Fresh & Refresh

On 13 April 2013 Mushkil Aaasan in the Upper Tooting Rd hosted "Fresh and Refresh" co-curated by Amee Ramesh and Jeni Walker. This event was designed to be a Spring Festival to inspire people to turn a new leaf and initiate new and positive changes in their lifestyle.

The Tooting Bec Lido & Zumba trainers demonstrated ways that exercise can help, while information was also on hand about stopping smoking, blood pressure monitoring and cholesterol checks. Information on how to eat healthily and grow your own food, alongside the latest from the Friends of Streatham Cemetery bees, rubbed shoulders with delicious free tasters from Tooting Market’s Portuguese Café, Minashop, and Indian delicacies kindly donated by Tooting Pharmacy. Crafty Pint helped people create wonders from discarded plastics, while pop-up kindness and recipe swaps were also on offer. The event was very busy with a diverse audience, some who just wandered in off the street to investigate.

Amee Ramesh was delighted at how the event turned out and said: “The day itself was lovely and everyone came together, generating a really enthusiastic and positive atmosphere. It was lovely to meet new people and foster an 'onwards and upwards' mentality in the local community, especially after such a long winter!”

Once again thanks to Amee, Jeni, Mushkil Aasaan and all who contributed to making the event such a success.

Today in the Community Garden: weather for sweaters - or flipflops?

From window sill to garden

 

This year's spring wheat

The garden will be open next Sunday

(the Bank Holiday weekend)

from 11:00 - 1:00

 

Do come along: we're at 5 North Drive, on the south side of Tooting Common



 

TTT AGM & 5th Birthday Party

Just in case this makes no sense ... ahem ... TTT has its AGM and 5th birthday party on Monday evening at Graveney & Meadow. It will be a fun event including a quiz with prizes, a brief report on all of TTT's current projects, a short vote, a lot of cake and time to chat. Whether you are new to all this or a gnarled veteran, this should be a fun evening and we hope to see you there! Bring an unsuspecting friend maybe?  It could be the start of something new and exciting!

Outdoor Learning in the Tooting Community Garden

We're learning with Gatton School
We are really delighted to be hosting an exciting new programme of visits by children and staff from Gatton School in Tooting to our Community Garden near Tooting Common.
This project has developed quickly since the first meetings in February: there is a lot of goodwill on all sides, and everyone is keen for it to work and to see how it develops.

Before the Spring holidays, we completed the first four weeks of visits.

Measuring around the big tree

What’s the purpose?
The School is keen to provide weekly experiences of outdoor learning to children – time outside, in nature, where many different projects can be planned and tried out – all influenced by the weather and the season.



Inspecting a woodlouse

There will be space in the programme for reflecting, observing, listening and appreciating time in the garden. 

Another great Sunday in the Garden

Thanks to the dozen people who came along today!
We'll let the photos tell the story - and too bad we missed taking pictures of us emptying dozens of bags of rotted leaves...



Sorting seeds by smartphone



New bed




New path



Better Choices for a Better Future: talks, discussion and video 23rd April

TTT and the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone project have been contributing to a South Thames College initiative since early 2013. 
We've been opening up practical ways for college and university students to explore for themselves what sustainability means in the world of work.
Local partners have included Eardley School and the Wink Salon in Furzedown - and we're grateful to many others who have also contributed time, advice and resources.

All welcome to join us next Tuesday in a free public meeting to hear all about it (see details above, and click here for the flyer). We'll describe the project, and two of the students involved will introduce the brand new Better Choices for a Better Future video.

Our guest speakers will explore how local authorities and employers can support jobs for a low carbon economy: we're pleased to welcome Jonathan Cook, Deputy Leader of Wandsworth Borough Council, and Stephen Gapik, Head of Business Development, British Gas.

Looking forwards, we're developing new plans that combine community action with meeting national and global challenges.
Please come on Tuesday if you would like to be involved!

Community Garden: 20° Sunday morning!

A dozen helpers came along to the Community garden today (well, two of them were dogs…)

 

 

 

 

We: finished digging a new plot, sowed 4 different kinds of bread wheat, planted potatoes, cleared up the herb patch, sowed radishes, shifted some ancient logs about to make seats in the ‘secret corner’, spread some top-dressing from the compost heap, admired the wild primroses – and definitely enjoyed the sun, the warmth, and good company of all ages.

 

All welcome to come along any Sunday: 11:00 to 1:00. The entrance is to the side of  the large house at 5 North Drive, on the south side of Tooting Common.

Fresh & Refresh

A diverse and interesting experience was on offer this afternoon at TTT's Fresh & Refresh with quite a few new surprises, such as great Portuguese natas, bhel puri, a wishing tree, seeds, compost, craft, how to stop smoking and even a free Zumba class (see below)!

Fresh and Refresh Spring Festival - Saturday 13th April 11am to 2pm

Come along to Transition Town Tooting's Fresh And Refresh spring celebration from 11am to 2pm at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road.. Fresh ideas to refresh the spirit - lots of fun and free activities for all ages! 

Things to do include:

• the Fresh and Refresh Walk (leaves Tooting Lido at 9am and meanders through places of interest in Tooting), ending at the venue)
• local food tasting
• sowing and growing stall - free seeds to pot up and grow on then bring your produce back to the Foodival in September
• media forum
• zumba taster session
• carbon cutting
• bee keeping with the Friends of Streatham Cemetery
• upcycling workshop by the Crafty Pint
• quitting smoking

Come along and join us - drop in at any time during the day or come early and try everything.  All welcome.

Obstbäume im Görli!

(The title means 'fruit-trees in Görli'....)

On Saturday 6^th April I was in Berlin, and was lucky to be able to join a local fruit-tree planting session along with my daughter. Coming in late after all the preparation had been done, we got involved with planting,and with making the timber protection / supports for the trees.

Nine tall bare-rooted fruit trees were being established in nine big holes - the third annual planting in Görlitzer Park by the organisers: Transition Town Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg: http://www.transitiontown-friedrichshain-kreuzberg.de/so36/obstbaeume and at http://kiezwandler.de 
Here's their great vision:
'Berlin 2030: climate-friendly, people-friendly, post-fossil fuels'

There were over sixty people there of all ages on a very cold day, and the whole setting felt like Tooting to me: doing something practical in a big urban public park in a very diverse neighbourhood, and with a very warm welcome. As in Tooting, you could sense a web of links to other city projects, funders, community groups…

Pictures by Belle tell the story:

1 Setting up the wooden posts

2 Sledgehammering

 

 

 

 

 

3 Tree protection at ground level

 

4 Plenty of support

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Delivering a bare-rooted apple tree