Recipes for life

Recipes for life – 16 September 2012, 4-6pm
Mile End Children's Park | Locksley Street | Limehouse | London E14 7EJ

We have been gardening, cooking, and collecting recipes for life and good food at the Edible Garden in Mile End Children’s Park – Growing Zone. We will be opening the garden for a performed communal feast and we are inviting you to join in.

Please join us for a dazzling afternoon of cooking, music, sharing stories and memories and food, cooking and life in East London.

This is a free event, open to the whole family so if you would like to join us please RSVP to events@projectphakama.org

We will also be holding workshops in the park on 15 September 2012 for screen-printing (2-5pm) and flag making (all day)

Look forward to seeing you there!

Call for Garden Hosts

 

For the past few months we have been gardening and cooking, and collecting people's recipes for life and good food.  We are going to be opening the garden for a performed communal feast (Sunday Sept 16th) and we are looking for guides / hosts who can lead an audience through the garden in an atmospheric storytelling experience.

If you'd like to come and help us, we'd love to meet you to find out about your own stories and memories about food and cooking and life in East London, so that you can share these with the visitors and help them to tell us theirs.

If you are interested and for more information please send your contact details to production@projectphakama.org by Monday 3rd September and one of the Edible Garden members will be in touch.

Or come to the introductory session on Wednesday 5^th September at 6pm at Arts One (Building 37 on the map) Queen Mary University of London http://www.qmul.ac.uk/docs/about/26065.pdf

The Edible Garden at the Velela! Festival

http://www.projectphakama.org/velela

On Sunday 24 June, the Edible Garden team welcomed the community and the Velela! Festival artists to its space in a celebratory feast. Participants took part in arts workshops led by Corinne and Sue and made beautiful tiles, produced their own recipe books, cooked with our chef Mike and our guest baker Lee. They shared stories and created new recipes for life. Then they all ate the wonderful food they helped prepare sitting by the warmth of our clay oven built by artist Anna Sikorska.

It was a truly delicious event. 

WATCH THIS SPACES 

FOR DETAILS OF FUTURE EVENTS

Pop-Up Festival - Get Stuck In

Velela! has arrived in the garden.  This weekend, 23^rd & 24^th June sees the Edible Garden bursting to life with a series of art and food making activities FREE for all to take part in.

On Saturday we will be foraging, making herb butters and flavoured vinegars as well as vegetable printing, banner-making and story painting. 11am - 5pm

On Sunday we will be making recipe books & exchanging recipes and painting food stories as well as making soda bread, sourdough bread and orange peel cakes 11am - 4pm

You can find us at Mile End Children's Park Locksley Street, E14 7EJ
We can't wait for you to join us. 

P.S. While you're there don’t forget to visit Tom’s secret den hidden in the long grass.  It’s the perfect chill-out spot on a busy day!

Gifts for the Garden

I am very pleased to report that we are entering a period of abundance in The Garden.  It seems like there are offers, donations and assistance steadily coming our way and we have been genuinely touched by some of the contributions. So I thought I would let you know about what has been happening.

We were greeted this morning at the garden with not one but three gifts from Paul, one of the lovely team of park rangers. As we entered the garden, planting of two large pear trees was underway.  They will make a welcome addition to the space and the generosity did not stop there...Paul has had made our very own metal bread paddle to take loaves out of our brand new clay oven which has been built in the fire zone.  Anna has been slaving away at making the oven all week – with the help of some new friends: a group of local teenagers who have been getting stuck in.

But the final of the three gifts, and the one which gave us the biggest cause for cheering was the installation of a tap in both the growing zone and the fire zone.  No longer will we have to schlep buckets of water through the play park to get to the beds. Although to be fair with the recent soggy spells we haven’t had to do too much watering, but we can still hope for sunshine to come in the summer months (fingers crossed!)

We also have to thank some other people for their wonderful offerings: Lily (aged 8) for writing a poem for us, Veronika for her chilli plant seedling grown at home, Colleen for yet more cake (I really need to get the recipe for the chocolate and banana loaf), Rimni for offering to teach us how to make a traditional curry and the 20 volunteers from Liberty who helped us prepare the garden for our first event this weekend – Velela! Pop-up Festival.

We look forward to seeing you there.

FESTIVAL WEEKEND 22nd-24th June

The Edible Garden team are excited to announce our weekend activities as part of the Velela! Festival. From Friday 22nd-Sunday 24th June, The Edible Garden will be hosting a series of fun activities and cooking sessions at The Growing Zone (Children's Park, Locksley St, Limehouse, E14 7EJ). 

Velela! is a two-week creative residency in London for young artists. This Pop-up Festival produced by Phakama to mark its fifteenth anniversary takes place from 16-30 June 2012 and involves voices, talents, expertise and contributions from 100 young people from around the world. Please see the website for more information: http://www.projectphakama.org/velela 

We are very pleased to be joined by the East End Women's Institute for the morning of the 22nd where we plan to garden, finish building the bread oven with artist Anna Sikorska and of course, drink lots of tea! We will be in the garden doing activities until 5pm. 

On Saturday 23rd from 11am-5pm there will be a chance to join in several activities, from story-telling to making weird and wonderful insects and lovely lanterns. There will be several cooking sessions to get involved with, including making sourdough, pickling and even foraging for wild greens around the garden!

The festival culminates on Sunday 24th June from 11am-4pm. There will be more story telling throughout the day and we would love to hear all your tales too! Anything from favourite childhood recipes to most memorable meal. We will finish with a marvelous feast at 2pm consisting of various culinary delights of fish and sourdough bread cooked in our new clay oven!

Please feel free to join us at any point during the weekend. The garden is open to all, so do tell your friends and family. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Edible Garden Team

The Garden is Open!

Thank you to all of those who made the Edible Garden opening such a wonderful day. After a brief hiatus we have finally found a home, and an incredible one at that. You can find us in Mile End Park at the Growing Zone, Children's Park, Locksley Street, Limehouse, E14 7EJ.

Last Friday was our first session in the space and we were greeted by a beautifully sunny morning in our corner of Mile End as we began to create The Edible Garden, a space for the community to grow and cook food together, meet neighbours and share stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We began by clearing space in the fire zone, building the willow den with Mia in the growing zone and we watched as Tom deftly knocked up 3 raised beds before you could say zucchini.  After a sweaty morning we all stopped for our Pot-Luck Lunch of delicious home-grown asparagus (thank you Colleen!), potato, salad, eggs, homemade mustard mayo, all assembled by Mike.  And we were joined for lunch by the families from the stay and play session in the children's centre.

Fully replenished we eagerly awaited our food-stop, so with only 2 hours to go before the next meal, we cracked on. The willow den began to take shape, with some help from Max and Tejaun. Elaine and Ameera planted chillies and we met Rimni who has agreed to run a curry masterclass with us in the coming weeks. Thank you to Annie from the WI who donated plants for the garden.

We then settled round the fire, to make and eat dampers (bread on sticks), fresh herb butters and home-grown rhubarb compote (thanks again Colleen).

It was a truly wonderful day and a pleasure to meet everybody. A very big thank you to Lyndsay for making us so welcome and for the delicious foraging you did with Mike.

We’ve had a taste of things to come. The Edible Garden will be open to all every Wednesday & Friday  from 9.30am-5pm

The Big Dig - event cancelled

Due to unforeseen circumstances we will no longer be taking part in the Big Dig this Saturday 17th March. The Edible Garden team however is still working hard behind the scenes with planning, plotting and dreaming. And we will let you all know soon when and where we will be meeting next. Watch this space.

How Interesting is Your Veg?

We all know that they’re good for us. We've heard we ought to have 5-a-day. We even like them most of the time. But some days as you peer at the vegetables in your fridge have you ever found inspiration abandoning you or excitement deserting you? Instead you wind up doing the same old thing that you always do with your green beans*/leeks/broccoli  (*or insert any other of your favourite veg).  Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with tried-and-tested recipes and time-honoured favourites, but here at The Edible Garden we just have to know: What ELSE can be done with veg...

Selfless souls that we are, Veronika and I have taken it upon ourselves to venture forth to new frontiers of interesting ways to prepare, cook and bake vegetables. We want to stretch beyond carrot cake, beetroot brownies and courgette muffins and so are going on a mission to find the most unusual, interesting and tasty recipes.  And yes, this obviously requires a LOT of ‘research’ (also known as eating our way across the city at various cafes, restaurants and homes!)

On our first ‘research’ trip we made the joyous discovery of something neither of us had ever tried before or even heard of - Spinach Cake. It did taste a little iron-y, but with that much butter cream I can live with it. Besides, how else would I be able to tell I was getting all those vitamins and minerals?  At last, a cake that is good for me (well, a girl can dream!).  We found this bright green dessert hidden away in a little oasis behind Southwark station in beautiful cafe/deli called EV’s. Well worth a visit for their delicious mezze salads and freshly baked bread!

Our 'research' has got off to lip-smackingly good start but we need your help. We want you to tell us about any eatery that is using veg in unexpected ways, or send us your recipes (and if you’d like to cook it for us - even better).  Surprise us with the most inventive and ingenious vegetable dish you have ever tried or created.

We can’t wait to hear (or taste) them!

To add a recipe or photo please leave it in the comment box below (or if you received this post by email visit the-ediblegarden.blogspot.com/)

Let There Be Food

We have appointed a chef! We are delighted to welcome Mike Knowlden to The Edible Garden team. He will be working with us throughout the year to plan what is grown, run a series of cooking sessions and help us to turn the produce we grow into an incredible edible feast later in the year.

©Blanch & Shock Food Design

Here's a few words from Mike:

I am a chef and artist interested in the interactions that take place when people eat together. In 2007 I co-founded Blanch & Shock Food Design; part catering company and part design studio. Blanch and Shock produce bespoke food that takes many forms, including tasting menus, edible installations and food served to audiences within performances. As a cook I follow the seasons, seeking new contexts for British produce. I am also fascinated by the science within cooking, and how knowledge of these processes can be used and communicated in the kitchen. It is really exciting to be part of the Edible Garden project, and I am really looking forward to meeting and cooking with lots of new people, and following the progress of the plants over the course of the year.

©Blanch & Shock Food Design

We think Mike does some pretty exciting things with food and can't wait to start creating with him.  You can take a look at some of his other work at http://www.blanchandshock.com/

Now all we have to do is start growing!!!! Details to follow shortly... 

3 Ways with Beetroots

Last weekend, at our very first steering group meeting, we had the pleasure of three chefs cooking with us. It was the second round of our search to find the cook who will join The Edible Garden team in our makeshift-masterchef kitchen (aka Queen Mary's drama studio)

Charlotte, Ali and Mike all came armed with beetroots! As a self-confessed beetroot-phobe this filled me with dread! I should point out that Phakama set the chefs a brief to cook something with us using vegetables in a space with no kitchen facilities. So they all, quite rightly chose a vegetable in season - the beetroot.

I know the beetroot divides opinion. Some people adore it, but for me it just brings back visions of pink-stained bread and the smell of pickled beetroot in my little grandad's cheese sandwiches - my idea of food hell! Having said all that, I was open to having my preconceptions challenged and relished the idea of finding new ways with a beetroot. And I have to tell you Charlotte, Ali and Mike did not disappoint.

Ali's dish, cooked on a camping stove, of beetroot purée, cabbage, potatoes and fresh ground peanuts was lovely. The name of the dish has no translation as its name was a movement sequence created by its makers – Sue, Colleen and Ali.

Mike's beetroot salad was superb. Beetroots sprinkled with fennel powder, purple carrots and bergamot lemon and smoked cheese (cue improvised home-smoking device outside the doors of Queen Mary's)

Charlotte made 3 divine vegetable dips (the recipes of which can be found on our recipe page): beetroot, dill and tahini; spiced carrot; and roasted cauliflower, lemon and paprika. All were served with vegetable crudités, which made a sumptuous healthy feast. Try making them for yourself!