Broccoli from Trafalgar Square, anyone?

Really excellent to hear about this idea from Clitheroe in Lancashire. I've been wondering for a while why the open space surrounding the estates of East London are not better used to service areas which are sometimes recognised as food deserts. So good to see someone finally putting it into practice...

I've been thinking for a while that this would be a particularly beneficial way of re-engaging the community in areas of socio-economic deprivation. One such project already in existence is the 'friends of arnold circus', where they have taken control of council-owned areas in the estate to grow food and veg. Find out more about volunteering.

In the meantime, I'll be keeping a close eye on this project. It could work well as a model for other areas of the country.

Thanks Lynn for the link.

The Real Seed Catalogue

You may have heard of these chaps before, I hadn't. Anyhoo... have been turning my mind to thinking about what I'm going to grow in the garden this year. Last year was a bit of a warm-up, we only really got here at the beginning of August, and I'd misplaced my best gardening book (which, I can't recommend enough, by the way). So, I've listed out all of the seeds that I've bought and collected over the years, which seemed to be a lot more than I'd thought, but had some real holes in it, as I've recently discovered. Plentiful are the summer sunshine-loving regulars such as tomatoes, peppers and herbs; non-existent are the winter stalwarts such as broccoli or cabbage. How on earth I thought we'd survive on a couple of mizuna and rocket plants, I have no idea, but next (read: this) year we should now be able to look forward to a more productive year - all year.

Sadly then, I just came across the Real Seed Catalogue this morning, having ordered all other things last night (via Garden Organic and Suffolk Herbs). Based in Wales, they have been collecting rare and heirloom varieties of vegetables and herbs since 1990, and actively promote the saving of your own seeds - supplying a 'how to' with each packet of seeds bought. Don't know about you, but I quite fancy trying some of their chilli peppers...

Sorry about size of pic above by the way... all their pics are tiny.

In my garden

In moving to Cornwall I have had the good luck of obtaining a garden. I like to call it (albeit affectionately) 'The Scrubland'. As you can guess from such a name, much of it is bare earth right now, with some plants, some herbs, and an on-going battle with the local weeds (of which there are a variety). It's been really exciting to get a relatively large patch for a new-comer such as myself, and of course, because we're only renting it's always hard to weigh up the cost and effort required to make it really nice with a wonder of how long we'll actually be there. But y'know, it's going well. It's blessed with amazing soil, as has been the local compost dumping ground for the surrounding flats for the past few years. Already I seem to have a few friends doing well, and I'm pleased to say that the bees seem just as keen as I am.

Already from this I have managed to make two batches of herb and ricotta ravioli, to remind me of sunnier times in the winter, plus we're now enjoying our own salads regularly. I'm hoping I might even get some fruit and jam out of it next summer. Wish us luck, I'll keep you updated.

Echium
(if all goes to plan, when this flowers next year it could be up to 15ft tall!)