow Your Own at Home and it’s all about growing fruit and vegetables. Offered by our colleagues Be Enriched and facilitated by Martin, it’s highly recommended.
    There’s a small fee, and all are welcome including beginners.
    For a copy of the details, click here.