A 'Garden to Table' lesson for Camilla

An unusual engagement for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during her current visit to New Zealand with Prince Charles - she ended up donning an apron in the kitchen of East Tamaki primary school in south Auckland.  It was part of her introduction to the school’s 'Garden to Table' project, where pupils have a hands-on opportunity to learn about food. They grow fruit and vegetables in the school grounds, devise menus, then cook and serve what they’ve harvested.
Camilla watched the youngsters at work and was invited to try the feast of beetroot and fennel salad, vegetable bread cases and carrot cake laid out for her. She homed in on the carrot cake, which she said she loves, slicing it up and offering it round before trying some herself.  The school's principal said the pupils had been very excited about the duchess's visit.

The royal visit - and the carrot cake - featured on local TV news :http://www.3news.co.nz/Recipe-Carrot-cake-for-a-Duchess/tabid/367/articleID/276552/Default.aspx

In an amazing coincidence, last year I was actually at East Tamaki school myself, seeing what the project involved.

I found part of the school grounds transformed into a highly productive organic garden, along with a specially-adapted kitchen for the pupils to use. ‘Garden to Table’ is run by volunteers, working alongside one kitchen and one garden specialist. Students are split into two groups, taking turns to garden and cook, but all coming together to savour the fruits of their labours.

When I arrived, the morning session was just ending. The kitchen was bustling, as youngsters and volunteers cleaned and tidied after a delicious meal of potatoes mamoosa, with three different salads (above).

Outside, Jenny Villiger, Judy Newhook, garden specialist Karolyn Cooper and Robin Barclay (above, from left) were working on the compost heap. Nearby were beds of tomatoes, sweetcorn, spinach, courgettes, aubergines, peas, potatoes and pumpkins while just around the corner were strawberries, citrus fruit, a herb garden (below) and an orchard.

The emphasis is on growing from seed, often saved from the previous year. Seedlings are nurtured in a small greenhouse, and pupils encouraged to take surplus seeds to grow at home, thus involving the whole family. It certainly seemed to be working - surrounding gardens were overflowing with produce.

The initiative is based on the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Programme founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2001. When I was there it was being trialled in three Auckland schools, funded by donations and the Garden to Table Trust. The maths, science, reading and writing students were learning are all part of the compulsory curriculum, but a useful bonus comes from the social skills being developed, from how to lay a table to working as a team, alongside a knowledge of nutrition and appreciation of good food. The hope is that all this will stay with the youngsters for the rest of their lives, and be passed on to future generations.

www.gardentotable.org.nz/

The View from the Shard

I’ve had a sneak preview of what's set to become London’s “top” tourist attraction – the viewing gallery of the Shard, at just over 310 m the tallest building in western Europe. (Looking at this photo taken last month from Parliament Hill in north London I can hardly believe I have now been right up to the pinnacle.)

Although still a construction site, as you can see, the Shard dominates the capital's skyline, towering over London Bridge station on the south bank of the Thames, its 11,000 glass panels soaring up to reflect sky, clouds and sometimes sun.

When we arrived, workmen were fitting the flooring in the huge entrance hall, but round the corner, lifts were waiting to whisk us up to the 68th floor in a little over a minute. My ears had barely popped before we were in the gallery, looking out over the capital.

That's the moment it hits you:  the only other way to get such a view would be from the air.

The gallery itself is the height of three storeys, the floor to ceiling windows giving a stunning 360’ view. On a clear day you could see up to 40 miles across London. On a November afternoon the view was slightly more limited, but familiar landmarks were clearly visible – the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Canary Wharf to the east (above), St Paul’s, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Wembley arch to the west, while snaking through the panorama like a ribbon, the Thames, its barges and river boats like miniature toys (below). 

A few decades back the BT Tower (189m) and Canary Wharf (235m) briefly provided high-level views of the capital before being closed to the public. Now you look down on them, and on the many cranes and construction projects dotting the city. Between them, the spires of Wren and Hawksmoor churches are still just visible. The Shard itself casts a long shadow over the City (below).

Digital telescopes provide closer views and have touch screens with multi-language information about landmarks. Visitors will also be able to climb stairs to level 72, the highest public point, open to the elements (not accessible during the preview.)
The Shard, designed by Renzo Piano and owned jointly by the State of Qatar and the Sellar Property Group. is described as the UK’s first vertical city. It will have shops, offices, restaurants, a 200-room hotel and on floors 53 – 65, ten multi-million pound residences. Cleaning the exterior is a full-time job, and not for the faint-hearted (left).

The viewing gallery opens to the public on Feb 1, 2013. A visit won’t be cheap – just under £25 if you book in advance, or almost £30 if you turn up on the day. Being so high up means it may occasionally be wreathed in clouds, but then visitors will be offered a return visit. Admission will also include a multi-media display about the history of London and the Shard itself. Booking has already opened, and it looks as if it will be THE place to be next Valentine’s Day.
www.the-shard.com

Where did all the apples go?



Totalling up the apple pick

In north London, we've finished our community fruit-picking for this year - harvesting neighbours' apples, pears and plums that would otherwise have been left to rot, and taking them to local charities. Our total was well down - less than half the 1000 kg we collected last year. It's been a similar story across the UK. The late frosts and wet summer played havoc with the crops, and much of the fruit that did ripen was devoured by hungry squirrels and birds. But it's a great scheme and the idea seems to be spreading. I've been following the progress of a network of pickers in NZ, who are doing exceptionally well. (Read about them at http://www.garden-nz.co.nz/latest-news/news/charities-enjoy-the-fruits-of-community-s-labour.html and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pickfruit )
We'll be out again in 2013 -  fingers crossed for better weather!

London old and new - and a glimpse of a secret nuclear bunker

This amazing view of London is my souvenir of a  helicopter sightseeing trip over London. On a sunny autumn morning, we took off from Essex in EC130 G-SASY (right), and headed along the Thames, in one unforgettable half-hour passing iconic landmarks such as Tower Bridge, the Monument to the 1666 Great Fire of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Post Office Tower, and later the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. Some of these buildings have dominated the capital's skyline for centuries but from the air, alongside new developments such as the Shard skyscraper (seen left, at 309.6m tall, the highest completed building in Europe), they looked like children's models.  

The helicopter tour was a Christmas present which came via a voucher. More details: http://www.adventure001.com/activity.asp?ActTypeId=6&Dn=Helicopter%20Sightseeing

A bonus was the location of the helicopter landing field – just across the road from the site of the  Kelvedon Hatch secret nuclear bunker. This unassuming bungalow, shrouded by  trees (left),  is the portal to an underground world of reinforced tunnels and rooms where up to 600 military and civilian personnel, possibly even the Prime Minister, would have headed survival operations in the advent of a nuclear war. It was decomissioned in 1992, and is now owned and looked after privately. I didn’t have time to go in, but tours are available. There's even a cafeteria.   See http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/index.html

A Handmade Revolution?

I’ve discovered a great new TV series featuring traditional crafts, currently on BBC2 each afternoon at 1545. Paul Martin’s Handmade Revolution hopes to inspire people to try their hand at some of these skills and so keep them alive. The first episode included some imaginative silver jewellery, cute felted wool trolls, traditional rag rugging, a beautiful glass bowl shaped like an orchid (by graphic designer Laura Hart) and – the judges’ favourite – Tony Evans’ eye-catching horse sculpted from waste copper pipes.

The programme travels round the country, showcasing the work of local craftspeople, while Paul Martin discovers the techniques behind their creations. Over the next two weeks, the three judges, all professionals in the craft world (from left Piyush Suri, Mary Jane Baxter and Glenn Adamson) look at everything from pottery and stone carving to toy-making and even some imaginative knitting. Each day they select one favourite item and these will all go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for four weeks from the middle of October.

The BBC has also produced a free booklet to support the series, with more details about crafting in Britain and ideas for projects. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/handmade/BBC_Handmade_Revolution.pdf

More about Tony Evans and his horse sculptures at: http://www.tonyevanssculptures.com/7.html

Back by popular demand: Crossrail's Bison to Bedlam exhibtion

Good news for anyone interested in London's history: finds from Crossrail’s archaeology programme are going on display again, after a hugely popular one-day showing in July. (see http://greenjottings.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2012-08-12T10:50:00-07:00&max-results=7)

As well as the 100-odd finds featured the first time - including amber, bison bones, a Roman silver coin, medieval ice skates and a skeleton from the Bedlam hospital site - the October exhibition will also include a small section of mammoth jaw bone.

The free event is being held at the Crossrail Visitors Information Centre, Tottenham Court Rd, from 2 October to 27 October on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. On Wednesday evenings at 6.30 there will also be a series of 25-minute seminars by archaeologists working on the project. Crossrail’s lead archaeologist Jay Carver be hosting the project’s first online Twitter Q&A event (#BisontoBedlam) on Tuesday 9 October between 2pm and 9pm to answer questions on the programme. The Crossrail project is halfway towards completion, so there should be further exciting finds to come.

The Crossrail Visitors Information Centre is at 16-18 St Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8LN
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/

A better way to grow strawberries?

This summer I tried growing strawberries in containers – and ended up with lots of runners, but no fruit. Now I’m looking at different planting methods to try next summer, and have been inspired by the kitchen garden at the National Trust’s Polesden Lacey, near Dorking in Surrey.
Tucked away beside a greenhouse, I found strawberries flourishing in long growing bags resting on planks which in turn were supported by knee-high brick walls (left).  Each bag was connected to a watering system.

Because the plants were elevated, there was no need for straw to keep the slugs away, and the bags would be easy to cover to keep the birds off.  It seemed like a good scheme, with no digging involved, and looked easy to replicate on a smaller scale with ordinary growbags.

Polesden Lacey was once the home of Edwardian society hostess Margaret Greville, and the grounds provided food for her lavish weekend parties (often attended by royalty) as well as the household and garden staff. Mindful of the estate’s productive past, the National Trust is currently creating a community kitchen garden there for people who’d like to grow produce but haven’t the time for an allotment. Work is scheduled to start this autumn, with the ground ready for new planting in the spring. More details at http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/things-to-see-and-do/page-2/view-page/item939025/268355/

Polesden Lacey’s gardens are beautiful all year round.  In the autumn, the herbaceous borders (above) are a blaze of colour. I also loved the wildflower meadow bordering the entrance path (below).

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey/