Where does your food come from?

This morning we hosted a Year 2 class from Mellers Primary School to help them explore where food comes from. We're very interested in the idea of food miles here - that's how far any food has to come from to reach us. We're also fascinated about where different crops originated - many things we think of as "typical" allotment crops actually began as natives of other countries. And lastly, we are constantly looking for recipes from different countries to see how they would use our crops in their own cooking, sometimes getting ideas from visitors and also from our own research. In short - Windmill is the place to come to if you want to find out more about where your food is from.

Where in the world did carrots come from?

The pupils have been studying different countries, and they already had a good idea about which continent is which, so they were a great bunch to work with. Jade and Tracey have been working on a new resource for this topic, so we were able to help the group to use their knowledge to find out where different fruits and vegetables originated. Some were quite a surprise - for example our garden strawberries are not native, they are in fact from America! Our native strawberries are the small, wild ones. Carrots are also not native, and were first cultivated in Iran and Afganistan, as a purple root - the orange carrot is a Dutch innovation, bred as a homage to their royal family - the House of Orange. We also found out that rhubarb was first cultivated in China. The children really enjoyed going around the gardens looking for clue cards that showed them where different crops originated, which also helped them to learn what different plants look like as they grow.

Carrots came from the Middle East!

Looking for clues to where onions originated
(Middle East too!)

One part of the session was devoted to finding out where our food comes from now, which is very easy thanks to supermarket labelling these days. The children looked at a variety of crops and found that quite a few things were from unexpected places. We discovered onions from Mexico and New Zealand, and carrots from Israel amongst others. The findings allowed us to use a map and some string to work out which crop had come the furthest to get here.

Finding out where our food is grown today

We then had a chance to eat something which had only travelled a few metres, as all the pupils had a taste of freshly picked lettuce from the allotment. Nearly everyone enjoyed it, which was really nice to see!

Tasting freshly-picked, Zero Food Miles Lettuce

We ended with a Native American story which explains how sweetcorn, beans and pumpkin can help each other if they are planted together. These were the staple foods of many Native Americans, so we grow them together in our "3 Sisters" bed. Another surprise from the research for the story is that French beans are actually American!

Telling the story of the 3 Sisters

The group had a great time, and we really enjoyed working with them - they were a lovely bunch. We are looking forward to seeing their school-mates from Year 1 soon, if the weather allows.

Climate-Friendly Cooking with Forest Fields

Members of the Forest Fields Gardening Club came to visit us today for a really fun session that gave us a chance to try out the rocket stove. We had a great afternoon here getting to know how to use fire safely, and also how to cook in a "climate-friendly" way.

First, we introduced the group to the allotment and explained our views on how to do things sustainably. Then, we helped the group work out where the wood for our fires comes from (our own trees!), and did a little thinking about how this differed from using fossil fuels.

The next bit was fun - first the group helped to build a fire in the fire pit. For many of them, it was the first time, so Tracey initiated them with a promise to only light fires in a careful way, with adult permission. Then we showed them how wasteful an open fire was by demonstrating with a kelly kettle and our new rocket stove, how little fuel is needed if you burn it carefully.

For those of you who haven't come across it before, a kelly kettle, or storm kettle, is a clever beastie. It's a kettle where the reservoir for the water is in a sleeve, wrapped around a chimney. That means if you light a fire and keep it going with small twigs, it will heat the water up in about the same time it takes to boil an ordinary kettle. We used it to boil water to make fresh mint tea, which was a huge hit.

We used the rocket stove to make popcorn, and then used it to cook pumpkin pancakes. Both were huge hits. The group had a great time feeding the fires and seeing how much wood each type used. They also became very good as safe match use and were very aware of the fire risks and how to deal with any accidental spilling of fire.

When the time came to leave, the group really didn't want to go, so we hope they will come back to see us soon.

Outreach at the Acorn Day Centre

Today, Tracey went to the Acorn Day Centre, which is in the Mary Potter Centre in Hyson Green. We enjoy going to Acorn, or inviting the centre users to Windmill, as they are a great crowd and very good at providing refreshments if we visit them!  Tracey's job was to help some pupils from Berridge Junior School to plant up the main growing bed there to provide some crops and some herbs, as well as interest for butterflies and bees. It may sound like a bit of a tall order, but the growing bed is huge, so there was plenty of room. 

The Weeding Team get on with the job

The Berridge group did a fantastic job. As the group weeded really carefully, pairs of pupils took it in turn to plant up the bed. The first worked to plant strawberries, the second group worked on herbs and butterfly plants and the last group put in a variety of vegetables.

Pupils helped to put in lots of strawberry plants,
within easy reach of the edge of the bed.

Bee friendly plants going in at one end of
the big bed

Putting herbs around the edge of the bed so
they are easy to reach and smell.

After all their efforts, the Acorn folk provided some well-earned drinks and biscuits, which were much appreciated. 

Well done to the whole Berridge Team

Once the group said their goodbyes, a few of the centre users had a bit of time to come and help (they'd all been busy with actvities when we first arrived - it's a busy place!). They helped Tracey to plant beans and tomatoes and to make sure that all the plants were properly watered.

Some volunteers from Acorn helped to finish the job.

We are hoping to go back in a week or so, to help finish off the work, putting in some ornamental planting and wiring up the pergola to provide support for the new grape vines and other climbers. 

The place should soon be looking spectacular!