Friday 10 September 2010

Vegetable growing takes off in Islington

Islington may be London's least green borough, but that has not stopped its residents from getting their hands dirty and growing vegetables.


Vegetable gardens are popping up all over Islington, in raised garden beds, community allotments and even window boxes.

Sophia Ioannou from Plant Environment runs vegetable growing classes in two Islington schools. 
Students from all grades at Pooles Park Primary School work hard in their school yard vegetable garden in Finsbury Park. 
Growing vegetables is part of their curriculum, and by the sounds of it, it seems gardening is one of their favourite subjects.

Listen!



"We grow everything, so whatever will fit in it might be spinach, it might be beetroot, it might be carrots," Ms Ioannou says. "As the season goes on we’re planting garlic and shallots and potatoes."
Alex Cotter volunteers at Pooles Park, helping the kids in the garden a couple of days every month.

"Being outside the kids come alive, you know, in the classroom it’s completely different and you see, well I’ve been told, the difference in some of the children from when they're in the classroom to coming outside of the classroom and such a massive effect that it has," Ms Cotter says.

School programs are also run by Edible Islington, a campaign for community food growing that is encouraging community groups and schools to grow their own veggies.
Matthew Loveday in the greenhouse
The campaign is run by Islington Council, which is offering grants between £200 and £15,000 to help people with anything and everything related to veggie growing, from buying seeds to building an allotment. 
Matthew Loveday works with schools throughout the borough to develop their vegetable patches.
"It's designed to give them all the infrastructure they need, so the raised beds, the soil, the seeds, the tools and the equipment to start growing their own food in their estates or in their school," he says. 
34 out of 60 Islington schools have received funding through the program. 
Mr Loveday believes the students are learning some valuable lessons.
"One of the major connections we need to make with young people is what they’re eating comes from somewhere and some of the consequences of where it comes from," he says.
It's not just kids growing vegetables in Islington.
Mr Loveday says people across the community are getting involved at the St Lukes centre, where the Edible Islington program is based. 
Many Islington residents have carefully tended allotments in the space behind the centre.
"I think in somewhere like Islington where it’s so densely populated and you’ve got so many high rise tower blocks a lot of people don’t have access to their own private land but often are surrounded by communal land which isn’t used for much other than dog walking and a bit of municipal planting," Mr Loveday says.
"So this project’s been really keenly supported by local residents who do want to see their local space used for something more adventurous."
The Freightliners Farm garden
Freightliners Farm, near the Highbury and Islington tube station, is another place where people can get involved with vegetable growing in the borough. 
Liz McAllister from the city farm, says volunteers work with the animals and gardens, promoting wellbeing through collaborative community projects.
"It’s really important for people to have access to green space of all sorts, it gives you access to nature, a place to go that’s outside, which is really important for people’s health," she says.
School groups also visit the farm and Ms McAllister says that as well as teaching kids where their food comes from, it’s helping them be more open-minded about their food choices.
"It’s a really good way, seeing stuff growing in the garden and picking it yourself is a really good way of encouraging kids to try new things and to try fruits and vegetables," she says.
And despite Islington having less green spaces than other boroughs, the experts say it is feasible to grow vegetables there.
"It’s definitely feasible to grow vegetables in Islington, we grow lots every year, so yep, you can definitely grow them in Islington," Ms McAllister says.
"You can grow some vegetables on a windowsill."
Mr Loveday agrees.
"You’re never going to produce food on an agricultural scale in this space to feed the people, but there are lots of things that people can grow in very small spaces to supplement their diets, to supplement what they buy," he says. 
"And I think the benefits aren’t just economical, they’re also sort of providing people with the therapeutic aspect of gardening and growing your own food."


Originally produced in March 2010 for Web Creation and Design at City University London

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