How fabulous to take a few simple ingredients and turn them into something so scrummy. Domenico Maggi’s enthusiasm knows no bounds as he ululates lyrical about the wonderful ingredients available in the Apulia region. Introducing us to the ‘eternal’ tomato, he explains that they’re locally grown and if hung in the right conditions can be used in cooking for up to eight months. These were grown in his own vegetable garden. I marvel at what it must be like to live his life…top chef, presenter, traveller, exponent of Italian cuisine.
Start with a hot wok or pan, a few glugs of good quality virgin olive oil heated to smoking point, a couple of whole, peeled garlic cloves. Next, tumble in a whole punnet of fresh, black olives and fry. (Warn your guests about the stones…of course…..) Chuck in some ‘eternal’ tomatoes halved, flavoursome (very ripe, sweet cherry toms are fine too), then finally one dried, chopped chili – seeds n’ all and a couple of bay leaves. There you have it : sumptuous, savoury and ever so good for you.
My Grundtvig colleages with Monaci’s talented Chef
Grundtvig Colleagues
Tucking in
Healthy Meditteranean diet
Squid Salad
Tasting the different dishes
Satisfaction
Adding pasta to tomato based sauce
Steaming away
Making sure the sauce is evenly distributed
Adding Basil
Spectacular
Adding Mozzarella
Getting ready to serve
Double Delicious
Being Served
Fabulous wines
Lavender Field
View from the Top of the Monaci Factory
From the finest wines to the most delicious food, we certainly weren’t expecting this all in one morning. For days we had been treated like royalty and so it continued.
After our fantastic, informative tour of the factory, we had worked up a true hunger. The spread was colourful and a heady aroma emanated. Stomachs growled as our talented chef tossed an enormous pan of pasta up in the air. All the ingredients were locally sourced born from a rich heritage of making do. Surprisingly there was little garlic in this food. With the sea only a few miles away in any direction, seafood featured large.
I was surprised by sweetbreads topped by acidic, tart goat’s cheese, balanced beautifully with a sweet, berry jelly.
It’s very easy to be vegetarian in Southern Italy. Fruit is generously sized and yet the strength of the sun makes flavours sing: no insipid supermarket fare here. A lot is said about the Mediterranean diet contributing to a long and healthy life, but even if it is a load of old twaddle, at least you’re enjoying yourself as your taste buds zing and if it is true , then what a bonus!
When I woke up this morning it was snowing whirling dervish flakes. God! It’s nearly Easter too. Poor Suggs and Co: stirling performance last night at the sad closure of BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane. I thought back to those warm, balmy days on the Grundtvig Project, longing for soothing Negroamaro wine and the succulent dishes we tried.
(Cue: one of those wobbly dream filters they used to use in the movies.)
We are visiting the Monaci family vineyards in Copertino, Salento. Originally from Campania, the family moved to the Puglia region 50 years ago. Our speaker is Angela Venturi, wine and PR expert specialising in wine making and high quality agricultural tours. Spanning 22 hectares, this masseria focuses on red grapes (Negroamaro, Primitivo, Black Malvasia) trained to grow flat on espaliers (trellis) making the fruit easier to harvest. (A plant’s lifespan is 25-30 years.) This plant is hardy. In 2007 temperatures reached 52 degrees – a great year for red grapes, Angela waxed enthusiastically.
The Monacis never buy in grapes for blending and follow a policy of respecting the soil by not forcing growth. Nevertheless, 100,000 bottles is usual for a good year. Young and white grapes need to be protected from the sun, which can be ferocious in these parts, so vines are planted so that the fruit is protected by the shadow of its own leaves. Nowadays, Antonio cares for the plants while Adriano lays down the law in the factory.
Harvesting 80% by hand, usually takes place late August – early October and sugar content of the grape on average 21-22%. This year sugars weighed in at a whopping 27% – and so expectations were high. Timing is critical as each day you leave the grape, the sugar content changes and the flavour is corrupted. Early harvesting hours protects both the grape and the workers and is over by 11am due to the extreme heat in this region.
Angela, Wine Expert, Explains
Patrick samples the grape
Adriano and Antonio
The Spanish Contingent
The Macerator
Grundtvig colleagues listen intently
Then the wine is stored underground well away from light.
Fermentation tanks
Bottling up machines
The fruit is transported to the press, any hard wood and leaves left over are macerated and put back in the soil as compost. After 6-7 days in the fermentation machines (whose design dates back to the 40’s and provide a stable temperature) skins are removed, recycled and sold to be made into Grappa and surgical alcohol. Nothing is wasted here! The wine is then kept in huge vats under ground away from the light, at 16-18 degrees until ready for storing in barrels. 100% French Oak, they provide natural oxygenation without overcoming the wine’s true flavour, which in itself is strong enough. For 18 months it lays in the barrel and left for a further 10 months in the bottle to settle. “Simpotica” stays in French Oak Barrels for only 6 months.
Bottling
Bottles are received sterilised but are cleaned and re-sterilised to be sure. Great pains have been taken to ensure the quality of the natural cork used. Over the years, it was sourced from Salento, then Sardinia but nowadays it’s imported from Portugal. (Plastic doesn’t allow breathing, screw top proved a disaster!)
History
Salento has a long history of wine making. Byzantine monks, then the Normans and Frederick II improved the cultivation in the area. Exporting can be attributed to the Berbers. Unfortunately, all wine production in the region was destroyed by disease and had to be re-established in the 19th Century. Wineries from the North started buying grape from the South and due to mass production methods, quality suffered but nowadays, Puglia is the fourth region after Sicily producing quality wines.
(Cue: the wobbly dream filter again.)
It’s Still Snowing!
The care and attention that goes into making these lovely wines is something I’ll certainly remember! As I gaze out of my window, the snow hasn’t let up and I’m reticent to get out of my pyjamas and go shopping.
We are sitting in the sun, glinting through the panes of what can only be described as an enormous industrial greenhouse. The young lady talking to us is of Venneri stock and her English is easy and fluid. Sporting a short French crop, a scarf casually thrown across her shoulders, she has a facile Italian style, so natural. She is passionate about her family’s environmentally caring heritage, recent modernisation and expansion plan. Her grandfather established the farm pesticide-free and they still farm that way today. Solar panels produce energy for the whole company. The Venneris want people to have confidence in the quality of their products.
We are sipping a thick, viscous touch of bliss, a delicious mix of fresh peach juice and almond milk with a dash of Vincotta Primitivo Balsamico. This is a rich, dark Balsamic style vinegar the family manufactures from reduced local wine Primitivo. Adding Vincotto Balsamico, naturally enhances the flavour of food.
The family have been working with nutritionist Alfredo Balliaro, whose focus is Nutrigenomics, the study of identifying and understanding molecular-level interaction between nutrients and other dietary bioactives with the genome. What I think this means is that it’s possible to tailor nutrition to the individual’s genetic make-up. For instance, we are told, local dish combination Ceceri é Trie (pasta and chickpeas) is supposed to be a very healthy combination.
Ceceri é Trie – Pasta and Chickpeas
Whole steamed Fennel – A digestive
Chicory
Mr Vinneri’s Cacti
Mr Vinneri’s Hobby- Cacti
Mr Vinneri’s hobby
Ms Venneri extols the virtues of their Vincotto products as being high in anti-oxidants. The farm comprises 10 hectares, of which 6 are given over to making vinegar under organic certification. 3 kinds of wines are used to make Vincotto. She elaborated, claiming that consumption of Vincotto Balsamico will prevent health problems and that mass manufactured Balsamic Vinegar contains e150D, a chemical caramel, seen to promote Cancer. Vincotto has no ‘e numbers’, being rich in polyphenols and anti-oxidants. Adding Vincotto to pulses during soaking can help eliminate undesirable flatulance. You will be able to see the gasses escaping from the mix, so keep adding occasionally by spoonful until this stops. It’s an excellent replacement for Balsamic as a salad dressing and is less expensive.
Next up, we sample Vincotto Ingentilito, great on meat and fish, we’re told. It’s a natural flavour enhancer unlike Balsamic Vinegar which can be too strong and shield the true flavours. Ingentilito is aged for only 6 months. It’s an excellent replacement for Balsamic vinegar, made locally from Salentino vinegar. It is combined with Primitivo wines and heated until the alcohol evaporates. Currently it exports to the UK, Spain and shortly to Japan.
Cuetto is an even sweeter version, a traditional recipe dating back to the 1800’s. High in iron, it is also good for coughs and acts like honey to soothe the throat. It is used in desserts such as Panacotta or over fruit.
Lastly we are shown the latest edition to the range, coming in a small bottle, a culinary glaze Glassa Di Vincotto. Ms Venneri explained that over-heating the product can change its molecular structure making it carcinogenic: slightly confusing after driving so hard down the healthy route. In the UK we think of a glaze as something we can put on food before roasting to change it’s appearance, so I challenged her on the product’s health claims which returned a rather frosty response! Hey Ho!
Enter Mrs Venneri….another pasta demo ensued. This time we all get a chance to have a go. The light has a very special quality, simultaneously hard, crystal clear, yet diffuse. We watch Mrs Venneri knead the pasta, fry it. Ms Vinneri gives us a run-down about the history of Saragolla Wheat. Originally brought to the Adriatic Coast by the Bulgarians in 400BC it was a low yielding, inefficient type, tall growing and susceptible to weather damage. The Vinneri family are attempting to grow this wheat again and the Tria Pasta we are making today is made with it.
Mr Vinneri’s passion is Succulents and Cacti. There is one entire greenhouse given over to them. Spiky and ferocious in shape, it’s strange to see so many in one place but I’ve always found them photogenic. Standing to attention in rows, they seem military.
I can only feel gratitude to the Venneri family for taking the time for just one day, to give us a glimpse into their life.
We had started the day meeting the little kids in Carpignano Serrano, Scuela de Infancia – Castriniano. With all their lives ahead of them, they were so sweet, all lined up in a row, waving their National Flag proudly as they sang Nursery Rhymes. I felt very privileged to be thought of as an ambassador.
The day had continued to the Olive Groves, where we had experienced the heritage and manufacturing process of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and were shown around “La Furca” a beautiful Farmhouse B&B in Pozzello. (This was a new venture for the owners and so sadly there are no website listings for it as yet.) And then, to experience the Martyrs of Otranto in its Cathedral, it occured to me that the flavours of the region’s wines reflected extremes of life and death. Gazing up at the piles of bones and skulls presented behind glass either side of the alter was chilling and certainly food for thought. It was 1480 July 28th, when a fleet of ships carrying Ottoman troops, attacked the citizens of Otranto who were seeking shelter in its castle. The castle was sadly lacking weapons and the people were soon over run. 12,000 Catholics were beheaded, refusing to give up their beliefs.
Ottoman troops massacred Catholics for refusing to give up their beliefs.
Ottoman troops massacred Catholics for refusing to give up their beliefs.
Lyn Bertramelli (Second from left) and friends prepare a fabulous meal for us
Toasting Our Hosts’ Health
A diagram of the different taste zones on the tongue on the slide behind us.
Learning Sevillana with our Spanish friend Maria.
Our Spanish friends demonstrate Sevillana.
After touring the lovely city, we found ourselves back where we started, at the school, which had been transformed into a lecture theatre and dining room for us. I made a visit to the kitchens to see Lyn Bertramelli and her friends prepare our meal. Lyn’s English was very good because she is married to an Englishman and she explained how they were prepping the dishes. There was the obligatory pasta, platters of local cheese with walnuts and Pezetti di Cavallo (chunks of horse), a peasant meat stew with various things floating around in it including what appeared to be fatty, jelly stuff. Once again Chicoria, Zorin’s favourite, made an appearance. I stuck to the cheese!
Our hosts, Viaggiando Con Le Pro Loco and some local dignatories from The Association of Serrano and Agenzia Ulisse, greeted us with a welcome speech. Vita, our Guide, asked me to speak on behalf of all of us. I’m not a great public speaker but it was easy to say positive things: we had had such a brilliant time. Glass after glass of wine flowed, whilst we tasted the different flavours. From the freshness of a local sparkling Rosé full of life, to the intensity of the Primitivo and Negroamaro (dark and bitter), our tongues were set to tingle.
After our delicious lunch we were treated to a tour to see the industrial side of olive oil production. A visit to Co-operativa Agricola San Giorgio is a must if you’re in the Lecce area, nicely finished off by perusing the produce in the farm shop.
I love industrial places. They are a feast for the senses. Factories provide excellent opportunities to practice capturing motion by using different shutter speeds and combined with the noise make a great video. Crates and crates of olives are standing out front waiting to be lifted.
The basic method is still widely used today. First the olives are ground into an olive paste using large millstones in the press for at least 30-40 minutes. This applies pressure to the paste and separates the liquid oil and solid vegetable matter left over. Then any water in the mix is separated by decantation using a centrifuge. Making sure the olives are well ground, this allows enough time for the olive drops to join to form large droplets and for the fruits’ enzymes to contribute to the oil’s aroma and taste.
After grinding, the olive paste is spread onto discs (traditionally hemp or coconut fibres) which are stacked on top of each other, then placed into the press. These days, synthetic fibres are used which are easier to maintain. Using hydraulic pressure of up to 400 atm, the discs are forced together and water is poured down the sides of the discs to increase percolation speed. After each batch , the paste must be removed from the discs, otherwise left overs will cause inconsistencies and contamination to the taste and purity of the oil.
Although they are ancient by design, grindstones break up the fruits’ pulp while barely touching the kernel and skin. This reduces the rate that oxidisation can occur. Using this extraction method, the amount of water used is minimal compared to modern methods of extraction. Less polyphenols are washed away and once the paste is exhausted, the ‘pomace’ has a low water content and makes it easier to manage. The disadvantages to this method are that the grindstones require more manual labour to maintain them and the process involves waiting periods which can expose the paste to oxygen and light. All this translates into a longer production time from harvest to pressing.
Modern Methods
Separation at all stages is done using an industrial decanter and centrifugal force, spinning at 3000rpm.(Two or three phases of centrifuge can be used.) Using a hammer, disc, knife crusher or de-pitting machine, the paste is then malaxed for 30-60 mins. As small olive droplets gather, fruit enzymes create the oil’s aroma. Solids are removed by a slowly rotating coil in the drum which pushes the solids out of the system. Separated oil and water are then rerun through a vertical centrifuge working at 6000rpm removing any small amounts of vegetation water. The machinery using this method is more compact, oil production being continuous and requires less labour. Olive oil made using the two-phase centrifugal system contains more phenols and is more resistant to oxidisation than oils from three-phase or hydraulic press methods. However, this method uses more energy and the pomace can be wetter, so adding drying to the disposal process and because more water is used, it reduces the amount of anti-oxidants present in the product. There are some other methods but I don’t want to bore my readers too much!!!!
First Cold Press or Cold Extraction
The temperature of malaxation and extraction has a critical effect on the quality of the oil. When high temperatures are used to increase the yield of oil from the paste, it has a negative effect on the vitamin and antioxidants content. Under strict EU regulations, extraction must be done under 27 degrees centigrade (80 degrees Fahrenheit). Olive oil bottled outside of the EU is not covered by this standard and so the consumer has no idea what they are buying.
What does this mean to me, the person who dishes out the dosh?
Olive oil quality is equally dependent on the condition of the fruit itself. Oxidisation occurs immediately upon harvesting and the fruit should be pressed within 24 hours. During the period between harvesting and grinding, the olive’s enzymes are very active and degrade the oil. If you wait too long the oleic acid content goes up affecting the taste and making the oil more bitter. Exposure to light also affects this process, so keep your bottles in a dark cupboard or in a dimly lit part of the kitchen. If you buy a large can, it’s best to decant some into an air-tight vessel.
I do believe you get what you pay for when you peruse those shelves in Waitrose wondering why!
You know that really tired feeling, when your head throbs slightly and things seem a little distorted? We had had such an amazing day but it wasn’t all over yet. Vita certainly had packed a lot into our Grundtvig week.
We walked in a chattering group, through the beautiful, noisy and vibrant streets of Lecce, past the Roman amphitheatre near Piazza San Oronzo. It was amazing how easily we made friends. I can understand a little Italian and a speak a good smattering of French, so with a few flowery hand gestures, was able to make myself understood. Bobby and Patrick, two other Embrace volunteers, were really relaxed. Bobby’s thing was film and video, Patrick’s teaching photography and both full of excellent ideas too.
The Amphitheatre, Lecce
Through a grand portico entrance on Via Augusto Imperatore, just west of Piazza San Oronzo, we were treated to a very special evening. The Risorgimento was where Vita had her wedding breakfast a little under a year ago she told us proudly.
Vaulted ceilings and golden Lecce stone, pitted and worn, were all around us. Although we did miss out dining al-fresco at the roof garden, I was relieved as the nights here are a little bit nippy in November. Feeling a little bit underdressed, it was rather sobering to think that here we were….The Risorgimento had partnered up with Wine Experience Cantele, a local family winery business, to give us the taste of Puglia.
With our starter, a beautifully presented vegetable terrine, (accompanied by Pittule local dish of deep fried dough) we tried first a Cantele Chardonnay, then Verdeca. The Negromara Rosé was quaffable and slipped down. The terrine was a little fussy for my taste and unexpected as up until now, we had sampled simply prepared foods. Our glasses were filled and refilled, so that by the time our main course of Crusted Sea Bream arrived we were at ease with the world. This was my favourite dish of the evening. The fish was succulent and soft, done to perfection. I wasn’t sure if the crust was polenta but nevertheless it was delicious, arriving balanced on a potato cake sitting in tomato broth.
Pittule: deep fried dough
Vegetable Terrine
Sea Bream on Potato Cake
Orange Torte
Grundtvig Delegates
Grundtvig Delegates
Grundtvig Delegates
Toasting the chef
In anticipation
Grundtvig delgates with the chef
On to the reds……. now….deep….rounded….Negroamaro……mmmmmmmm……then Primitivo…stronger….more robust……..mmmmmm………nothing wasted here I can tell you! I could get used to this…..very….
Here comes the pudding….dusted fruity orange torte finished off with a sprig of mint. And indeed it did finish me off.
We gathered around the chef for a photo-call….cheering and clapping. Saluté!
Colleagues from the Grundtvig Project outside Instituto Antonacci, Lecce, Puglia.
Rich aromas of baking bread drifted towards me as I meandered around the streets of Lecce last week. Just in the shadow of an old amphitheatre in Piazza San Oronzo was what could be described as a farmer’s market, thronging with visitors. It was intoxicating, the musical sound of the Italian language, the hues and scent of the food.
Part of a multi-national delegation, I was representing the UK with two of my Embrace colleagues. There were Brazilians, Italians, Latvians, Spanish, Turkish, French and Romanians. One way or another all of these people present had taken positive action for their communities by volunteering, raising money or teaching. Vita and Francesco were our guides, very knowledgeable and friendly too.
The European Commission’s Grundtvig Project aims to bring life-long learning to all age groups and funds a range of activities including exchanges, study visits and networking opportunities. The project is aimed not only at learners but also teachers and anyone involved in education and training.
And so it was that the following morning, after meeting at the door of Instituto Antonacci (an institute for the blind which also doubles as a B & B), we embarked on what can only be described as culinary heaven.
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Gianni Delana, proprietor and chef of Il Ristoro Dei Templari Pizzeria ( Via Ascanio Grandi, Lecce), stood proudly in front of us in his whites. Luigi was on call to help him with any prep. The restaurant had vaulted ceilings, very common in this region and the walls were a lovely mellow ochre. Will, our lovely US ex-pat interpreted in style.
Italian cookery is admired worldwide, the most well known dish being pasta of course. Originally dishes were made without tomatoes until the 1500’s when they were imported from the Americas. There is an abundance of vegetables in the cooking which is connected to the Jewish tradition. Catholic, Jewish and Islamic cookery came together with the introduction of legumes (pulses) such as chick peas. Chicoria (Chicory) and Augergines are very common being used in the delicious Melanzana Parmiggiana. (Mala – Insana : Not healthy!)
This is a deliciously simple Middle Eastern dish using boiled pasta, fried pasta and ceci (chickpea) soup: pure flavours, full of protein and yet no animal product at all. If you do fry the pasta, make sure the olive oil is not past its smoking point of 190 degrees, as this damages the molecular structure of the oil and ruins its health benefits as well as spoiling the taste. The pasta should be golden brown and crunchy when done. The soup can be made simply by frying chopped onions, adding vegetables and stock, spices, salt and chick peas.
Ceceri e Trie, boiled pasta, fried pasta with chickpea soup.
Garlic versus Onions
While I was in Lecce, I noticed an absence of garlic in many dishes. Will explained that onion is used towards the Ionian Sea while in Northerly climbs, the use of garlic is more common: down to personal choice really.
Pasta
Puglia, Campagna and Graniano regions are all famous for pasta making. The yellower the pasta, the richer it is in protein. Combined with lamb is common because it is not connected to religious rites and sheep were easier to raise on the local terrain. Salsiccia salentina o di Lecce, a local sausage is made from offal and comes from the need to use all of the animal.
To make pasta according to this region’s traditions, couldn’t be simpler. Make a well in the middle of a heap of local hard flour made from Durum wheat, pour in some water little by little and knead until the dough is elastic and pliable. Then make a ball and lay to rest for 30 minutes. Make your shapes (Oriechetta – Little Ears or Maritata – conjoined pasta), leave for a further 20 minutes to harden, boil in salted water…. There you go!
Little Ears or Oriechetta Pasta
Fat
The use of locally grown olives in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, high in anti-oxidants, gives the food unique flavour and is used both in savoury and sweet dishes. Production started in 200BC when it was introduced by the Greeks via Sicily. Jewish culture forbids pork fat so olive oil was a convenient substitute. Surprisingly, the oils from this versatile plant were also used for lighting! Will explained that the further North in Italy you travel, the more batter and animal fat is present in dishes.
With Columbus visiting the Americas, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes became an important addition and changed the direction of Mediterranean cooking. The potato, which had just been an ornamental house plant before, was used to feed the starving during famine. Pasta and tomatoes became loved in Italy and were exported wherever Italians went. (Mac-Eroni: Noodles and Tomatoes.)
Pizza
The origins of White Pizza are less well known. Its roots are from the Middle East/ or Egypt where people wanted a flat vehicle to carry food, such as ‘Pitta’ or ‘Piadina” which means flat bread. After the discovery of yeast, it was possible to create a light bread. Around this time humans evolved from hunters into farmers. This bread could be cooked on stone similar to Tortillas in South America.
Modern Pizza
Rumour has it that when Queen Margherita visited Naples in the 1860’s, the Neapolitans developed the idea of serving the national colours on a plate. This became Pizza Margherita and the National dish.
Green, white and red on the European table….Green for basil, red for tomatoes, white for Mozzarella!
With only 4 hours to visit the largest horticultural show in the UK, I was hard pushed to get round it all. Following the Edible Bus Stop’s crew through each stage of the build via Twitter and Facebook, I was determined to hit their installation first and wasn’t disappointed.
It was a large plot replicating the original Edible Bust Stop community project site in Landor Road, Stockwell. It was as though they had picked it all up and whizzed it through the air like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. The amount of work that must have gone into it was staggering. They had thought of every little detail, actually laid a real road. A large graffiti’d wall, brightly painted served as a backdrop to an old derelict red phone box and a replica of the bus stop itself stood proudly at one end embellished with the words EDIBLE BUS STOP.
Inspired by the violent events of last Summer 2011, EBS wanted to create a controversial, thought provoking offering, illustrating the benefits of green spaces in cities and the way plants, when left to their own devices, reclaim and soften harsh city-scapes. Will Sandy, one of four EBS founding members is a landscape architect and passionate about the built environment while Mak Gilchrist, ex-model, has levered her extensive contacts book to raise their profile. In fact, it was Mak who sourced all of the ‘props’ for the show arranging support from many sponsors.
Essentially, the Edible Bus Stop is an educational programme, bringing the joy of planting to all people. Through their open days, kids learn about planting seeds and where food comes from, turning derelict plots of land into vibrant lynchpins, bonding communities together.
One lady passed by with her friends and said: “Eurgh…I don’t think that Mum would like this….” very loudly. But surely she’s missing the point? This is the future of gardening. Cutting edge stuff.
Last Saturday, I visited the Edible Bus Stop Community Allotment project in Stockwell’s Landor Road, London SW9. I had been following its progress with great interest on Facebook for some time, because my childhood friend Mak Gilchrist is one of its co-founders.
Just over a year ago, Mak and three other Edithna Street residents, Will Sandy (qualified architect and creative director), Simon Goldsmith (sustainability consultant/ EBS vice-chair) and Liz Seymour (installation producer for EBS) got together to do something very special: guerilla garden a bare patch of scrub land next to the 322 bus stop just on the corner, very close by. And who’d have guessed it? They’ve had loads of coverage in the press. Guerilla Gardening is ‘de-rigueur’.
On approaching the site, I was struck by the vulnerability of it. There are no barriers or fencing to stop wanderers stomping all over the plants. Passers- by can pick what they like as it’s not policed in anyway. The surrounding area is a typical urban sprawl, feeling edgy and polarised. The beautiful Georgian villas at Stockwell Green give way to a derelict school all boarded up and a Londis mini-mart.
Looking down Edithna Street there’s a view towards a high-rise housing estate and new skyscrapers in the city are taking shape on the horizon. Most of the people passing by don’t appear wealthy, sporting an eclectic mix of thrift shop fashions and tracksuits. It’s not difficult to be reminded we’re in recession here.
Edithna Street, a typical terrace, ends with a long, white-washed wall which at one time was constantly being ‘tagged’ with graffiti. Keith Heaseman, EBS head gardener told me that since they’d planted alongside it, the tagging has stopped. Facing the sun most of the day, this structure makes an ideal spot for heat loving plants such as tomatoes. Indeed there has only been one incident of vandalism over the past year which involved pulling down a sunflower. The Rhubarb is victimised on a regular basis because everyone loves it and there’s never enough to go around.
Gail Oldroyd and Keith, both part of the project from the start, are working together on the Olympic Veg project, growing veg in the colours of the Olympic rings! Keith is well positioned to carry out any plant research having been a professional gardener for some years.
But a curious thing has happened! Neighbours who once passed each other by without uttering a word are stopping to chat, smiling and happy. Friendships are forming in front of our eyes. Groups of kids stop to look at the flowers and butterflies. Couples walk past hand in hand remarking at the beauty in such an unlikely place. The 322 bus stops by and the driver honks the horn, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Mak says they dig the Edible Bus Stop. Call me an old hippy but could this be love m-a-a-a-n?
This week, EBS has been participating in the Chelsea Fringe, which today is represented by the bizarre Bicycle Beer Garden. The rider turns out to be a talented uni-cyclist too but for the moment he arrives on a racing bike pulling the Beer Garden along behind him. Beer cans have been cleverly converted into plant pots. Mine’s a pint of worms please!
I’m struck by small islands of planting: rows of sweet corn covered by plastic water bottles companion planted to ward off the pests, took me back to when I had a plot of my own in Hampton Wick. How I struggled trying to do things organically! I tried everything against the slugs that I could but to no avail….Makes you realise just how difficult it is to grow any food at all.
Keith told me, in a tone of resignation, that they got their water from the houses by can and bucket. It used to take me 2 hours a day to water my plot in the Summer. All we had were Artesian wells, so I sympathised.
Will’s plans for the new council funded landscaping are up on the walls. How fantastic that they’ve backed this. I got the impression that the local Council were a bit reticent at first, but the project has created so much positivity in the community that they now back it fully.
What’s next? Of course, it’s to create a green bus route….and this is actually happening with a second plot on the go at Norwood Road SE27.
Recently short listed for the ‘Grassroots Community Challenge’ category of the Observer Ethical Awards 2012 – EBS are pushing ahead this year by being represented at several prestigious garden festivals including Hampton Court. Will Sandy’s showcase garden concept ‘A Riot Of Colour’ is a representation of life after the 2011 riots and will be shown here and later at the London Pleasure Gardens. Word is spreading like wildfire…so look out!
trish gant 