Interview...

Me being interviewed about the food exchange at Metal...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A11bExuszpY&feature=player_embedded

Fantastic!

Thanks to everyone that turned out today the first Fantastic Food Exchange was a big success. We had no idea how the event would turn out so it was amazing to see everyone turn up with all kinds of foraged, self-made and grown produce, from jams to nuts to ...a children's bicycle seat attachment (swapped for cider!).  The weather was also perfect, which helps these things. By 11.00 most of the trades had been made and I had myself a treasure trove of treats which meant one less trip to the dreaded supermarket, with the added bonus of meeting some really interesting people.  I was particularly impressed by the stall populated by entirely foraged food placed in market-style boxes, adding a professional and colourful aesthetic to the event.  All in I managed to swap 6 apple pies, made with locally foraged blackberries and heritage apples from a local orchard, 4 bags of organic potatoes and 6 bottles of elderberry syrup, made from local elderberries and this is what I got in return:

Spinach
1 Beetroot
1 Butternut Squash
1 ? Squash
Plum Jam
Rosehip Jam
Runner Bean Chutney
Leeks
Spring Onions
Rosemary
2 Sour Dough Rolls
Runner Beans
Small Potatoes
1 Marrow
Red Chillies
1 Bottle White Wine
Tomatoes
2 Small Courgettes
Comfrey Liquid Fertilizer / Tea
Bag of Sloe Berries
Bag of Cob Nuts
Bag of Pears
2 slices of Apple Cake

You can see attached the delicious lunch Emma just made us in the photos attached made from this list!

Time to get Funghi!

As a solution to the need for locally sourced food for large urban areas, James Bromfield has shown that "the oyster mushroom, grown vertically within storage containers, and using coffee grounds, sawdust, food waste andfree newspapers  as its growth material, offers cheap, healthy food for those who wish to grow organic in the concrete jungle.

Speaking to james at the last Transitions meeting he informed me of his progress: 

"I have 80 kg of coffee grounds and sawdust in storage boxes at my family residences. I got the coffee from costa coffee and starbucks in the town, and the sawdust cost 13 quid online. From this, i hope to turn around 40kg of oyster mushrooms from my first harvest. If this is achieved, then that means i have a kg of mushrooms to eat nearly every week for a year, irrespective of inflation, tesco opening times and climate change. When you think about this, it means that should there be any disruption to the fossil fuel food chain, the individual who has partnered with the oyster mushroom has a solid food base to sustain themselves, a valuable asset.

 "The oyster mushroom appears to be an almost unstoppable species when it comes to digesting waste material. If you have time, I suggest that people watch this video by Paul Stamets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY. The King oyster mushroom appears to be even more formidable, as it can live within soil and deal with the bacteria within it, thats an easy way to increase yield from a land area."

If you are interesting in working together to grow oyster mushrooms as a hobby and/or for local community please contact me by email: james.bromfield@hotmail.co.uk"

James motivation is "Cheap, high quality food. Less dependence on byzantine supply chains that are far too wobbly for my tastes....and Fun!"