Belsize is feeding me!!!

Food growing is, as I guess most people in Camden know, one of my big passions. It’s the key to many things. In a recession it’s cheaper to grow your own. Food from your balcony or your garden or your housing estate hasn’t come thousands of miles by plane wrapped in plastic. Gardening has been shown to be good for mental health. Growing food helps us all to stay in touch with where food comes from, and how important it is to respect nature. I’m delighted that Camden Council is now actively encouraging food growing, even if we’ve had to close the allotments waiting list because so many people are interested. We’re on the hunt for new potential growing spaces so do get in touch if you can think of any.

Here in Belsize we have some great examples of the community getting on with it. At Hancock Nunn House on the Fellows Road Estate residents formed a gardening club and, with members of the Transition Belsize food group, turned some disused gardens into a community allotment site which is going from strength to strength. On the south side of the Fellows Road Estate residents have put in fruit trees that were donated by the council and Burnham Tower on the Chalcots Estate is hoping to start growing food on some of the space around their block. It’s all go.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been given plums, rocket, beetroot, raspberries, a marrow, courgettes and green tomato chutney by residents that have grown their own. Add that to the crops I grow on my own balcony and I soon won't need to buy any food!

See here for a film about food growing in Camden.