The Roots Union

Posted on May 13th, by Tom Ashmore in Blog, Photo Essays. 3 comments

So I began officially with the Cardiff Guardian this week and Hannah suggested I come up with some ideas myself as to what would make a good visual piece for the website. I had just been reading a report on the BBC about British soils drying out due to the hot weather, and it made me wonder about the local farms supplying Cardiff businesses with their food stock. Taking it upon myself to find and visit a farm in Leckwith, I plotted a root to my destination through the ever-reliable Google Maps. One failed mission later (and a long and sweaty ride up the biggest hill I’ve ever seen), it was suggested to me that I may want to check out a Cardiff based local community project known as the Riverside Community Market Association.

RMCA is a local social enterprise that provides the smaller local producers an opportunity to trade directly with the public. I gave them a ring and a gentleman called Steve Garrett told me of a project happening at the Pontcanna fields allotments. It was my introduction to an exciting and unusual venture where anyone, with or without experience of growing, can become part of a group of people that all work together in a mutually beneficial agreement. Their website says “The RCMA Community Allotment project provides a place where people can learn how to grow food in a sociable and supportive atmosphere“, and that is precisely the vibe I got during my time down there. They have also created a facebook group where the social aspect of what they do continues online.

I was met by a lovely lady of the earth called Jenny Howell (above), who let me through the gate with a warm-hearted welcome. She gave me a tour of the site and we had a chat about what they’re up to. I was instantly drawn to Jenny. You know the type of people – she had a chirpy voice and was full of life and humour. Being a total garden novice I relied on her expert knowledge to give me an understanding of what they do, why it’s different, and how people benefit from volunteering. “RMCA started up about 10 years ago, and about 6 years ago they felt there were certain groups of people that did not have access to fresh produce, so the idea came about to create a community garden. The idea was that people could come along, not needing to know anything about growing, and could take a share of the produce they grew.“

“We have people up here from a really wide range of groups, we have people who are long term unemployed, asylum seekers, parents with young children, retired people, people with mental health difficulties or special needs. People come here because it’s got a very positive atmosphere. Not only can they take away the produce, but we also do a lot of cooking on site so a lot of it is about lowering the barriers to cooking so people will grow things. People will ask what something is and we’ll say, who knows – lets cook it and find out!”

Lewis has been a member of the project for a couple of years, and I spent quite a while following him around – in part, I admit, due to the lure of his charismatic dreadlocks, but he was also a thoroughly nice chap!

Suleiman, or ‘Hashi’ as he’s affectionately known, had recently returned to the garden since having a bad fall. Limping in, he later gave me the low-down on all the plants – including his ‘Aidens [garden of] Eden’. He was quite a character.

It was while tending to her own allotment that Jenny’s interest grew after seeing so many people were all working on the same allotment. Once she found out what they were doing, and as she had some time on her hands, she decided to join in and volunteer. “Instantly when I arrived I enjoyed it and it felt like home! Later on the person who was running it left to go maternity leave so I took on her job and she never came back, happily for me, so here I am!” When I asked her about the surplus produce she told me, “We try not to have a surplus but when it does happen we have training sessions. Last year we had a blackcurrant and strawberry jam making session, red current jam, red current jelly, and also one on how to make chutney. This year we’re expecting the elderflowers to come out so we’ll probably put on a elderflower cordial.”

Gordon fills the water tanks.

The allotments’ abundance of flowers also serves as a mecca for insects, including bee’s, and the volunteers have built two bee hives to host thousands of the honey collecting and flower fertilizing creatures.

But it’s not just regular volunteers who get involved, there is an abundance of other groups who also come down to help out. On the day that I went down several construction and catering students had come down as part of their course and were helping to construct a water-collecting device that harvested rainfall for use on the allotment, helping them to conserve the amount of water that they use from the mains during dry spells, like we’ve experienced recently.

They also helped Malcolm (holding gloves) prepare the afternoon stir fry that was cooked up for lunch for all the members.

Tate helps to prepare the plant pots.

Tate’s mother, Alisa, still can’t resist taking him down there and getting involved despite being well on the way to having another child.

As well as the energy efficient stove and the rainfall harvester they have also powered their cabin with a solar panel, seen above on the top of the cabin. It’s clear that the health of the environment that members work within is as bigger priority as the vegetable production and social benefits.

Whilst the Community Garden project doesn’t directly supply the Cardiff Farmers market, the RMCA have acquired land at St Hilary where they’re providing produce for a veg-box scheme being trailed in Cardiff, and there is a possibility for up to 10 acres of land in the future. Jenny told me, ”what we’re doing as an environmental project, they’re trying to do on a commercial scale.”

So this new and engaging concept has found a way of working that appeals to a certain type of person. You don’t need to know anything about gardening or growing. All you need is a pair of hands to help muck in and you will have a regular supply of vegetables that you will have paid absolutely nothing for, and been able to socialise and meet new friends in the process. If you have free time during the week, are concerned about your impact on the environment, and think fresh air and a bit of light exercise could do yourself the world of good, the why not pop down to the Riverside Community Garden Project, or make contact through the facebook group.

NOTE: When it comes to vulnerable adults and children, its important to note that these are not therapeutic sessions, and subsequently do not have CRB checks or anything like that because the whole idea is that it’s open to absolutely anybody. If an ex-offender turns up, they’re just as welcome as anyone else, so anyone that’s particularly vulnerable, or needs extra help should come accompanied.

LINKS: