In a quest to grow more of my own food and make use of my mini balcony and super roof this summer I signed up to “How to grow food in the city” at fabulous FARM: through Trade School London and bartered for my knowledge with cooking books I bought for FARM:’s library. Gagging to get to FARM: for sometime now, it was great to get the full tour and insiders guide to all the goodness that happens here daily with our terrific Trade School teacher and manager at FARM: Kirsten Cheng. Did you know that anyone can have chickens in London? No license necessary….
Kirsten gave us hours of tips and inspiration on how to grow our own at home whether it was a windowsill or big backyard we were inspired by….we got our hands dirty on the day by planting food for the cafe and were given sprouting homework to take with us. A couple of months and home-grown rocket salad and stuffed courgette flowers will be mine. Watch this space. Get in and grow your own.
FARM: itself is phenomenal, with its ‘aquaponic’ micro fish farming, indoor allotment and rooftop chicken coop alongside friendly faces and endless knowledge on urban growing. The FARM:shop which opened in November 2011 makes a minimal carbon footprint as you can well imagine while working as an urban farm, a shop and a cafe – where almost everything you order has been grown on the premises. Green is good.
The seeds that FARM: use, as seen below can be bought in bulk. Otherwise, great seed companies that offer both bulk and bespoke include – www.secretsdupotager.com, world seeds by www.johnsons-seeds.com and for all you aussies – www.littlevegiepatchco.com.au looks smart and with super packaging too.