British town grows all of its own vegetables FREE, witnesses improved civic life and reduced crime a

Great Thread, great story.

I haven't seen anyone mention peak oil yet?

We can all see times are getting hard, and they are not about to get better unless we make them.

This wouldn't work in all areas, just because of the different people in different areas, I know people who would steal , sell and buy this sort of produce.

But it could be setup through some sort of residence meetings, and possibly each member taking part, grows a different crop in their garden, and share it out as needed.

Like I said, with Oil and energy prices on the up, its only a matter of time before its uneconomical to transport food, (and people) so Ideas like this are the way foward.

‘Wars come about by men having drinks in bars, good things come about when women drink coffee together,’ says Mary. ‘Our thinking was: there’s so much blame in the world — blame local government, blame politicians, blame bankers, blame technology — we thought, let’s just do something positive instead.’

I Like this

iv seriously been thinking about this and how much it is needed for each neighborhood in my entire city and my country and everywhere else!

i want to start with my own home and spread it to my neighbors,
anybody got any tips for a supreme noob on starting a vegetable/herb/fruit garden

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


In the U.K we don't need permits to grow vegetables. We have allotments that are rented to people for about £10 a month, but the landlord of the land gets the money. I am sure they will add some tax now that people are starting to figure things out.

reply to post by angelchemuel


What a fantastic idea Angel.

OK, the pessimists will always find fault with anything, and to a degree they're right - a few yobs will destroy some of the veggies and fruits, but once accustomed to them being there, they'd be looked upon the same as shrubs and other plants are now, and leave them alone to a greater extent.

Plus, their mums will 'have 'em for ripping it up, if it's going to save the family £20 a week on fruit and veg...the same mums wouldn't care less if it's a shrub they're booting about would they.

If it goes national, it will soon become 'the norm'.

How about expanding the idea to include meat?

How about 'truly' free range chicken?

Introduce wild chicken and so on and allow them to roam freely. YES a lot will be taken by foxes and cats, and YES a lot would be run over etc, but many will not.

Plus, it would give poultry farmers a break too..if the foxes can hunt their own, easily available chickens, they won't be going after the farmed ones.

Sure, there are downsides to every initiative out there, but that is never a good enough reason not to even try, the positives would outweigh the negatives, especially in the middle of the worst world financial screw up since the 20's.

I'd even like to see this expanded into community energy too.

Ultra cheap and cheerful, micro wind turbines placed on flats, maisonettes, street lights and homes. Even a couple of hundred watt hours for each home would soon add up to a significant yearly energy cost saving.

Maybe slightly larger turbines of 1KWh (not based on the terribly inefficient one's they have in wind farms), could be sited in allotments and on rooftops of a row of terraced houses (1 per 4 or 5 homes to a terrace).

The energy could be fed straight back into the grid via a grid tie, and the householders get £ credits off the bills for every unit send through. That way, no batteries and other costly storage or wiring would be needed.

Great Idea, glad it is working. It will take some money away from green-grocers, but they could supply items that are not indigenous to their area. For instance a cold climate cannot grow bananas, coconut, etc.

One thing that would be beneficial would be to plant fruit trees at the curb. Waiting for a bus? Grab an apple, peach, pear, or ?. Children would be healthier. The town highway dept would still need to sweep the curb, and occasionally prune the trees. During hard times this could be a major pay-back.

In cold climates plant sugar-maples. Their benefit would be in the spring with maple-syrup, also provide lots of shade in the summer. These would require a permit to tap, as not everyone has the know-how to tap, or make maple-syrup.

Finally Monsanto would be kept at bay.

Has anyone posted Incredible Edible's own website yet? Here it is:

Incredible Edible

reply to post by Flavian


I agree. Wonderful idea, wonderful plan.

But in my area, it wouldn't survive the first onslaught of homeless people sleeping or urinating in it much less the rest of the riff raff.

In case you might be thinking that I have abandoned the thread...I haven't. I am working my way through all the postings and formulating some ideas.
I want to thank BooBetty for giving the link to their web site.....never even thought to look!

Between putting my christmas deccy's up, I am popping back on here to check the latest. Please keep your ideas and thoughts coming...even the 'neg' ones...because they are important to, we can't realistically put people in stocks...as much as I looooove the idea!

Be back soon with some huge rainbows hopefully

Jane

Originally posted by ooScotty
reply to post by Corruption Exposed

 

In the U.K we don't need permits to grow vegetables. We have allotments that are rented to people for about £10 a month, but the landlord of the land gets the money. I am sure they will add some tax now that people are starting to figure things out.

How much?

You are definitely getting ripped off chief - round here you can pick them up for as little as £1 per week!

Originally posted by SelfSustainedLoner
reply to post by MaMaa

 

Damn, So the wild blue berry bush 2 miles down in the nearest forest are illegal to pick?

I just grew over 50 tomato plants, about 200 radish's, I got dandelions, crab grass, and skunk cabbage. I grow my own scallions, potatoes and onions. I have a mulberry tree along with maybe 5 raspberry bushs. I have a lime tree. I grow carrots and lettuce along with spinach. I grow all of this for myself and my family.

Why would stores sell seeds for these plants if half of the people in this thread keep saying it's not allowed?

BTW. I grow all of this in CT.

BTW:EDIT: Thank you OP for providing this information. It can be used as a foreset to get people to grow their own food.

edit on 16-12-2011 by SelfSustainedLoner because: (no reason given)

We used to go pick wild berries when I lived up in Washington State, but now I'm in Colorado so my options are a little less. The only thing grown in the winter are indoors if that. I only have a few houseplants, but I want to get an aero garden to plant something during the winter. In the summer however we have an overabundance of veggies. In the spring and summer all of the stores sell seeds, it's far from illegal to grow your own food. It's only illegal to sell it. Me personally we end up giving a large amount of it to neighbors. Which by the way I have a new neighbor to share with that I happened to meet on ATS! I saw his avatar and realized he was in my town, then after talking to him a bit found out he literally lives four houses from me! Talk about a small world! So now one more neighbor to share with!!!

I stock up on food though and next year we will do some canning. Someone else mentioned something about people hoarding or stocking up on food in this thread, but honestly when you live in a state like Colorado stocking up a pantry is necessary in the winter time. I only wish I could grow citrus.. maybe I'll move south someday! LOL I don't even think a sugar maple would make it here in Colorado! LOL

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed
I hope you have a permit to grow those veggies

Didn't you know, they grow wild like that...in perfect rows and multitudes of varieties!

I don't know how it is for the place the op mentioned, but here's one possible solution to cities that may try to enforce permits. If the public simply provides the soil and a stranger sows the seeds, how can anyone force a stranger to have a permit. As far as the owner of the soil is concerned, the plants grew there wild... I know its a long shot, but could work for cities thinking about trying this.

Originally posted by Flavian

Originally posted by ooScotty
reply to post by Corruption Exposed

 

In the U.K we don't need permits to grow vegetables. We have allotments that are rented to people for about £10 a month, but the landlord of the land gets the money. I am sure they will add some tax now that people are starting to figure things out.

How much?

You are definitely getting ripped off chief - round here you can pick them up for as little as £1 per week!

I just looked and found that my city has a community garden that you can rent a 10x15' plot for $80 US a season. That seems a bit steep to me and makes me thankful for my backyard garden! Heck if I wanted we could turn even more of our front and or back yard into garden space.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by JessopJessopJessop

 

More the attitudes of the people than the actual place, i will concede. And more so for Hebdon Bridge than for Todmorden.

Still, my tenuous point still stands! If you're only 8 miles away, you know what i mean - walk around Bradford, Halifax, Burnley, Huddersfield and Rochdale and then around Todmorden. You see it straight away.....

I know what you mean when you say it couldn't work in these sort of towns, unfortunately you are right.

But I still haven't seen much from Todmorden folks to consider them new age or hippy. Just wouldn't be a description i'd give to the town or the people lol.

On other towns, I believe it could work to a degree but it would require much effort to change attitudes. There are areas of Burnley where this could work right now. There's also many areas, the majority even, where it would fail.

I think we're too easily put off by the bottom line at a given time, that something isn't achievable or couldn't work at a given time, so lets dismiss it. Surely it's the attempt, the strive towards something, that matters and makes a difference, however unlikely reaching said destination might be originally.

Record labels don't believe they can end piracy, but they strive to quell privacy because they know they can limit it, and not fighting to end piracy would be disastrous. Similarly, even in towns like Burnley and Huddersfield, while it might sound laughable today in 2011, we should still make efforts and seriously attempt these goals, however futile they might seem today, or however unlikely they are to flourish at this given moment.

As Brits we run ourselves down too much, aspiration is almost a dirty word. I will concede the towns you named would not work at the moment, but we should attempt and push for community vegetable growing in spite of current attitudes and likelihoods of success.

I hold the same views when it comes to Socialism or anything else. While a social utopia in which people come together for the benefit of the collective might not be likely, the fight in itself does tremendous good, even if it doesn't achieve the "end goal".

I would ask not whether this would work in Rochdale as it has in Todmorden over such a short period, but whether attempting the same would benefit Rochdale and improve Rochdale, even in a small capacity? I think the answer for anyone is probably going to be yes.

It's all fine until the potato famine hits again, and then people will be back at each others' throats. And wait until I come in the night and steal all their cucumbers! Haha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

reply to post by mutatismutandis


Where i am in Kent, England my family and i regularly go wild fruit and nut picking every year.

Almost everywhere in this county there are wild:

Plums, damsons, elderberries, blackberries, the odd apple and pear tree (if you know where to look), Cob nuts (like hazel nuts) sweet chestnuts. We also gather large amounts of wild rose hips (rose seed pods) when they are still firm, as these are a phenomenal source of vitamin C, one tiny rose hip = roughly 20 oranges in Vit C content...plus, they taste like ripe rosy apples.

Another good one is Hawthorne, both the ripe berries and the young leaves. The leaves also taste like ripe apples, and the berries are great for regulating blood pressure and heart function.

Im some cities in Morocco, they had orange trees everywhere along the streets. There, the poor at least had some fruit to eat (just pick em off the trees) at little cost to anyone. Earth is meant to support humans, we are just not doing it right for the time being...

reply to post by CREAM


Couldn't agree more Cream.

I suppose the bottom line is there's not much bottom line in altruism, therefore we don't have such a society.

This is an excellent idea. Hmm. I really like it a lot.

I plan to own a farm within the next five years. I am an avid gardener and gladly give away any extra food that I have. I already was planning to donate a percentage of my excess crops to food banks... but I'm thinking that it would be even cooler to have people come out for "a day at the farm" to pick their own meals.

Exciting!

Originally posted by JessopJessopJessop

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by JessopJessopJessop

 

More the attitudes of the people than the actual place, i will concede. And more so for Hebdon Bridge than for Todmorden.

Still, my tenuous point still stands! If you're only 8 miles away, you know what i mean - walk around Bradford, Halifax, Burnley, Huddersfield and Rochdale and then around Todmorden. You see it straight away.....

I know what you mean when you say it couldn't work in these sort of towns, unfortunately you are right.

But I still haven't seen much from Todmorden folks to consider them new age or hippy. Just wouldn't be a description i'd give to the town or the people lol.

On other towns, I believe it could work to a degree but it would require much effort to change attitudes. There are areas of Burnley where this could work right now. There's also many areas, the majority even, where it would fail.

I think we're too easily put off by the bottom line at a given time, that something isn't achievable or couldn't work at a given time, so lets dismiss it. Surely it's the attempt, the strive towards something, that matters and makes a difference, however unlikely reaching said destination might be originally.

Record labels don't believe they can end piracy, but they strive to quell privacy because they know they can limit it, and not fighting to end piracy would be disastrous. Similarly, even in towns like Burnley and Huddersfield, while it might sound laughable today in 2011, we should still make efforts and seriously attempt these goals, however futile they might seem today, or however unlikely they are to flourish at this given moment.

As Brits we run ourselves down too much, aspiration is almost a dirty word. I will concede the towns you named would not work at the moment, but we should attempt and push for community vegetable growing in spite of current attitudes and likelihoods of success.

I hold the same views when it comes to Socialism or anything else. While a social utopia in which people come together for the benefit of the collective might not be likely, the fight in itself does tremendous good, even if it doesn't achieve the "end goal".

I would ask not whether this would work in Rochdale as it has in Todmorden over such a short period, but whether attempting the same would benefit Rochdale and improve Rochdale, even in a small capacity? I think the answer for anyone is probably going to be yes.

I get sad when I read intelligent posts like this, so sure that human nature is a fixed and certain way and wonderful concepts and initiatives are labelled impossible before they even get started.

Yeah, and I'm originally from Rochdale, (got my head kicked in by gangs in the town center at 16 years of age), so I do understand your perspective.

Your point and apparent beliefs about music piracy are indicative of the 'me, mine' paradigm that incredible edible are actively demonstrating is an OLD PARADIGM and can be changed. In fact, humanity aches to change this paradigm and move into a world where co-operation replaces competition, our primary motive is to help and support each other, and money is long since forgotten as an initially useful but ultimately corrupt and unsatisfactory means of value exchange.

To put that another way, it is the idea that people think things are 'theirs' that results in an environment where free food is not a self evident reality. Once money is dead and buried, no-one is going to be stealing food to sell elsewhere, and the thugs and vandals can be talked around, especially when their own hunger kicks in!!

I applaud the ladies initiative and have spoken to another local council boss in the surrounding area suggesting they get in on this now and help make it a national and then international idea. The website is nice, but way too parochial. If i wasn't so fully committed to my own 'wake up' project, I'd jump in and get started on a new world class website to promote this concept.

How about it ATS, I know there are some kick-ass coders on here. Wanna give this a boost? Could become as big as FB

Originally posted by RogerT
How about it ATS, I know there are some kick-ass coders on here. Wanna give this a boost? Could become as big as FB

I'll do it! You (collectively) just have to send me a U2U to remind me, and give me some ideas of features necessary.

Inspired by this thread, I decided that instead of planting rose bushes along my front yard as a natural hedge, I will plant raspberries. I live next to an elementary school, and there are always people walking by who could use a tasty morsel or two.