Hen House

How cool is this hen house come kitchen garden? By Studio Segers it has a really simple but beautiful aesthetic and being modular the parts are interchangable so you could swap a seat for a rabbit hutch or add a chicken coop next to the compost bin. Ma and Pa don't have chickens anymore but for a while we've been conjuring up an idea to design and build our own. I've been collecting some more ideas here.

Images from Studio Segers 

Out & About

I'm back home, back down south and, boy, does it feel good. No rest for the wicked, however. It's time to write my dissertation. Over the last week I have visited a couple of schemes that I am using as case studies: FARM:shop in Dalston, East London and Incredible Edible Todmorden in West Yorkshire. They're two completely different takes on solving today's food issues and both are definitely worth a visit. 

Top: Salad leaves at FARM:shop 

Bottom: Rhubarb in Tod

Food Futures

So I'm supposed to be packing. After work tomorrow, I'm heading back up to Manchester for the next semester of study. I really need to get back into my dissertation reading, so this distraction is valid. I've just received the current issue of Icon magazine and it's called 'The Future of Food'. Just up my street and they have an article on my favourite architects, Work AC. I must keep packing, but I'm looking forward to sitting down and having a read of this when I get back up north!

Image from Icon

Los Organopónicos

              

My love for Cuba - even though I have never been there - gets stronger every time I read or watch something about the country. I'm able to write about my wildly keen interest in urban agriculture for my dissertation, and I'm currently thinking about doing a comparison between Cuban and British food production and in the city. The situation in Havana and other cities on the island has stemmed from the end of support of the Soviet Union - a case of having to grow your own. Yet it has gone from strength to strength and now is a part of the everyday cityscape and daily lives of the people with strong support from the government. In the UK, on the otherhand, there is no such encouragement and urban farm schemes rely on associations lacking in funds. We still rely on the supermarkets and the food that has flown thousands of miles to get to us. So let the investigations commence!

Images from Sustainable Cities, Denmark and video from 'Around the World in 80 Gardens' (BBC 2008) on YouTube

Farm Yard

Architecture is back in full swing. CAD, modelling, reading, research, teaching even... there's no rest for the wicked. I'm collecting together sources for my dissertation and I think this video might just be useful. I think I'm going to look at urban agriculture and food production in the city, so I've been saving videos on Vimeo to get started.

Video from chow.com

Sheep Shack

I've been designing houses for people for the last year, and it's something that I am really keen on and want to do in the long term. Having watched The Secret Life of Buildings last night on C4, it got me thinking again about housing and whether what we're currently designing is up-to-scratch and how we can make it better. It's also about looking at the wider community and how we sustain ourselves. Through my web-wandering I came across this petting farm by 70f. They seem to do a few buildings for agricultural animals, and after all farming is something else I am interested in. So designing homes for creatures on all fours: this could be my calling!

Images by 70f

Physic Garden

Last summer I was really really keen to go and visit the Union Street Urban Orchard which I did towards the end of its stint. I thought the idea of using an undeveloped space to grow fruit and veg, collect seeds and brew cider was great and I was so keen to get involved. Unfortunately it looks like I have missed out on helping out at this years Urban Physic Garden looking more into the medicinal side of plants. I'm definitely going to go along to visit!
Image from Urban Physic Garden

Funky Field

My book [on farming] arrived last week and since I have been reading up on poplar farms in Oregon, food matrixes, landgrab cities and art farms. I'm not sure if it's the food cultivation, sustainability or land preservation which evokes the most in me but I feel like I'm starting some good research before I head back to uni in September.

Images from Ruche

Farm Yard

The other night, just before I went to sleep, I had an epiphany. Whilst studying I had really got into urban agriculture and "food architecture" but looking back to my design outcomes, I'm not entirely satisfied. So I decided at this late hour, that I'm going to get back to my research and continue to develop my ideas.

As my searches started I came across BRACKET, a design collective who produce topical publications the first being [on farming]. It's a collection of essays and investigations by various people. There are some great images and once I have got my ethos, I hope to make some fab images of my own.

Image of Art Farm from BRACKET

Rooftop Farm

Here are some images from the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in New York. There seem to be lots of these farm popping up all over such as the one at PS1 in NYC and Urban Orchard in London. I'd love to get involved in something like this.
Images from The Selby via Milk

City Veg

 

After meaning to go all summer, my friend Fi and I visited the Union Street Urban Orchard. It had things like seed collections, a scrumpy shed where they were experimenting in making cider from different brands of apple juice, a table tennis table sat in a skip, a tire swing and plant adoption. I was tempted by the latter, but knowing how much trouble I had in keeping my basil alive, I passed.

Then we headed to Borough Market, which is busy busy on a Saturday, and had a wild boar sausage bagette.

And now I think Autumn is here... it's getting chilly in these parts!

Buzzing Bees

Today I popped down into the village with Ma and Pa to visit the Epsom Apiary. I've lived here all my 21 years but even now I'm discovering these little places. Mum's been interested in starting a bee keeping course for a while, which alongside our chickens (which will be arriving in a few weeks) will make us right ol' suburban hippies!
We even tried some honey mead, an ancient alcoholic beverage which was drunk at weddings before grapes were brought over to the UK. It's where the word "honeymoon" comes from. You learn a new thing every day!