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

Nasturtium Seeds

This weekend I moved up to Manchester. Lucy and I have a week of getting sorted and exploring the city before the work begins on our Part II course. Today we went for shop and came across the Hulme Community Garden Centre not far at all from where we live. The enthusiastic people there gave us some nasturtium and calendula seeds and a choice of fruit and veg for a small donation. It seems like a great community hub in an area that has been regenerated in recent years but, at first glance, lacks some personality. They do courses and encourage volunteers so with my current enthusiasm with urban agriculture it could be something great to be involved with.

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

No Packaging

At the weekend I watched some documentaries about the Amish and their simple way of living. I thought of all the positives: travelling by horse and buggy; growing their own fruit and veg; rearing their own animals; and, most importantly, the absence of waste. In the paper this evening I spotted Unpackaged, a shop in north east London. You can buy allsorts of groceries by bringing your own packaging, encouraging an end to waste. It's such a good idea and I hope that more shops will start going this way. Check out this video about the shop!

Images from hipshops

Great Pickings

Yesterday my friend Steph and I went fruit picking at Garson's Farm. We got so excited when we found a hearty bunch of strawbs, so good to see a wide range of sizes and shapes - proves how selective the supermarkets are. There were lots of little kids picking with their parents and grandparents, learning where produce actually comes from.

We picked raspberries and gooseberries too, so currently I'm thinking up a recipe or two to make some cakes with what I got. Tomorrow it's my 21st birthday so I'm preparing for my birthday barbeque at the weekend!

This summer I'm trying to complete this. It's 10 nice things to do this summer, and I've done two so far (my friend Ben and I have turned it into a bit of a competition!)

Nectarine Love

I bought a punnet of nectarines the other day. I love the smell just as much as how they taste! Summer is on it's way, I can feeeel it!

image via ireallylikefood.com