Growth in the Tooting Community Garden

On a sunny day, after 7 weeks with mean temperatures a couple of degrees warmer than normal, it's easy to hope that spring is here. (But last year there was a hard frost in March). Have a look below at some encouraging views in the Community Garden today:


Robin's-eye view: autumn-sown garlic is looking good

We photograph these every year



Winter wheat: future sourdough bread
for the Tooting Foodival!

March 25th 2013: Reception children inspect a perfect disc of ice

Next to bloom: it look like it will be the primroses.
The Community Garden is open every Sunday from 11:00-1:00, and we're located at 5 North Drive, SW16 1RN, opposite Tooting Common. More info on our Facebook page.
Don't forget to come along to our Seed Swap (and more) event from 14:00-17:00 on 22nd March at 222 Mushkil Aasaan, Upper Tooting Rd.
All welcome!

Meet & Make update from SMArT

The Meet & Make at Sprout last Wednesday was really relaxing. The next time I feel like stepping off the treadmill of life for a few moments I might just reach for another 'cathedral window' quilting project which was our featured craft. Just look what we achieved in the 2 hours! It turns out it is more simple to do than it looks.Thanks go to Grandma Lawes in Salisbury who was caring enough to share this skill with me and, now lots of us.

All hand sewn

and to keep you up to date with Arts In Transition locally, here is the SMArT Notice Board.

Things are warming up

for info or questions about making and arts in Tooting you can send Jeni an email on jeniannewalker@gmail.com

"An experience none of us will forget..."

Celebrating the Community Garden & Gatton School rain water catchment project.

In November and December 2013 we posted blog reports about the 'Big Build' project that we've been doing in the garden with Year Six children and staff from Gatton School, and with TTT volunteers. 
We ran this for seven weeks, and today we managed to get all the main parties together to celebrate the successful completion of the project, and thank everyone who contributed.

Wow!

YES it rained a lot in January, and the water butts are full: with a theatrical flourish we lifted the lid off one of them and gazed admiringly at the beautiful water.

NO we don't need the water now! But last summer we ran out completely, and we want to garden within the natural limits of the place. Accommodating unpredicatable weather is going to be a key growing skill in the future!

And as well as creating a tangible result with the project, we went through a fascinating process over the series of sessions with the children and volunteers. To see all the past TTT blog entries for highlights and pictures, click on Gatton School in the menu bar at the top, below the blog title.
And we'll share our learning as a practical case study.

Today, eight children combined to give a speech they wrote themselves about the project (and also said a bit about the whole experience of coming to the garden). If you would like to read the whole speech by the children , please click here. Here are some of their delightful words:

"Our newest project, to build a 'state of the art' water shelter, was an experience that none of us will forget. We helped to saw the wood, make concrete (not cement!) and build the structure. I doubt if any other experience we have will beat this one." 

"All this has been a phenomenal and amazing experience for us. We have not only benefited by learning to make a difference to the community that we live in but also how to be worthy citizens who are aware of what being eco-friendly really means." 

"For some of us, who have only seen vegetables in the supermarket, we were amazed to find out that potatoes grow underground and that sunflowers grow as big as our heads!"   

We were also very pleased to welcome Naseem Aboobaker from Mushkil Aasaan, the local social care service which owns the garden site. In 2011 she talked to us in TTT about using the land for a community garden. Thank you, and we appreciate that trust!
Thanks to Malik Gul of the Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network for joining us, too.

More thanks to Richard who designed the structure - without his energy (and tools), the project would have remained just another nice idea.
And respect to all the volunteers - twelve of us - who have been flexible and amazingly cheerful!
Gatton School funded the water butts, the new timber and roofing materials: thank you! Special gratitude to the school kitchen for making the delicious tiffin today.

Most thanks are due to the 60 Year Six children who were so involved with this. 
Now we'll aim to develop something together for the spring and summer which will catch all our imaginations in the same way - and link with the School's Eco Project. We're continuing to offer outdoor learning with the Reception classes, too.

If you would like to contribute to this school project, or join in with other Community Garden activities, please email us

  All welcome!

Tooting Transitioners Visit Lewes

The sunshine on Saturday was a welcome break after long weeks of endless rain and stormy weather. It turned out to be a special day as a core group of Tooting Transitioners ventured out on their first outing to the historic market town of Lewes in East Sussex in hope of a "Fun Day Out".

Juliet from Transition Town Lewes met us at the station and showed us around, our first stop being to buy some Lewes Pounds, which have an established presence in many of Lewes’s shops and businesses. After a breeze through a vibrant farmers' market, we headed to Seedy Saturday, a busy well attended event with a plethora of stands selling and swapping seeds, exchanging ideas on everything from growing fruit and vegetables to wild basketry and pottery.

Whilst the sun was still out, the group decided to take in the local sites. Lewes is a cute market town with a castle on top of a hill and lots of narrow alleyways and twittens.  Few high street chains clutter up the high street here, but instead numerous individual shops, cafes and restaurants attract the eye. Lewes really is an idyllic place to spend exploring on a Saturday afternoon.

After a hearty lunch at the Lewes Arms washed down with a pint or two of Harveys, we got the opportunity to enjoy a good chat and exchange ideas with Lewes transitioners, and compare the joys of living in our respective boroughs.

After a further meander around town and down to the Ooze flood plain we were ready to finish our afternoon with another pint in the Snowdrop, the site of a tragic avalanche of snow (hence the name) which killed a number of Lewes cottage dwellers in that area.

By now the TTTers and TTLers were on very friendly terms and before we kissed and departed we promised to keep in touch with each other in the hope that one day they too could be tempted to venture out to sample the delights of Tooting.  Malsara

Community Renewable Energy in Furzedown

We want to share this exciting news from the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone (FLCZ) AGM last week. There's no time like the present, and we have decided to take the plunge and try our hardest to establish a community renewable energy project in Furzedown.

What will that look like?

In outline we'll be supporting the generation of local power that should bring local benefits; probably a co-operative enterprise with a legacy for the future.  There are several models for this across the UK and abroad, and there is good local advice available: at the same time it is a pioneering project, and it will be challenging.

Much more information to come as we get going, and we welcome local participation, partners, and support. We have a diverse team who want to make this work. More contributors welcome!

We covered other topics too in the AGM, and the FLCZ aims to keep being active on accessible social, behavioural and technical projects that help demonstrate the value of low-carbon living, now.
Links: 2014 AGM minutes  For background: 2013 Annual Report.

Furzedown Low Carbon Zone AGM - Thursday 23rd January

Furzedown Low Carbon Zone AGM

Furzedown Project, 91-93 Moyser Road, SW16 6SJ

We have postponed the AGM, originally scheduled for January 16th, to next Thursday 23rd January from 7:30-9:00 pm.

The FLCZ was established in 2011 to promote practical local action on sustainability, energy efficiency, and green jobs.
We are considering a community renewable energy generating project, and will be discussing this among other topics.....all welcome!

Meet & Make Tonight

Much like a tree in winter the Meet & Make notice board is looking a little sparse due to the season, we are all drawing our energies and preparing for flourishes throughout the rest of the year!

Do check out the picture for what is going on and get in contact or chat to me tonight for more info on any of the items.

And not to worry as this just leaves us with more making time at our Meet & Make tonight which is now confirmed to be at Sprout, who are kindly lending us the venue, at 6:30 - 8:30ish. See side bar on the right for the address.

We have an official feature craft tonight which will be making ‘Ribbon  Zipper Bags’ as demonstrated in this fab Marc Montano video. I will bring materials and sewing machine!

Come along to try this out or bring along something else you are working on to get in some quality making time.

Hope to see you there, contact Jeni for more details or to join our Meet & Make mailing list - jeniannewalker@gmail.com

The shortest day: looking forward in the Garden

This weekend it's the winter solstice.
From now on the days start to get longer - slowly at first, just seconds per day. Yes it's still winter, and the coldest weather is still to come - but for gardeners this is an exciting time!
Over the next few weeks, come along to the Tooting Community Garden and you can feel that things are alive and moving outdoors.



The winter wheat is
coming up well

 Rocket and mustard

leaves picked today

Gardening helps you learn to look forwards (a New Year's resolution?).
This week we planted the Stella dessert cherry that Gatton School has presented to the Community Garden - there'll be plenty of blossom and fruit to enjoy in the future.

We'll be open on Sundays 11-1 over the holidays.
Check on the Community Garden's Facebook page for any updates, and we look forward to seeing you!

Cycling & Better, Safer Streets

I was reminded in Amsterdam recently, what a vast difference there is between cycling in the Dutch capital and cycling in London.

In central Amsterdam, bicycles and feet seem the primary mode of transport followed by trams. Far fewer cars, less pollution, a more pleasant environment and a slimmer looking population from this brief survey. There are many segregated lanes for bicycles, separate bike traffic signals, a generally friendly mixing of bikes and pedestrians and no helmets, not one, in sight.  Cycling is a pleasure not an ordeal.

Could London ever become this civilised?  Or must every journey involve a running of the gauntlet, sharing tiny spaces with huge vehicles, oblivious, aggressive or on the phone drivers coccooned in their metal boxes, cycle lanes that go nowhere etc?  As a daily cyclist, I can confirm it's a jungle out there, even on the roads of Tooting and Balham which I use a lot.  You have to keep your wits about you to stay safe.  If only here was as cool and bike/people friendly as Amsterdam!

So what is going on in our local area?  Campaigner Jon Irwin has several petitions running on his traffik in tooting blog looking for support for trial changes to road layouts in Tooting and wider Wandsworth, and he'd welcome your support - all petitions here.  One idea I particularly like is making a section of the A24 between Tooting Bec and Balham a French style boulevard with segregation for cyclists and pedestrians.  "Balham Boulevard" apparently has some chance of success with interest from Council Transport lead Russell King and even a name check from Boris!  Jon adds: "The campaigns I've been running ... have been incredibly well received. Do get in touch if you'd like to help out, I can only do this with local support". Email Jon here

Meanwhile 20's Plenty looks to implement a 20mph speed limit where people live.  I recently petitioned a Council meeting requesting this in my street.  Why not do the same for yours?  Already over 12m people live in local authority areas which are adopting this policy - why not round here too?  Despite Wandsworth Council never seeming keen on actually DOING anything in this area (better at talking), it's up to us as individuals to keep applying pressure.  There is an election next year ... politicians do seem to be interested in those.  DT

Update 4 - Gatton School Garden Sessions

Gatton School's Year Six classes have had two more amazing sessions, on the 3rd and 10th December. While the rainwater catchment in the Tooting Community Garden - 'The Build' - has been growing fast, children have been trying out some of the skills involved.

The pictures can tell the story:
Year Six were practicing cutting timber joints on 3rd December, to copy how the roof supports are fitted together:



Four timbers complete with two lap joints each

 

On December 10th they made a pop-up roof with hand-held gutters to show how to collect and store rainwater from a roof. It worked!

The pop-up roof takes shape



No problem! From watering can to storage without any spills

On both days, we explored how teamworking makes a better and stronger construction.

As of today the roof is up, and next week sees the completion of the Build - with several linked projects planned for 2014.



Sorting garlic before planting

Year One classes have continued to visit:

Garden activities can be solo and

reflective, or social and active!

Can maple seeds fly? Yes!

 

TTT Dec Meet & Christmas Celebration

TTT has one more meeting this year and it'll be quite a short one from 7 to 7.30pm at the Antelope in Mitcham Rd on Tuesday 17th Dec. Happily this meet will also double up as a Christmas celebration from 7.30 onwards that could end anywhere in the beloved environs of SW17.  It's been a busy year with so many different contributions from so many people in a wide variety of different areas.  Thanks everyone for helping TTT go from strength to strength.  Do come along and celebrate, join us for a drink and a chat, followed by an optional sampling of any of the neighbourhood's culinary delights.  We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Festive Meet and Make - this Sat 7th Dec

A little taster..

Latest monthly TTT email on 4th December '13

You can read today's monthly email to subscribers by clicking here.
Please email us on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the circulation list.
We hope to see you at a meeting or event soon!

Update 3 - Gatton School Garden Sessions

During this week's session, the Year Six children caught up with the progress achieved by the previous school groups: raising the six main uprights for the rainwater catchment build, having set the posts in concrete (see earlier Updates below in this blog).


Spot the socket wrench

What was the next job?
Making the roof trusses to support the roof itself. So..in four small groups, the Year Six children designed sets of models of the trusses, complete with an angled pitch to ensure rain-water runoff. The children measured lengths of timber, drilled them to fit their designs, fixed them with bolts or screws, and took them back to school to experiment further: co-operating to use brand new skills.

We made these models! The real thing is behind us.

And what did Year One do?
They prepared the ground, marked out rows, and planted some jerusalem artichokes: plants which will grow much taller than they are next spring and summer.

Covering the tubers with earth - job well done!

Next stage in the Year Six Build project? Three more sessions to go: building the trusses..and then roofing, then the guttering and water butts. Look out for the next Update!

Community Responses to the Energy Crisis

We hosted this meeting with the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone on Wednesday 27th November.

Giles from http://www.thinkingworks.co.uk/ gave an interactive talk sponsored by the Citizens' Advice Bureau.
He focused on understanding our own energy supply bills, on the grants and support schemes currently available, and who is eligible, on the energy efficiency challenges in Furzedown's housing stock, and on being aware of the energy consumption of many household items - all in a very practical 45 minutes.
Of course we still had questions - and Giles directed us to many places to find out much more detail.

Secondly, we briefly outlined the potential for a community energy generation scheme, and agreed to meet again in January 2014 to discuss this in more depth.
We realised we are 'surrounded' by local energy generation experiments and potential good advice - with schemes developed or en route in Brixton, Streatham, Kingston, and Wandsworth.

Andy, Headteacher at Eardley School, described the final stages of the installation at half term of £10,000 worth of energy efficiency measures in the school. The funds for these steps came via the FLCZ project which ran locally earlier in 2014, where local college students engaged with aspects of sustainability within their courses.
(Have a look at our project video here).

To get involved or learn more, please contact Graham Petersen by email - we look forward to being in touch.
And thanks to Naked Loaf for making the delicious snacks in the same few days that they were painting floors and signs ready to open their new bakery and deli in Moyser Road.

BATCA Heroes Award for Gatton School & Tooting Community Garden

The Gatton School Community Garden project won a team award at the BATCA Community Heroes event held this evening at Jasmin's nightclub in Tooting. Congratulations to nominees Chuck and Deputy Head Hoosen Randaree pictured above with Head Teacher Rifat Batool and their awards. 
Many thanks to everyone involved, especially the children!

Late November: Six 'new beginnings'

Even though the year is moving into winter, there's six 'new beginnings' to share with you below.
We hope to see you at these events - all welcome to come along and maybe try something new..

1 On Tuesday 26th November we are starting to plan for the 2014 Tooting Foodival.
Do join us and suggest some new ideas, or become a new participant for next year.
We're meeting at The Selkirk, 60 Selkirk Rd, Tooting Broadway from 1900 to 2100 (details on Events Calendar opposite).


2 On Wednesday 27th November there is a SMArT Meet and Make workshop at Sprout in Moyser Road, Furzedown from 1830 to 2030. All welcome (details in the Events Calendar). The meeting will also start to look forward to the Christmas making and craft event on December 7th at Mushkil Aasaan - details to follow.

3 Also on Wednesday 27th November, along with the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, we are co-hosting 'Community Responses to the Energy Crisis' at the Furzedown project from 1930. The meeting will help participants make sense of saving energy and reducing costs now, and we will start to explore developing a local renewable energy project.  Plus refreshments from Naked Loaf...please come along. See the complete flyer here

4 Naked Loaf made creative use of the bread flour we grew in the Tooting Community Garden this summer to make sourdough starter for dozens of delicious loaves at the Tooting Foodival in September. The new beginning for Naked Loaf is the exciting opening of their new organic bakery and deli at 70 Moyser Road, Furzedown, SW16 6SQ. They are finishing the decorating now and expecting to be fully open from Thursday 28th November, all day from 8:00 am. Best go and visit soon and try some of the great produce!

5 The 'Big Build' with Gatton School in the Community Garden is beginning to take shape, building on the children's enthusiasm and energy.
There'll be a celebration at the end of term to mark the rainwater catchment completion.

6 Not quite a sign of spring, but the broad beans planted a few weeks ago are beginning to show through - a very encouraging sight as the weather turns colder.
Do come and join us in the Community Garden every Sunday from 1100-1300.





For more info on any of these 'new beginnings', contact us on email at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

Update 2: Gatton School Garden Sessions

This week's garden sessions with Gatton School saw two very different events.  60 Year 1 children went on a "Bear Hunt" set out by their teachers around the site, while a more regular group of 15 Year 6 children helped clear up autumn leaves, tidy up some beds for compost and continued with the Big Build rain water harvester project.  The eight upright posts for the Big Build structure have now been set in concrete, some of it mixed by the students.  Thanks to all this week's volunteers who helped out with these activities.

A bear is discovered

Concrete mixing and post setting

Zero Carbon for The Shadow Cabinet

TTT likes to mix the global with the local where possible and in the last week, working with the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), we have sent a copy of CAT's Zero Carbon Britain report, via our helpful local MP Sadiq Khan, to every member of the shadow cabinet.  The parcels were tied up with colourful Tooting ribbon that Lucy picked up at Reshma's saree shop, which closed last month after 39 years of trading at Tooting Bec.

The report draws on CAT's 40 years of experience to offer technically viable scenarios for a future with zero carbon while also creating employment, increasing wellbeing and having a positive impact on the economy.

We are grateful to CAT and Sadiq for enabling us to disseminate these important ideas to potential future policy makers.  Follow the links above to read more about CAT and the report.

Update 1: the Big Build with Gatton School in the Community Garden

One of the outdoor learning projects we are carrying out with Gatton School's Year Six class is helping to build our combined rainwater catchment, shelter, suntrap, & garden bower in the Community Garden, between now and Christmas.
Every week we'll make progress, and share it here.
Last week we cleared the site and dug the post holes.
Yesterday the children raised the first upright roof support.

 
The children mixed cement and gravel to make concrete - and mixed it again and again in several piles.
Cement has a high carbon footprint: we are using as little as we can. Almost all the timber we need is recycled from materials found on site. We'll be buying new fixings, and balancing that with mixing the concrete by hand - and saving water in the future.