Bus v BMV Soil Part 1

Last Wednesday Planning Group B voted in favour of the bus route that will see a bus only road take out 60% of my allotment site, half of Feed Bristol, Avon Wildlife Trust's award winning community food growing project and Stoke Park, the last Thomas Wright designed landscape that is still in one piece in the country.

The soils in this area are known as Bristol's Blue Finger, a finger shaped piece of Best and Most Versatile soil that stretches out of Bristol along either side of the M32, out into South Gloucestershire. These soils are special not just because they are incredibly fertile, but they also withstand the vagaries of both flood and drought, which heading into a future where we are not sure of the effects of climate change, will be vital to ensure we can produce local food for local people. Historically this land was Bristol's Market Garden, supplying fruit and vegetables to the city seasonally. 

The planning committee meeting was what can only be described as disappointing. It became obvious as the process began that no matter how many people stood up and spoke passionately about saving this land, the allotments, Feed Bristol and Stoke Park, complaining that consultation had been minimal and hadn't engaged with groups who are on the statutory list of consultees, let alone the allotment holders themselves, that this was not about communities or saving local food production, but was about money and corporate greed. It was about moving the population from their homes to a few large areas of trading and business in South Gloucestershire, and then back again at the end of the day, something that puts well used bus routes that run now, at risk. The chair of the committee at one point even laughed at how he had been on the planning committee that passed permission for the M32, which not only covered acres of BMV soils in the 1960's but also split the city in two, in a way that can never be changed. The councillors on the committee were bullied and harangued, told funding would be gone if the consent wasn't passed and to say the chair was patronising and rude would be kind.

I was appalled, and I know I was not alone. 

Of course what is needed is for BMV land to be given policies that surround it to stop this kind of development. What is vital to remember is that less than 3% of the UK's soils are BMV so a policy stopping development on it would leave 97%+ of soils left. There is a strategy document written by Defra that states that by 2030 BMV soils will be immensely challenging to develop but that is still just strategy. This needs changing at local and national levels.

But what also must be looked at is why we have to move people around the city to work in often low paid jobs, when we should be working on local jobs for local people, as well as how the decisions made by the city's councillors should show the concerns of the people of the city. There has been much discussion of the facts that this route doesn't serve any hospitals, or any of East Bristol, which is desperate for decent, affordable bus services.

So what next? There are 19+ groups, including The Blue Finger Alliance, Alliance Against Metrobus and the Civic Society, continuing the fight against this dreadful decision. There is also a letter from the National Allotment Holders Assoc stating that the land set aside the replace the allotments is of poorer quality than the plots are on now, a fact that breaks the Allotment Act of 1925 which says if allotments are to be moved it must be to equivalent or better soils. There is talk of direct action and protest. But whatever happens it is a sad day when a committee decides that whilst being European Green Capital in 2015 it is a good idea to concrete over BMV soils to serve big business.

It seems independent Bristol has a long way to go. 

the Importance of Being.......Soil

I hope this post isn't seen as a rant about allotments as, although this post is about allotment land in Bristol, it's actually about far more than that. It's about soil and food security going into an uncertain future where the vagaries of climate change and it's effects are still to be seen.

When I moved to Bristol I was regularly told that there were no allotments to be had in the city, they were all full, and until I did some digging around this seemed to be the case. It took a Twitter conversation to find out that allotments are available here as long as you're not fussy in terms of where you have one. So I took a journey out of the city centre to Stapleton, and looked around Stapleton allotments with the site rep and took on Plot79. 

Now I knew this site was under threat, and I also knew it was Grade 1 agricultural soil, and if I'm honest I probably knew that I was going to get caught up in the fight for the allotments, but first and foremost I had my plot and for me, that was the most vital point. 

Did I take much note of the Grade 1 soil status? Not really, until I began to get the most incredible yields from crops that had been really late sown and that, in all honesty, I hadn't thought I'd get much from. We had periods of real dryness and yet still the produce kept coming-lettuces and leaves, French beans, tomatoes, chillies and squash to name but a few, and buckets of flowers. 

At this point it began to dawn on me that I was pretty darn lucky to have this plot and began to get my head around not just the fact that it was under threat but also that there were groups of people, such as The Blue Finger Alliance, working really hard to save this land.

The stretch of land heading out of Central Bristol on either side of the M32 is called The Blue Finger, and it's called that because on a map of soils land of this quality is coloured blue. The finger stretches right up into South Gloucestershire and is home not just to our allotment site, but also to Feed Bristol, an outstandingly beautiful community food growing project and to Sims Hill, a community supported agriculture business, as well as various small holdings. Look on a map of Bristol from years gone by and the land the allotments and Feed Bristol is on was called The Nursery and the history of the land is that it was always Bristol's market garden, producing food for the city. This history is phenomenol, and tells tales of lives past and of families that still live in the area to this day.

And yet in our greed for time all this could be lost. The planning committee meet next Wednesday, the 27th, to determine whether a bus only junction should be allowed that will take out 60% of the allotments as well as an enormous chunk of a Feed Bristol and part of the Stoke Park Estate that is on the opposite side of the M32. Not only will Grade 1 agricultural land be lost, forever, but this land is all Green Belt, which national policy dictates should only be built on if there is no option to build elsewhere, which there most definitely is, and much of the land has specifically been managed for wildlife and nature. The stunning wildflower meadow at Feed Bristol will be turned into a road with an enormous bus stop in it, and effectively what allotments are left will be part of a roundabout for a bus.

But, I hear you cry, they have to offer alternative plots, and this they are doing. However, the Allotment Act states that any allotment that is bring moved must be put onto land that is as good or better than the land previously used by the allotment holder, this is, of course, impossible when the land being moved from is Grade 1.

At this point I have to say far be it for me to argue that Bristol doesn't need a better public transport system. As a bus user and non driver I agree it needs to be high on the agenda. But, and here's the crux, Grade 1 soils make up less than 3% of the country's soil and has proven it's resilience over and again against drought and flood, holding onto it's structure and nutrient content when lesser soils would have failed. Since the a Industrial Revolution we have consistently used the same 38% of land in the UK to grow food and much of that land has reached and gone over it's peak health and is now struggling. We have expected these soils to produce higher and higher yields through the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and now many of them are starting to struggle, particularly where they have had to manage flood or drought. Surely we need to create policy to secure this Grade 1 land across the UK, and safe guard it for the futures of generations to come?

Imagine returning to a reality of local producers using this land and land like it in pockets across the country, to feed local food to local people. Is this a pipe dream? I think not, and more and more I am speaking to people who believe this could be the vision for food security in the UK. Let's put food growing at the same level and importance as transport and create holistic policies that look at transport, food production, health, education and wealth on the same level. And let's make specific soil policy so that these soils are protected going into the future.

Below is the link to a petition asking the Mayor of Bristol to help stop this. At this juncture I feel compelled to say that the Mayor cannot just stop this as there are contracts in place that would mean Bristol would have to pay huge penalties if it pulled out, but none the less it is to the Mayor's councillors we are looking to say no at planning committee. Please sign this petition and then please look at the following link, produced by The Blue Finger Alliance, which is the alternative vision of The Blue Finger, and what we would all like to see happen.

There are also some photos of the land below.

http://chn.ge/1rZRjFH

http://www.bluefingeralliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Blue-Finger-Vision.-A-world-class-hub-of-urban-agriculture-for-the-Bristol-city-region.pdf

Career in horticulture? Featuring The Young Horts and a 3 year old.

Something has come to my attention. I should really not be at all surprised by this thing but what it has done is make me look at horticultural education and think about why we are losing the skills in this country to be excellent nursery folk, growers and plants people.

Recently as part of Incredible Edible Bristol, I've been visiting primary schools who want to begin or get support with growing food on their sites. I support this wholeheartedly as there's little as powerful as growing something to eat when you're a child, as I found aged 3. However what I have found in the schools that already have gardens is that not every child has access to the garden, and often the garden is used for calming purposes for children with a range of issues, but mainly behavioural. This made me ask what this was putting across the the rest of the pupils and strangely it didn't take much to work out the message being portrayed. 

So gardening, as horticulture is seen by these children, is already side lined for those who are struggling in one way, shape or form. To me that's not just a sad state of affairs but also a dreadful missed opportunity for our future high fliers in horticulture, as well as for those who might not be highly academic but for whom horticulture in one way, shape or form, could make a good and steady career. But no one wants the job that's seen as being for the kids with issues do they? And the answer is a resounding no.

Ask teens about what they want to do in their future lives and few will even be aware of the huge variety of jobs that come under the banner of horticulture. Gardening is something they avoid doing, or that grandad does on his allotment, not a career surely? But when you mention sales, science, growing or writing they prick ears up immediately, and will then tell you that no one, in most cases, has ever put horticulture forward as a career choice. In fact often even farming hasn't been mentioned by career advisors.

So here's where I tell you a tale. Aged 3 a little girl grew peas and sweet peas with her next door neighbour, and was so proud to take them home to her mummy and new baby brother. As time went on she grew more and more with her neighbour, got involved with her Grandmas's garden, and even began to look after a garden at school, to the gentle amusement of all. She went off to university, studied art and grew her degree show, which was full of plants grown from seed from every continent. She went on to have a reasonably successful career in catering whilst rushing home each day to tend garden and allotment. And for all this time no one had mentioned that the thing she lived for could be a career. 

That little girl was me. I was lucky, as I realised and was able to make the, really scary, leap and ended up working at a wonderful place that ensured I got the training needed and pushed me to be successful and believed in me. However, what if that hadn't happened and for how many is it an impossible dream due to financial constraints brought about by careers that are successful if unfulfilling.

The answer? Well I'm not sure I have it but growing as part of the schools curriculum has to be a start I should imagine as well as encouraging outdoor learning that inevitably brings in the outdoor environment to the curriculum in a way that uses nature and plants as learning tools. But more importantly, opening a discussion with children and young people so that they are aware of the possibilities. Having watched with deep interest the rise of the YoungHorts on Twitter and the effect they are having on the industry, I hope to see this initiative fly, and for these young people to be the horticultural ambassadors for future generations. 

Apparently by the age of 7 we all have come across and settled on the thing that will hold our attention for the rest of our lives. I was three when then happened and yet all through school, as a child that was academic and capable, no mention of anything practical came about and no adult ever encouraged me other than my neighbour and my grandma. So please be aware of the children you might be influencing as you garden with them, and make sure they know there are career paths open to them in horticulture and an industry that really would love them to turn that interest into a successful and fulfilling career.

Tiny Trowels or our horticultural future?

#BritishFlowers

For a long time now I have been a huge advocate of the British Flower grower and in particular of the new phase of growers, who are absolutely passionate about what they do, as they should be. Buy a bouquet or have your wedding flowers done by these growers and you can be guaranteed that they will be seasonal, have been grown without pesticide use and usually to organic standards, that they will have been cut and conditioned beautifully and that they last for at least a week in a vase.

So imagine, to my horror, seeing a tweet that said that Interflora had collaborated with the RHS to make, what they are marketing as The Ultimate Love Bouquet using flowers with different symbolic meanings of love. However,to me having Agapanthus in the same bouquet as Hyacinths puts two fingers up at seasonality and whilst I want to believe their tweet that 60% of the flowers in the bouquet are sourced in the UK, I assume by that they mean bought at markets in the UK but not British grown. Perhaps the Ivy is UK grown and a few of the tulips but my overall feeling is that most of those flowers have been flown in from Africa and South America, where they are grown on vast farms that rely on pesticides to keep the plants in tip top health and use water for irrigation that is needed much more by local people.

So, and here's to the power of Twitter, Interflora asked for my number and their Commercial Director, Helen Quinn rang me. Knowing how Interflora work, (they are all franchises and the individual florist is responsible for buying their own stock), I asked how they felt they could be certain that any of the flowers were UK grown, to be met with the reply that after speaking to a couple of their florists today they had found that up to 5 out of the 10 stems were UK grown but this could not be guaranteed as they are countrywide and obviously there is no way that all the florists could be contacted. So at the most, the ivy, tulips, hyacinths, myrtle and chysanthemums (although I question the chrysanths and I am not alone in that) may be in some part UK grown. However, in the conversations they had with The RHS where the plants were grown was never discussed, it was all about the symbolic use of the flowers. And I just want to reiterate that Interflora cannot guarantee any of the bouquet will be British grown.

At this point I want to say fair play to Interflora for their transparency. But in the mean time  I also want to ask what the foremost horticultural charity, The RHS, is doing to promote the growers in this country and sadly it appears they are doing very little if anything at all. They were included in all the tweets today and there was not one single reply, so at best they're hiding in embarrassment and at worst? The RHS do stirling work in its gardens and with initiatives such as Britain in Bloom and their growing in schools projects but the British horticultural industry, of which our flower grower are an integral part, needs them to be behind it and this seems to show, not for the first time, that they are not.

There will, of course, be some people doubting that there are enough flowers being grown in the UK at this time of year to create beautiful Valentine bouquets, but to them I say, have faith and look around you. There are beautifully scented flowers around right now as well as amazing bulbs such as narcissi and hyacinths coming from Cornwall and the Channel Islands. I for one would rather have 10 stems of stunningly scented Sarcococca than roses with no scent that have been flown half way across the world, quite literally.

So here's my thoughts. Don't not buy flowers, but be aware of the fact that there is an industry in this country that grows and prepares and sells and does floristry with, stunning British grown flowers all year round. As a nation we've become used to picking up flowers in the supermarket for tiny prices but be aware of the environmental impact those flowers are having and think twice. Surely flowers are a luxury, not to be taken forgranted and so rather than picking up a bunch unthinkingly, ask where they are from and if the shop has a British equivalent, and if not ask why not. All British flowers in the supermarkets are labelled as such and your florist really ought to be able to tell you the provenance of their flowers, and if they can't, speak up and ask them to find out. Tell your friends and neighbours about the British flower industry and ask them to support it too. Explain to your partner why you are asking for British grown flowers, and be proud to support an industry that is thriving and exciting.

And for all you non-believers, here are a selection of flowers from Common Farm Flowers in Somerset, an artisan florist business that both grows beautiful flowers and prepares them to send out across the country every day. All these flowers are seasonal and available now.

And finally, thank you from all the flower growers, large and small, for taking the time to read this and if you fancy joining in the chat there is a #britishflowers hour every monday from 8-9 on Twitter and all the growers are online and have Facebook pages that you can follow all year around.

There is an adendum to this now.
I spoke to the RHS earlier this afternoon and they have apologised, mainly because when the bouquet was first tweeted their press stuff wasn't ready and thay had hoped to offer the Interflora bouqet alongside the Tregothnan one, with the whole thing being a bit tongue in cheek. They are aware that this has gone awry for them and I think are mortified that the British flower industry and all our small growers have felt so maligned by them. I am going to do some work with them to try to improve relations between growers and the RHS so watch this space for more details.

The Beginning of a Food Growing Revolution

As those of you who follow me on Twitter or on Facebook will know, growing food is my absolute passion. It's something I do because it's just a part of who I am and one of the things I am lucky to not only do myself, but also teach other people to do, hopefully infecting them with the same excitement it has for me.

The Incredible Edible movement has always been of fascination to me, mainly due to the fact that it not only aims for the areas that link into it's ethos to grow within the public sphere but also because it brings different communities together to work on projects and so makes new communities. Often growing anything in the urban landscape is beyond the realms of possibility for many, let alone the idea of growing food, and yet places such as the amazing Todmorden in West Yorkshire have made it possible to do just that, whilst creating communities of people whilst they are gardening.

So when I tweeted last week asking why there was no Incredible Edible Bristol and would anyone be interested I wasn't that surprised to hear people saying they were definitely interested. Bristol is a city of food growing people. Many of them are allotment gardeners but equally there are a myriad of food growing projects that rely on communities to support them and help them with their growing. However, often these are hidden way and not that well publicised and so unless you're looking for a project to work with you may not realise they are there. The city farms all have amazing growing projects and there are several great community allotments and orchards. Incredible Edible Bristol wants to bring the wonderous nature of these projects together to bring food growing to the streets and to the people. We aim to be completely inclusive, to create links between the growing groups, to grow food in and on any spare land we can find both in the city centre and in every area of the city and to give people a learning expereince so that they can go away having learned how to put the idea of growing into practice for themselves.

The scary facts are that Britain is never more than 3 days away from a food crisis and that, mixed with the facts that there are people relying on food banks up and down the country and that often people don't know how to deal with fresh produce and so are slightly put off by it, are terrifying. We rely on a chain of delivery that could fall apart easily as was seen when the fuel tanker drivers went on strike only a few years ago. By creating this project people can take back the responsibility of food production, stop being reliant on the huge supermarkets who are far more interested in their profits than they are in the state of the nation's health and know how and where the food on their tables was produced.

So people of Bristol, "if you eat, you're in"

Urban Gardening

A little while ago someone said to me that there was no such thing as Urban Gardening and that gardening was gardening full stop. And to a certain degree they were correct in that gardening knowledge and the hows and whys are the same where ever you are. Good soil, water, light and food are vital where ever you garden but, for me, Urban Gardening is not only a thing, but also something I am passionate about.

Imagine living on the 33rd floor of a block of flats. No balcony. No outside space.

Imagine living in a tiny maisonette. No garden. No outside space.

Imagine sharing rented accomodation. No garden access as all paved for easy maintenance by landlord. No outside space.

Imagine all these scenarios and more..........

Gardening in the Urban Landscape just isn't as simple as opening your back door and going outside to your space.

Add into any of the above scenarios children, jobs, time poverty, financial poverty, isolation......

Suddenly it seems impossible to interact with the outdoors let alone actually go outside and grow something.

And this is where the term Urban Gardening arrives. Urban Gardening gives all the people affected by the above, the ability to get out and garden. To interact with the earth and take control of their health by growing food, growing flowers for their inner city spaces, and teaching their children about the seasons and the earth.

I wrote this blog post mainly so I could post this video, but also because this is my real gardening passion. Good knowledge, great teaching and the love of the outdoors ought to be available to all and I for one will always support the need for the Urban Garden.

Because "Gardening makes Communities"

Wordless Wednesday

Viburnum davidii