Loads of people and conversations today: Lambeth citizens and beyond really want to feed the soil! To be part of the Clapham Common Bandstand Beds project mail ccbandstandbeds@gmail.com – we want your effort and ideas for 2013!

TT Crystal Palace - Annabel, Mehul, Ann (IEL) also Niall Robbie and more from the south of the borough!

Mitzi, via World Development Movement, tasting Brockwell bread - 15% hybrid rye

Master Gardener Mary advising local lady and Dan

Andy Brockwell Bake and Victor - wheat on the common? yes please!

Caz n Sarah

Richard and the laden velobike

Mulch your winter beds to protect the lovely soil structure and microfauna within.  Your soil will be all the more fertile for it!

contact: fiona.law@hotmail.co.uk

If you wish to drive to collect:

• Enter the common at the Mt Pond entrance on Windmill Drive SW4 9DE
• Proceed at 5mph.Hazards lights on and the public and dogs have the  right of way
• Do not drive or park on the grass, park on the hardstanding next to the Bandstand beds
• Exit through same gate please

Any queries about driving to collect:

Victor Chin-Kit, The Parks Manager- Clapham Common
VChin-Kit@lambeth.gov.uk
07958 166 983

beans!

Twenty or so keen Incredible Edible Lambeth-ers had a busy and enjoyable time at the weekend. The Lambeth Country Show (15 & 16 September) attracts a thronging crowd. Visitors to the IEL campus could sip on lambeth herbal tea and sample a range of Lambeth produce, from sumac to pickled red cabbage.

Lambeth Country Show 15 &16 September IEL will have a tent of activities.

If you’re one of the community groups who make our local food system work – we would love to see you there. But all are welcome to join us for the discussion and information sharing.

The potting shed – Food growing/soil conditioning
The kitchen table – Eating/demonstration
Picture gallery – community gardens displayed on washing lines
IEL – maps, display, information
The market place – Local Folk selling local produce from their community gardens

Saturday 22nd Sept – Myatt’s Field Harvest Festival

Fabulously successful last year, the community cooking and eating to be repeated.

September 29th – IEL Action Day and matinee screening

“Best Before: a London Food revolution” which is a short documentary about the food system, oil, and alternative food sources in London. Here is a link to the trailer http://bestbeforedocumentary.com/2012/02/27/best-before-article-in-lifeartsmedia/

The committee will be working with Food Matters to refine our aims, actions and governance for the 2013 food season, after a successful bid from Awards for All. Can’t wait!!

Incredible Edible Lambeth AGM and Harvest Feast October 20th

Food, pumpkin show, meeting and sharing…watch this space

Just some of the projects IEL comittee involved with: The Onion Shed, City Farmers, Blooming Stockwell, The Edible Bus Stop, Green Community Champions, Cressingham Gardens, Lambeth Poly, Clapham Common Bandstand Beds, Cottington Community Gardens, Streatham Common Community Gardens and see the maps page.

Have a good summer and looking foward to seeing you as summer moves into autumn harvest.

It was an amazing turn out where we worked together on local solutions with Ruth Wallis, Director of Public Health, NHS Lambeth, Cllr Lib Peck, Lambeth Council Cabinet Member with responsibility of Sustainability, representatives of Incredible Edible Lambeth and many of the grass roots organisations giving presentations and posters.

Workshops were led by Food Matters to share and develop a vision for a food strategy for the borough. On tables of eight we drew up our key points, and ate a delicous totally Lambeth spread, coordinated by Tori, Marge and the team at Myatt’s Fields. Mid-summer harvest – fabulous!

Here’s looking forward to the write up and the next phase of working together. Join our page at Project Dirt – If you eat you’re in!

Read a foodie Pauline’s view of the day here

We had Heritage Seed Library French drying beans, and borlotti beans that had been grown in root trainers (see below for more info), which Bob and Bruce liked a lot.  The beans were puddled in with a good amount of water, taking care not to get water on the leaves.

We pricked out and potted up some of the many quinoa seedlings, and some kale too (see this blog on the crops). Lastly, we transplanted some nasturtiums by which time cafe-goers and passers-by joined in.

NEXT EVENTS here

Friday 1st June 2 – 3.30 Planting out our squash, potting on our quinoa, building wigwams for beans – join us or stop by for a chat

Saturday 9th June Join us for the Clapham Common Great Compost Giveaway Part II 11 – 2.30 Another chance to find out about the resilience crops planted and how you can get involved

Root trainers is a proprietry brand module system that encourages good downward root growth.  The sides are grooved and there is a hole at the bottom so you can see how far downward growth has progressed.  Also, when the roots reach the bottom and go through the hole, they are ‘air pruned’, ie they stop growing in the drier environment, and this encourages secondary roots, making the plant stronger for planting out. The cells open like a book and you ease out the whole package into the planting hole. Root trainers are quite expensive, but you can easily re-use them lots of times if you are careful.  In addition, they are made of recycled plastic.  Many people say cardboard toilet roll is a good alternative.  However, you do not know what chemicals were in the pulp or what glue has been used.  In addition, you don’t get the air pruning effect as the rolls and compost have to sit with their bottoms in a damp tray.  Lastly, the cardboard is prone to going mouldy.

The Great Clapham Common Compost Giveaway – Part II

Saturday 9th June 2012
11 – 2.30 in the by the bandstand cafe on Clapham Common
(googlemaps)

• Bring a barrow, a bucket, a bag or a buggy and take away green waste compost made on Clapham Common – it’s free!
• Get gardening and compost advice from the South London Master Gardeners – free!
• find out about the resilience crops planted and how you can get involved in the community bandstand beds
• Tell IEL and LBL what you need for growing and give your views on recycling food waste for compost

See the pictures from the first compost giveaway!
We’ve got training sessions for community growers too – see here IEL training and workshops 2012

Marianne from Notre Dame estate and Sue Sheehan, Lambeth Green Community Champion Officer

Rain, often driving, did not deter growers mad keen for the good stuff on Saturday. A brilliant day where all were delighted to share their passion for fruit, veg, community and changing a few things in Lambeth.  A magnificent co-production by IEL, Lambeth Parks, Friends of Clapham Common, South London Master Gardeners and the community forum team from Lambeth.

Do you want to get involved with IEL?! incredibleediblelambeth@gmail.com

- Parks have said there can be more of these events at other parks around the borough – yay! – watch this space. Contact us if you think you can help run a session.

- Victor, Parks area officer for Clapham Common, has also built some community beds  – contact us if you want to grow with us, and watch this space for more info.

- pumpkin competition – see our blog pumping pumpkin: winter squash

- consultation on food strategy – for all to join in. Event planned for 21st June, 4 – 8 probably at the town hall – watch this space for more info

compost – a big topic but easily divides into kitchen waste (some nutrition, but can be soggy if not mixed with ‘browns’ such as scrunched paper and cardboard) and green waste, typically produced by parks and amenity horticulture.  This is better as a ‘soil improver’, adding bulk and very slow, low level nutrient release

loam – mineral soil made of particles of different sizes (up to half a mm) of weathered rock. ‘London clay’ has fine particles and is quite fertile, but needs organic matter (compost, manure) added to work well for fruit and veg.

grit – sometimes soil, especially clay gets really ‘claggy’, so adding grit (particles up to 5mm) can help drainage, especially for mediterranean plants like rosemary

horticultural sand – smaller particles. You’ll need to add a good deal of this to London clay if you want to grow carrots or onions, for example, which need good drainage

well-rotted manure – black gold, indeed. Has nutrients and soil fauna galore.  You need to study a bit about when to apply it. Fresh manure from the stables with wood shavings and straw must be left to rot down.

seaweed meal – always get from a sustainable source (don’t raid the beach). Great for adding all the micro-nutrients (eg element Boron for cell division – plants grow faster!)

comfrey pellets – full of the three macronutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium, trace elements, minerals, vitamins and plant hormones . You can also grow comfrey if you have open land and make a tea from the leaves (for the plants)

wood ash – high in potassium for fruits and flowers. Best made from green wood prunings, burnt and lightly spread eg around fruit trees in autumn or at any time as fruits and flowers need support.

What do you like to add to the soil where you grow? Post a comment.

7-step quick guide to growing squash:

1.  sow indoors April/May and harden off in May (put pots outside in daytime) and plant out end May/beginning June ensuring all risk of frost has passed. Or sow direct into soil at the end of May. Plants need a sunny spot.
2. enrich the planting hole with nitrogen-rich material: well-rotted manure, comfrey pellets or seaweed meal, for example.
3. make sure you have space for your plant to scramble. Once it gets going it’ll be everywhere and you don’t want to stepping on the flowers and baby fruits
4. give the leaves a foliar feed at least once week. Ideally use a liquid seaweed  extract (good range of nutrients) diluted in water and spray with a watering can.
5. plant flowers nearby to attract pollinators, or you can pollinate the female flowers with the males yourself (then eat the male flowers).
6. keep watering around the base of the plant through the season.
7. once the fruit is ready, cut it from the vine leaving a little topknot of a stem and let it ‘cure’ in the sunshine for a few days before storing in a cool, dry place.

What variety will you grow? If you’ve come along to one of our recent events here are some notes on the squash seed varieties we’re giving away – thanks to South London Master Gardeners for their expertise in paper-pot-making-seed-sowing activities.

SQUASH AUTUMN CROWN F1
A brand new variety specially bred for the UK climate and with a very distinct flavour of melon. Very moreish and ideal for winter use. One of the best keepers for eating fresh or cooked.

SQUASH BUFFY
A new mini Winter Squash with a shelf life of 6-8 months. Fruit has a beige or buttery coloured skin and is almost round. Excellent sweet flesh which can, at a pinch, be an ornament too. Recommended.

SQUASH RED KURI
Probably the best of the Potimarron chestnut flavoured types. Exceeding juicy butterscotch coloured flesh with butterscotch seeds and an excellent keeper. The Queen of the Potimarrons. Just don’t miss it. Seed is scarce this year.

SQUASH TENESSEE SWEET POTATO
First listed in 1847. Excellent quality with dryish flesh. An early variety which does well in cool weather. 95-100 days from transplanting.

WINTER BUTTERNUT SQUASH COBNUT
Specially bred for UK conditions, this supermarket variety is utterly reliable with rich, mango orange flesh and a good keeping quality and makes an absolutely delicious thick soup if used with sweetcorn.

We also have climbing French bean, Barlotto Lingua di Fuoco (‘fire tongue’ because of the ‘flamed’ red speckled pods and beans).  This is a drying bean – more winter storing of sunshine with valuable protein too.

Seeds from Plants of Distinction – a really fine selection of squash varieties in particular.

Geek facts: winter squash are from either the species Cucurbita moschata or C. maxima. ‘Squash’ comes from  language native to the east coast of USA, ‘askutasquash’ meaning ‘a green thing eaten raw’ – but squash come in grey, orange, red, green, yellow and don’t eat them raw.

What variety will you grow? Share your growing tips, recipes and pics with a comment here! Also we need your input on competition categories – biggest (obviously), cutest, most spookily carved, best pie/muffin, weirdest