Tooting Foodival

This afternoon My Eco Self and friends went to the Tooting Foodival. There was lots of local food in varying forms - apple crumbles made from back garden apples, urban honey, eggs from Deen City Farm, and curry from Poojas.

I've been a fan of Poojas for a long time - they sell 4 delicious samosas for £1. I tentatively went in there last week for the first time in a few years and with only £1 in my pocket; convinced that inflation and the credit crunch would have pushed up the prices. But no, still 4 samosas for £1.

The event was organised by local community groups Transition Town Tooting and Food Up Front.

I first discovered Food Up Front about a year ago, when they had 30 members and I wrote about them here. They are a scheme which encourages members to grow food in containers. Since then there's been a flurry of FUF activity - watch this space for an update on their activity coming soon.

My Eco Self recently signed up to be a member of Food Up Front, and enthusiastically planted my seeds in compost which I literally rolled home on a shopping trolley and in high heels. Technically, there is no sign of life so far, but this could be because:

a) My back door broke. While this may seem unlikely, it is actually true. I couldn't get into my garden for a week to water my container, until my friend Emma (ie Emma of superhero Emma with superhuman strength fame) opened the door with a casual flick of her wrist.

b) I went to Paris, not the perfect locale for carefully nurturing my seedlings.

Now I come to think of it, there really is no sign of life in my container. I've just remembered that not everything I planted was a seed; I planted a chard seedling, as documented in the photo above. It's gone AWOL, with not even a hint it ever existed. I'm sure the foxes are to blame.