The community food growing space on Clapham Common’s Windmill Drive, was a hive of activity on Saturday 11 June. We gathered our first harvest of the season, and already we are getting a taste of what is to come.
Picked, preserved and in a pickle
Head cook Diana working with Will and Conor
We picked gooseberries from the Spinney Beds and, with elderflowers foraged from the green waste site and a hint of rhubarb, Diana and the lads cooked up some delicious jam. Then with onions, raisins and green peppercorns Diana made chutney,
We look forward to using these at future picnics
Planting and sowing activities continued apace with our community gardener Emily Myers leading the harvesting, and helping children plant peas to shoot at home on their windowsills.
Building and filling also went on with Joseph and Amrit knocking up some brilliant signs for the beds to help recognition of the crops. Another raised bed also emerged – our chaps’ DIY skills know no bounds!
They really do deserve the thumbs up!
And the project we are working with This is Clapham on, to brighten the local area up with sunflowers and calendulas, really needed lots of helpers. We managed to fill 20 large pots with the plants we have grown from seed and been looking after for the past two months. We have another 30 pots to fill before all the plants will be distributed around to make a brighter Clapham.
Everyone was potty busy!
Then time for lunch. People had bought and made such scrummy things. Conor and Will used our broad beans to make minted pea and bean bruschetta. Our own courgettes were ribboned and sautéed with olive oil and lemon, homemade flatbread with rosemary from the garden, gooseberry salsa with some pan fried mackerel and a super salad made from lots of things from the garden… And there were seconds!
Many hands make delicious food!
Picnic-ture this!
It was fantastic day with new and old friends and supporters! And we plan to have lots more like it throughout the summer. If you would like to receive information about our gardening sessions and picnics, drop us an email: ccbandstandbeds@gmail.com. Or follow us on Twitter @bandstandbeds