FoGroBloMe 2009

No, it's not some strange new disease, it's really a Food Growing Bloggers' Meeting. Pat and Steph of Bifurcated Carrots fame arranged the inaugural one at Oxford Botanic Garden last year and they're asking if there's an appetite for another in 2009. Emma and I have already said yes and are threatening to contribute to this year's proceedings with a book reading and a blather about air-pots respectively.

Last year's meeting was a great day out with like-minded people: it's also where I met Emma :) This year's will be in September or October depending on most people's availability; will probably be at the same venue and may take on a potato and seed saving flavour depending on the extra guests Pat and Steph can assemble for us. The cost is likely to be around £15, which includes room hire and admission to the Botanic Garden.

Interested? Then do leave a comment for Pat and Steph here, where you'll also find more information about the proposed day. You can read mine and Emma's accounts from last year here and here. If they don't persuade you it's a worthwhile event, then nothing will ;)

Introductions: Tracey Smith

The Dig, Grow, Eat, Blog project is proud to announce that the ebook will contain a special article written by eco-princess Tracey Smith, author of the fantastic Book of Rubbish Ideas (which aims to help us all reduce our waste) and the force behind Downshifting Week.

Tracey is a green whirlwind, and her eco-credentials are too numerous to mention. She pops up all over the UK to give her green talks and demonstrations of her famous Rubbish Flatbreads, and recently took part in an eco rally! When she's at home she's always looking for new ways to reduce waste, save money and be green but she's a real person who comes up with real ideas we can all use to make a real difference! There's no greenwash here.

Tracey's contribution to Dig, Grow, Eat, Blog is a piece about her Rubbish Garden - she grows some of her own food in the back garden to cut down on waste and food miles. Prepare yourelf for madcap gardening adventures!

Tracey is a Trustee for the National Association for Children of Alcoholics and makes a donation to them for each copy of the Book of Rubbish Ideas that's sold.

Charity: WaterAid

The charity I'd like most to benefit from our Dig Grow Eat Blog e-book is WaterAid. We're an international bunch, so I feel we need to support a charity with an international reach. Whilst it's not a gardening charity, water is so fundamental to what we do when growing our own, I think it still falls within our sphere of support.

One sixth of the world's population doesn't have access to clean water. That's a staggering one billion people. Imagine having to walk many miles each day to fetch enough water for cleaning and cooking with perhaps a dribble left over if you're lucky for that tiny vegetable patch you have in that corner over there. In the majority of cases that water won't be healthy either, so you face a stark choice: either die from dehydration for sure or take a chance and possibly die from a water borne disease.

WaterAid strives to change all of that utilising relatively simple technology which can be easily maintained. Thus people get to enjoy a better quality of life, with more of a chance to grow their own and pull themselves back from the brink. It really does change lives.

Thanks for listening,

VPxxx

Logo courtesy of WaterAid and picture courtesy of WaterAid/Daniel O'Leary.

Introductions: VP

Hi, I'm VP from Veg Plotting: a blog which quite often has something to say about gardening, fruit and vegetables, but really is all about the things that occur to me whilst I'm up at the allotment.

I came to gardening rather late in the day: I can't say my mum/dad/ grandparents/anyone else gave me a love of the soil at an early age. It wasn't really until we moved to our current home here in Chippenham 10 years ago, that the gardening bug well and truly bit me. It's our 15 x 15 metre plot on a 1 in 10 slope which finally got me going because it's quite a challenge! The slope means I don't have much space for veggies here, just a small patch in one corner of the patio - which I'm currently converting from a strawberry bed into one for asparagus - a few apple trees shoehorned into the overall garden design, lots of herbs plus anything like salads and tomatoes which can be grown in pots.

Five years ago my husband (affectionately called Non Allotmenteering Husband or NAH for short ) was diagnosed with asthma (subsequently diagnosed as not-asthma, but we don't know what it is) and as a result I became concerned about the food we eat. So I took on an allotment - luckily no waiting list then - which I've been cultivating ever since. I grow pretty much anything on there, apart from most brassicas as NAH won't touch them - we're talking about someone who only liked peas when we first met. Thankfully his veggie diet is much more extensive these days.

Gardening-wise I've still got loads to learn and veggie-wise I like to try something new each year as well as growing the usual suspects. Asparagus is this year's first, so I suppose that counts as next year's too as we won't be able to eat any of it until then at least. I love growing fruit, particularly heritage apples and my award winning 'Autumn Bliss' raspberries are the envy of everyone up at the plot!

Writing Guidelines

There's still plenty of space for blogging kitchen gardeners and gardening bloggers to add their experience to the ebook. If you would like to make a contribution then please email me to discuss your chosen topic. If you want to participate in the ebook planning, you can, but if you just want to 'submit and go', that's an option too!

For those of you who are interested, here are the writing guidelines and some interesting blog posts that you may find inspirational.

Writing guidelines

What we're looking for is a book that taps into the wealth of experience that blogging gardeners have - what it's like to garden in real life, on the ground (or on the balcony) and up close and personal. We're looking for writing that is an extension of your blog, in your own personal style, that says something you wouldn't normally find in a gardening book. What we're not looking for is a diary of what's going on in your plot over a certain length of time (although 'A Day in the Life' segments might work) or to recreate a gardening manual (because it's been done before, and well).

What makes us special as bloggers? Our ability to mix information with personal anecdotes, our passions and our quirky ideas, our willingness to document what doesn't work as well as what does. We celebrate the small moments in gardening rather than expecting the whole plot to look perfect for every second of the season. This is real kitchen gardening, warts and all, and it's still worth getting muddy for - but why?

VP sums this up admirably in one phrase - we're looking for 'entertaining education'. Let's keep it organic and eco-friendly please - there's no point writing a piece extolling the virtues of using a particular chemical when it won't be available all around the world anyway.

In terms of length, there will be room for short pieces and longer pieces, but I would imagine a maximum length of around 1500 words - which will fill several pages.

Inspiration

I thought it would be good to have a collection of blog posts that for some reason we found memorable or inspirational - so if you're stuck for ideas or unsure of the kind of thing we're looking for then have a quick read and you'll be on the right track. This isn't an exhaustive list, so if you've come across a blog post that you think is worth mentioning it then please leave a comment. And yes, you can add your own stuff - don't be shy! (Although spammy comments will be removed)


VP's parsnip masterclass went down well with her readership, although she did discover that parsnips are relatively unknown outside of Europe.

VP thought that I managed to pack quite a lot into 550 odd words for my Guardian blog post on potato chitting; and she also remembers my posts on Jenny, the adorable kiwi fruit (although it has to be said they're rather short on words!).

I quite like the idea behind a short piece I did a few years back on Operation Bramble.

Sue's post on savory has all the essential elements - something interesting about a plant, plus some personal experience, as does composting in a small space.

Miss Fuggles has been trying to grow Green Tiger Toms from seeds from supermarket fruit.

Sam gets down to some practical work saving her herb harvest, and has successes and failures.

Daughter of the Soil's heritage veg reviews always mix entertainment and education but this one was particularly memorable for me - Shetland Black review.

Matron brings a magazine tutorial in to the real world (with extra punnage, I love a pun, me) - making your own titbox.

To choose some articles which don't necessarily match my own views, but which did make me think, two from Bifurcated Carrots - Choices of potting soil and Chlorine in the garden.

I recently came across this post when looking for more ideas on labels, I liked its personal approach and big pictures! Coat hanger row markers

Ooh, and this one, from the professionals...Seeds are my Jimmy Choos

And I also like most posts on this blog but the tribulations of growing ulloco are particularly funny (but also instructive).

What to grow in the shady bit by My Tiny Plot - useful but also personal and funny and I love her bit on broad bean seeds.

Charity: Thrive

One of the charities that I would like to see benefit from 'Dig, Grow, Eat, Blog' eBook is a small UK organisation called Thrive which uses gardening to change lives. The horticultural charity offers training and practical solutions to help people with disabilities realise the benefits that gardening brings and works hard to make a difference, whether someone is at a low point in their life or are making positive steps to recover from an illness or accident. It is involved with over 900 gardening projects across the UK, which are often on allotments, in community gardens or at nurseries, hospitals and even prisons.

I would like to see the eBook support this charity because I believe there is a real synergy between the essence of the eBook and the support that Thrive offers. It's about planting the seeds of confidence to inspire people to take steps to grow their own, enjoying and sharing knowledge along the way and providing a stepping stone to enjoying the fruits of their labour. Helping people to nurture their edible garden is not just a practical exercise in learning how to grow, it's also an adventure in keeping fit and securing emotional well-being. And it encourages the heart-warming pride that gathering your own vegetables can bring, not to mention the delights of eating your produce at the end of the day and the social benefits of sharing with friends and neighbours.

Thanks for listening, Karen

Introductions: Karen

Hi, I'm Karen, author of The Rubbish Diet blog, which tracks my attempts at achieving and maintaining a size zero "wasteline" whilst encouraging others to follow suit. Of course, growing produce is a major step in reducing the amount of waste a household generates, not least by cutting back on packaging, but the garden can be considered the super-hero of landfill diversion in many more ways, inspiring the reuse of a whole array of objects that would otherwise be thrown in the bin.

My latest challenge is to grow more vegetables so I can reduce my reliance on packaged produce. However, I am a novice gardener who learns best by experience and my experimental patch of land is our small suburban garden, which is occupied by two children, two cats, three chickens and a husband all of whom are masters at digging in their own various ways. This year we're growing potatoes in an old recycling bin, lettuce in a wooden fruit box and geraniums in a rescued tyre, plus an assortment of vegetables in a mini veg-patch. People often say "small is beautiful" and with an injection of creativity in our garden I hope I can help prove them right.

I live in Bury St Edmunds, a beautiful, historic town in Suffolk, UK. Just go 30 miles past Cambridge and turn left!