Thank You Growers!

Many thanks to all the growers who have donated produce for this year's Foodival. Roll of honour includes:

Hilary, plums from Trevelyan Rd.

Valerie, Bramley apples from Fishponds Rd

Jane, Russet apples from Abbotswood Rd

Belinda and Adam, blackberries, rosemary, patty pan squash, rhubarb, kale and marrow from Beatrix Potter allotments

Rosalind for potatoes from the Community Garden

Poppy & Teo, marrow, radiccio and potatoes from Streatham

Kath, beetroot, runner beans, rhubarb, nasturtium, spinach, savory, chard and cucumber from Khartoum Rd

Debbie, tomatoes, Charlotte potatoes, Bramley apples, rhubarb, nasturtium, rainbow chard, yellow courgette, savoy cabbage from North Mitcham Allotments

Justin & Diana, greengages from Louisville Rd

Nicola, mint, sage, courgette and beans from Brudenell Rd

Sharon for mint, potatoes, onions and runner beans from the Community Garden

Leanne, Scott and Georgia for squash, courgettes, yellow plums, chillis and tomaties from Tamworth Farm allotments.

David & Mal, tomatoes, courgettes, brassica leaves from Ramsden Rd

& Local Greens for a variety of produce that didn't quite make their delicious vegetable boxes, in Herne Hill.

Weather looks OK so hope to see you all at our street celebration tomorrow! 

Love from the Foodival Team x

Are You Growing for the Foodival?

Foodival relies on donations of locally grown fruit and veg and each year we celebrate those who contribute spare produce to make the Foodival happen. Even in 2020 when we held a reduced event, we still had to create our Grower's Feast with these donations! Thank you so much everyone. Can you spot yourself? Would you like to be in this year's photo? We hope to see you at the produce drop-off at Mushkil Aasaan at 220 Upper Tooting Rd on Weds 1st September 5.30 to 8pm.

Foodival 2020 Produce Collection 5th Sept

Due to the restrictions placed on large gatherings we are changing the way we celebrate Foodival this year. There will not a be a public event in the street but what we are doing is celebrating our growers at a Foodival Feast next weekend. We still intend to make that sustainable low food mile feast with locally grown produce so if you are growing anything and would like to share some of your surplus produce with us we are collecting vegetables from 11-1pm tomorrow at Tooting Works, formally know as Trident Business Centre, 89, Bickersteth Road, SW17 9SH.

Here is Foodival organiser Mal harvesting her first home grown courgette to take along tomorrow. Foodival chef Volker and his team will use this and anything else donated to rustle up the vegetarian feast next Saturday.

Thank Yous for Foodival 2019

Thanks everyone for creating a memorable Tooting Foodival No.12 last weekend. We hope we have not forgotten anyone!

Venue Hosts:
Naseem & Mushkil Aasaan thank you as ever for the provision of your special community space for us
Brian & BJ Hardware, thank you for the use of your yard, power and handyman skills!
Residents of Hereward Rd thanks for lending us your streetscape for the day

Volker, Sarah & Isla preparing vegetables

Donors:
David & Malsara, Ramsden Rd: marrows, tomatoes, sage, rocket, thyme, oregano, mint, St John's Wort
Ben, Endlesham Rd: many cooking apples
Rod & Jane, Streatham: apples
Sarah, Balham Park Rd: beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, borlotti beans
Chuck, Becky & Becky, Kay, Ryan. Katherine, Rosalind, Anuja & all at Tooting Community Garden: Picasso potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, leek, garlic, cucamelon, Jerusalem artichoke, herbs, pattypan squash, runner beans, kale
Susie & Mike, Earlsfield: tomatoes, snake squash, butternut squash
Maggie, Burntwood Lane: mint & nasturtiums
Debbie, Nimrod Rd, Charlotte potatoes, apples, Gris de Provence and Dinizza squashes, rhubarb, courgette, leeks, apples, potatoes
Becky, Tooting High St, carrots
Kath, Garratt Park alloments: 2 wonky courgettes, runner beans, rainbow chard
Lea, Price Close: salad greens, chilli, tomatoes, cavello nero
Rachel, Ruislip Close: baby peppers, aubergines, cucamelons, courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot, chillis
Jenny, Larry, Erin & Harley, Moffatt Rd, apples
Poppy & Teo, Streatham: tomatoes and beans
Elisabetta, Dahomey Rd: apples, chard, beetroot, carrots, beans
Hilary, Trevelyan Rd: plums
Fio, Dahomey Rd: apples
Jane, Tamworth Allotments: marrow, cucumber, courgette
Ian, Cotefford St: cucumbers, apples
Rose, Balham: bay leaves
Libby, Tamworth allotment: apples
Nikki, Tooting: potatoes, apples 

Special thanks to local not-for-profit veg supplier Local Greens who donated butternut squash, courgettes, onions and potatoes.

Emily and Annette front of house

Chefs
Volker of Essential Ingredient for co-ordinating cooking in the street with help from local chefs Manisha from Pooja, Rick of Rick's Dining Room, Elisabetta from Minestra and gluten-free chef Sarah.

Volunteers
Richard, Sharon, Hilary, Ben, Jenny, Mita, Emily, Annette, Larry, Millie & Lewis.

Tooting Community Garden Team
Anuja, Barbara, Becky H, Becky K, Katherine, Kay, Rosalind & Ryan.

Creative Activities Team
Annie, Chuck, Nicola, Nikki, Matt, Paul & May from Butterfly Conservation. Beata & Think Outside tucked in with us.
Enterprises who were donors to the creative activities included Brindisa, Flashmat, Get Juiced, Milk & Work & Play Scrapstore.

Everyone who spoke on the Soap Box with special thanks to Mermaid Jasmine for her eye-catching performance and ocean plastics talks. Also special thanks to Millie & Erin for their help with the creative activities & their impromptu speeches. 

Kay and Ryan hosting the Community Garden Table

Top Tooting Cook
Thank you Sophie @thecornerplot for co-ordinating and judging with co judges Sarah and Mark. And thanks to all those who entered the competition!

Music
Thanks to Dermot for co-ordinating his meltdown and to his support team of Stave, Howard and Tye. To all the performers including Dermot himself, Resina Chowdhury, Natyalaya Academy of Tamil Art, Dan Caleb, Friend's Circle Group, Ranjit's Karaoke, Vincent Burke, Pensa & Reid, Georgia Maria, The Troubadors de L'Avenue Verte and Alex Wonderland  

Photographers Bryony & Franco, the latter taking all images in this post.

Logistics
St Anselm's Catholic Primary School for gazebos, Volker & Charlie's Catering Hire for catering equipment, Furzedown Network for the PA, Miss U Stationers for printing, The Phantom Knitter for the Foodival banner and Jane for knitting an edit to show this year's date!

Thanks also to all stall holders and Foodival visitors who made this a memorable day in the sun.

Love from the organisers, see you in 2020!

Chuck, David, Mal and Volker

I Grew This 2018

Yesterday was another memorable one in the Foodival annals.  Full reports with myriad pictures will be posted in the coming days but firstly thank you to our fabulous growers who donated home grown fruit and vegetables.  Without you the event is not possible.
We give you I Grew This 2018!

Foodival Cooking Event

For the 10th Foodival we are planning to create a real hands-on event to show the visitors how to turn homegrown vegetables into simple and delicious meals. To do that, we will create work areas for 3 groups preparing each a part of a 3-course-menu. Each of the groups will be guided by a chef/helper.

Some home grown donations from 2015

The menu we will be broadly the following:

Starter: Pakoras – Ingredients needed: Onions, cauliflower, courgette, spinach 

Main course: Vegetable stew – Ingredients needed: Onions, carrots, potatoes, turnips, peas and any other veg including tomatoes, garlic, herbs etc.

Dessert: Fruit Crumble – Ingredients needed: Any soft fruit – apples, pears, plums, berries 

This menu will be made from donated locally grown produce - yeahhhh!

But to do that we need the green fingers of the great south-west London public.  It would be great if you could help us to realise this menu by donating some of the above ingredients. There are still two months to go so get out the watering can, the tomorite or whatever it takes!

Donations will be gratefully received on Friday afternoon, 15 September to: Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road, London SW17 7EW or let us know when you would like us to collect. Thank you very much The Foodival Team.

Did you try Minestra's delicious pasta dish?

On Sunday afternoon, while the cooks were deliberating over who would become Top Tooting Cook for 2016, Minestra turned local produce donated from Tamworth Farm and around Tooting, into the most delicious vegetable pasta dish.

Elisabetta preparing vegetables (Pic by Riccardo, Minestra)

Elisabetta demonstrates to a packed Foodival crowd (Pic by Riccardo, Minestra)

We are really grateful to Minestra for their cooking demonstration. Maybe you saw it and tasted the delicious dish. Maybe you'd like to try it at home? Head over to Minestra's Facebook page for the recipe - Homemade Maltagliati with Vegetables.

Minestra also run Supper Clubs at their home - delicious low food mile dishes, shared with neighbours and new friends. The next Supper Club will take place on 15th October.

Calling out for your locally-grown vegetables & fruit for #Foodival2016

This is the ninth year we've run the Tooting Foodival, and every year we call out to local growers for home-grown donations.

Every year we're amazed at the range and quality of what gets grown locally by beginners and experts in backyards or pots, on balconies or allotments.
Maybe you took part in our Growing Tooting classes in spring 2016?
Maybe you have been growing your own all your life.

Here's our 'I Grew This' poster of locally-grown donations at the 2015 Foodival.


To contribute your locally-grown donations, please select something you've grown which you'd like to share and bring it along to Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road SW17 7EW between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Saturday 10th Sept. There are lots of other activities at the venue on Saturday.

• After 4:00 pm on Saturday 10th, local cooks taking part in the Top Tooting Cook event will be able to choose produce from what's on offer. There will be the potential for wonderful dishes - maybe with surprising ingredients that the cooks had not anticipated using before seeing the selection.
• Then we'll store remaining vegetables overnight for use in the Soup Disco cook-up with music and dancing on Sunday evening in Tooting Market.
• Any surplus will be donated to the Battersea Canteen supper clubs being run by the London Cooking Project and Tooting's own Be Enriched. The clubs aim to reduce food waste and feed those in need.  And to CARAS, who run clubs and support services for refugees and asylum seekers in south west London.

A huge Jerusalem Artichoke!

And small ones - but with big leaves!

Whatever you decide to bring along, donating is all about celebrating local food and wanting to share that enthusiasm with others.
It's about sharing Tooting's flavour, diversity and interest!