One of the greatest things about travelling is meeting people you wouldn’t have come across otherwise. It pushes you out of the comfort of your social circles and makes you forget about age, nationality or social class. And sometimes you are in luck and one of those people has loads in common with you too.

Last September I attended a Permaculture Design Course in New Zealand where I met Karen. There was a high chance of us sharing values and interests based on the simple fact that we were both attending the same course, at the same it also turned out that we both have design backgrounds and Karen had spent a year woofing around South and Central America. Well, I call that a great match for a course mate.

This interview was recorded during the NZ Lockdown due to The COVID-19 outbreak so you will also hear us discuss the consequences of this outbreak on a very fragile food system and the response of the public regarding food growing.

This passed January I managed to finally catch up with Emmanuelle, who featured in the first ever episode of this podcast : Ep1| volunteering at a city farm. In that episode we met her as a volunteer at a city farm in London, passionate about permaculture and the organic food movement. Not long after she decided to quit her job as an urban planner and leave the big smoke to pursue a different way of living. I was sad to think that the chances I would see her again were pretty low but also inspired by her courage.

Hers, is the story, like of many others, who want to step away from consumerism driven mindsets and are in the search of a simpler lifestyle, one that prioritises personal development, physical and mental well-being and works towards community building, self sufficiency and resilient food systems.

In this episode we hear her progression towards that lifestyle from urban London to rural France over the space of a bit more than a year. A journey full of experiences like foraging wild plants and building her own tiny home. 

Bird song audio recording provided by Department of Conservation New Zealand.

Farmer’s markets are great places to check out local produce and enjoy some food while soaking up some sun rays, and that is how I found out about LUV in you and their vegan probiotic ice - cream .

In this episode, we meet Elisa and Kacie, who inspired by a workshop, decided to make ice-cream that not only vegan and dairy lovers can enjoy but it is beneficial for our guts also. Influenced by seasonal fruits and with a passion for all things good for us, their ice-cream flavours are rich in nutrients and have a therapeutic approach.

It is very uplifting to see an increase of vegan food alternatives and especially when the product is locally handmade with such devotion and intention of benefiting both the environment and people’s health. It was really nice meeting Elisa and Kacie both and I wish you all the best.

Mentioned on this episode

Kefir - Kefir dates back many centuries to the shepherds of the Caucasus mountains. They discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into an effervescent beverage.

The word kefir has been known in Russia since at least 1867. Kefir originated from parts of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. The name is derived from the Turkish word keyif, which means "feeling good" after eating .Kefir was traditionally made using cow's milk or goat's milk. It is made by adding kefir grains to milk. These are not cereal grains, but grain-like colonies of yeast and lactic acid bacteria that resemble a cauliflower in appearance. Over approximately 24 hours, the microorganisms in the kefir grains multiply and ferment the sugars in the milk, turning it into kefir. Then the grains are removed from the liquid and can be used again.

by Wikipedia

Water Kefir - Water kefir is a probiotic beverage made with water kefir grains. Water kefir grains can be used to culture sugar water, juice, or coconut water. A powdered Kefir Starter Culture may also be used to culture coconut water or fruit juice.

by Cultures for health

Remedy bliss - http://remedybliss.com

Aldinga eco arts village - http://aldingaartsecovillage.com/

Organic Cafe Willunga - https://www.facebook.com/thegreenroom.highst?utm_source=tripadvisor&utm_medium=referral

Moana farmers market - https://www.facebook.com/moanamarket/

Willunga farmers market - https://www.willungafarmersmarket.com.au/

Aldinga food market - https://www.facebook.com/fridaysafter5aldinga/

Vegan palooza - https://veganpalooza.info/

Tasting Australia - https://tastingaustralia.com.au/

WOMADadelaide - https://www.womadelaide.com.au/

Recommended book

The essential life - https://essentiallife.com

Back in September, I wwoofed at a community farm in the Yarra Valley, in Victoria, Australia. As part of my learning journey into food growing I planned to spend at least 3 months to know how things were run. I was excited to finally spend my days outdoors getting my hands dirty alongside like minded people. This community farm has put together a diverse group of people with very different personalities that yet share the same values. And one of those people was Vicky.

Vicky is a craftswoman and textile artist whose work focuses on eco-printing and nature crafts using materials foraged from the farm, surrounding nature areas and food scraps. And you are probably thinking, well I don’t see how this relates to using food as a tool for making positive change. But what I learnt from Vicky and her husband Murray is the importance of being resourceful, and that if we slow down and put a bit of thought into it, everything can have the chance to have a new purpose, whether it is left over food or an old t-shirt, small changes in the way we consume food and products will help reducing waste.

Tired of gloomy grey UK, Teaspoon of Soil is travelling around Australia to meet some of the change makers of the southern hemisphere.

Our first stop is The Margaret River Soup Kitchen, in South West Western Australia.Margaret River town is based in a wealthy wine region well known for its vineyard restaurants, artisan food and spectacular surf spots. So, naively it seemed a bit of a surprise to hear that such town had a Soup Kitchen that run twice a week.

Luckily for us we got to meet Dave, who has been running the community kitchen for over 20 years. He shared with us the reason he decided to start this service and how good of a response it has had from the local community.

Until 50 years ago, saving your own seed was an integral part of gardening for most vegetable gardeners. Knowledge of how to save seeds has drastically been lost by amateur gardeners and today many of us blindly buys them in packets from a seed supplier year after year.

The positive news is that there are organisations working hard to change that. One of them is the London Freedom Seed Bank. We had the opportunity to attend the Seed Bank Network get-together which took place in St.Luke’s Community Centre, London back in May.

The evening featured talks by network members who spoke about their seed saving journeys and reasons to join the Network. Amongst those speakers was Helen Schulze, co-director of London Freedom Seed Bank, writer and editor, who shared her Master’s research on UK seed savers and you will be able to hear at the end of the episode.

After the event, we spoke with Charlotte, who runs the Seed Bank. She told us what inspired the creation of the Seed Bank, the political dimension of seed saving and how gardeners can benefiting from the organisation’s training programme.

She also helped us understand the current UK Seed legislation, what hybrid or F1 seeds are and how they have completely changed modern agriculture.

London is extremely diverse and one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the world, yet many people feel lonely or socially excluded and there isn’t such a thing as community spirit anymore.

In this episode we talk to Leyla, the founder of the charity Living Under One Sun or LUOS, which focuses in community work around the Tottenham area. An organisation that emerged from a breakfast invitation to a group of Kosovo mums and turned a vandalised site into a community allotment.

We hear about the many cultures that make up Tottenham, the social challenges some face when moving into London and the lack of access to land to grow. We also learn the impact that the 2011 riots had on the neighbourhood, and the transformation that is currently going through.

And last but not least we talk about LUOS latest project - the transformation of a disused Bowling Green into a cafe and multi-use space to provide activities demanded by the community and run by locals, including the Plot to Plate project.

This recording took place in January and I am very happy to say that Tottenham’s Cafe Connect opened its doors just a few days ago, May 31st.

Last February we went to visit Serene Light Gardens in Tenerife, Spain. A project to create an ecological settlement, which will include a therapeutic and educational centre, and aims to serve as a model for an integrative and symbiotic way of life with the natural environment.

We spoke with the founders of The School of Creative Consciousness, Michael and Yasmin, who are running the project, and have worked tirelessly with the help of volunteers since 2016 to make this project come through.

We discuss with them sustainable living, permaculture, regenerative works and much more. As you have probably noticed, this episode is much longer than the usual. That is because after chatting with Michael and Yasmin, they took me around to show me the transformation of what had once been a damping site.

Many people in the UK feel they are losing touch with the natural world, while some others don’t know enough about the subject to teach their own children. Alienation from nature makes us lose appreciation and awareness for the real world. But as this month’s guest, Sarah, mentioned in this episode, there is a human instinct in us to be connected to the physical world. So, it’s not surprise to see many people looking for ways to re-connect with nature and seeking a more meaningful life. In Sarah’s case, this meant working in food growing.

The recording and photography of this episode took place in Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, a public green space that provides connection to nature and a community gathering place in the middle of Hackney.

After this recording, I tried to find out more about gardening lessons in UK schools. It doesn’t seem very clear to me what the requirements are for a school to have gardening lessons.

On the other hand, I found a group of organisations campaigning for gardening and food education at schools. These organisations have produced a mix of teaching resources, projects and awards to support schools to provide children with opportunities to improve their skills. You will find the link for those on the episode’s notes.

If anyone listening would like to add more information about this subject, please feel free to contact.

Mentioned on this episode : 

Dalston Eastern Curve Garden - http://dalstongarden.org

Growing Communities - https://www.growingcommunities.org

Biodynamic farming - https://www.biodynamic.org.uk

Some campaigners for gardening and food education at schools

https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/home

http://schoolfoodmatters.org

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/news/school-growing-project-gets-green-light-continue

School gardening

http://growyourownplayground.com/press/

https://www.foodforlife.org.uk

http://www.growinggrub.co.uk

http://www.countrysideclassroom.org.uk

Do Grow by Alice Holden - https://thedobook.co/products/do-grow-start-with-10-simple-vegetables

Following a plant based diet seems very drastic for people that have grown up as meat eaters. However, new research commissioned by The Vegan Society, found that in 2016 there were three and a half times more vegans in Britain than in 2006. The study also found that 3.25% of the population, around 1.68 million people were either vegetarian or vegan. There are multiple reasons that can lead a person to veganism, but the most common ones are morality, the environment, social justice and health.

In this month’s episode we are going to meet Faye. She will tell us what it is like to be vegan, what brought her to take the decision and how a lack of information on beauty products inspired her to create her website www.beauty-not-cruelty.com . A source of tried and trusted vegan and cruelty free cosmetics.

Mentioned on this episode:

Vegan society - https://www.vegansociety.com

Some examples of documentary films in no particular order:

What the Health - http://www.whatthehealthfilm.com

Eating You Alive - https://www.eatingyoualive.com

Cowspiracy - http://www.cowspiracy.com

Earthlings -http://www.nationearth.com

Food, Inc - https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70108783

Fork over Knives - https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/#gs.xs0cV8g

Plant based recipes :

 Website and app for personalised recipes - https://www.yummly.co.uk

BBC Good Food - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegan

Vegan Society recipes - https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/recipes