Today some of us landscape arch's volunteered our brains and brawn in the freezing cold to help Growing Communities in their new urban growing site located on the grounds at the Castle Climbing Centre in Stoke Newington.
Growing Communities is a social enterprise run by local Hackney residents, with volunteers from the area and surrounds. They work to create sustainable food systems in the form of urban growing projects and sourcing perishable fruit and veg from local farmers and selling it via local box schemes.
The people at Growing Communities are a real inspiration, with 4 growing sites in the area and a packing site from which the boxes are then distributed. Whilst digging up the new grow sites, we got to engage in chatter with everyone, finding out how they help out and the various social opportunities Growing Communities nurtures. Everything they grow is completely organic and approved by the soil assciation.
This particular site is quite interesting, and since the Castle Climbing Centre has its own environmental policies, its quite appropriate for the disused land surrounding the castle to be used for a productive landscape. the Castle Climbing centre also has an environmental blog found here.
After working on this site we were taken to Allens Gardens, one of their other growing sites that has been established for a few years now. Mainly growing salad veg and herbs, it also has a little classroom with a sedum roof and composting loo for the beds. And a rainwater harvesting system. I did ask the lady who showed the site to us how they compromise with Hackney council the uses of these plots of land. Urban growing schemes are renowned for encountering barriers with land owners and councils...I imagine since Growing Communities is quite well established, they have been able to over the last few years prove their sustainability and economic viability.
Since I have been working on the thesis, I've discovered many urban community farming initiatives, but very few are researched and documented, and some are just too small to probably warrant websites. Growing Communities is probably one of the most effective entrepreneurial growing schemes I have come across in any of my research, and they have a very informative website, with good links too.
Brilliant for the focus week, the volunteering opportunity, meeting new people who are driven to make these much needed changes, and also to inform my extended essay. Thanks to Ida for providing the opportunity to help out. Will definitely squeeze in more time over the coming months to keep in touch and see how this garden grows!
My major issues now, are focussing more on the realities in proposing a canal, the changes in water levels between Cranleigh waters on either side (approx 2-4ft rise and fall), including a lock to deal with the level change, and new proposals for biodiversity and habitat creation. 
I 'd like to retain at least part of the productive woodland and coppiced woodland proposed before, but now that the understanding is that the canal is a wet corridor through a wet landscape, a wet productive woodland would be more suited. Doesn't really change the initial selection of foliage - they are all suitable for damp/wet conditions. The foraging aspect will also remain, with the potential to drive towards a sustainable community. 
Once you pass Kensal Green Cemetery and Sainsbury's, it becomes more of an urban canal, with the odd splash of graffiti and denser buildings.....these buildings (aside from the old Virgin building with green lawns) have 'turned their backs' on the canal but the newer developments further down are restricted from doing this and must agree to British Waterways standard of embracing the canal and opening up to it.
The most inspirational part of this trip, was the Meanwhile Gardens Wildlife Garden. I touched on something vaguely similar in my initial Wey and Arun project which was a healing garden for the special needs children of neighbouring Gosden House school. Meanwhile Gardens however works in conjunction with Kensington and Chelsea Mind, an organisation involved in rehabilitating people with drug and alcohol addictions and mental health issues. They are encouraged to help out in a small section of the Wildlife Garden, involved in things such as planting and trimming hedgerows etc.
Aside from this, Meanwhile Gardens is a small (4 acre) urban sanctuary, in an area where a lot of people do not have gardens. It is a wonderfully peaceful space, creating habitats for various species of wildife - birds, insects and microinvertebrates. The history behind it is inspirational too, that a young sculptor 33 years ago looked at the derelict land left over after the council tore down terraced houses, and wantedto build a community garden. The council gave him 'temporary permission' and so he named it 'Meanwhile Gardens'. The gardens prospered and the name stuck and it really is a wonderful place, with access for everyone, the Nature Walks, Moroccan Garden, Meanwhile Skatebowl (oldest in the UK) and the Playhut.
Moving further down the canal brings more mixed housing and residential moorings. A new pathway specifically for cyclists was laid due to the narrowing towpath and heavy moorings. It runs alongside the canal and old church. Marked out with green gravel and a brown pedestrian alongside, it has taken the strain off pedestrians on the small towpath.
There are many things worth mentioning down this end but since Meanwhile is my focus the only other thing I will mention is Rembrandt Gardens at Little Venice - a lovely 'English Garden'....with manicured lawns and enchanting planting. It has wondeful views over the island at Little Venice and so the benches have been laid diagonally facing the canal. Behind some terraced planting climbs the wall and due to the sunken nature of the garden, the traffic surrounding the garden is drowned out.
