Brockwell Park, Brixton 20th September. I predicted a bonanza of a year and it was, in relative terms. South London Permaculture brought in 4 new co-ordinators, for the Kids, Building and Technology, and Health zones. No matter how big I feel the issues of food are it is obvious that people’s live are governed predominantly with issues at home. The kids area was an absolute wonder of an experience, we donated the yurt which managed to get another coat of artistic paint over it. See website links at end for pictures of the whole event. The highlight of the Food and Garden zone was the outdoor kitchen which the Transition Town Brixton food group helped to run. Ceri Buck did some wonderful home-made jams and herbal teas from ingredients picked on a wild food walk from the park itself. The bread baking competition was another huge success, with its co-ordinator and master baker Andy bagging a few prizes. The kids could also make their own pizza with toppings baked in a wood-fired oven. Special thanks must go to the Roots and Shoots volunteer crew who ensured the guerrilla gardening went ahead. They helped make a pond and garden area. My personal joy of the whole event was the picnic contributed by the jams and teas, home-made cider, breads and whatever else people wanted to give. I hope to make the picnic an annual event. We couldn’t do everything and again, it would require a larger volunteer crew. It is for this reason that SLP will withdraw from the co-ordination of the zone but will focus on creating a garden in the middle of the fair for all zones to contribute towards, with the picnic as a grand finale. Have a peek at the lovely photos of the wild herb forage and jam-making workshop at Project Dirt courtesy of Clara Vuletich and for Ceri Buck’s Invisible Food blog.
The organisers of the UGF have also commissioned a video production viewable at Leap Anywhere and at Current.
Next Urban Green Fair: Sunday 5th September