Guide to Foodival 2017

So what's happening at this year's Foodival?  Hopefully you've been keeping up with our recent blog posts and will have an idea, but for a handy print out or download version here's our plan of the events.  It's not set in stone, some of the timings may move a little, don't worry just come along and see what takes your fancy.

To make Foodival happen we really need your fruit and vegetable donations tomorrow night!  It's this lovely produce that we use to cook up the communal Big Feast and that anyone can take to enter the Top Tooting Cook Competition.

We are delighted to have the Sound Lounge curating the music stage this year, have loads of activities for the kids, talks on the Green Stage and the Soap Box as well as some great stalls and Arts & Crafts.

We are hoping that the 10th Foodival will be great fun.  Come and particpate in any way you like!  It all starts Friday evening from 5pm.

Our two-days-to-go update on the 10th Tooting Foodival: Music! Families! Donating produce!

All welcome to celebrate local food, cooking and feasting right in the heart of Tooting on Saturday 16th from 11:00 to 5:00, at the combined venues of the hall at Mushkil Aasaan 220 - 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW and in Hereward Road next door.

Foodival music update:
The Sound Lounge has put together a fantastic programme for the Foodival Music Stage in Hereward Road. Thank you so much! Here it is:

12:00  Hannah White singer-songwriter

12:30  Jess Spink on keys, with a guitarist

1:00    Easy Skanking duo acoustic Ska favourites 

1:30    Grenville & Fleur mandolin & fiddle duo

2:00    Artists from The Balham Ukulele Society with a mix of 

           traditional and contemporary favourites

3:00    Maisie Johnson singer-songwriter 

Foodival families update: 

Looking across the activities, there are many attractive highlights for families, children and young people. In particular, blending creativity, food, nature and crafts:

👪 YUM-JAM 11:30 - 1:15 The YUM-JAM is for families & children. The place for children to play with food! Yum-Jam is a workshop plus performance for children which mimics creating a magical dish from fascinating ingredients. With Andres & Emily. More info in this post.


💓 Tooting's Insects Need Your Love workshop exploring what's all around us in Tooting 1:00-1:45 with Chuck

🐞 Making Ladybird Houses workshop making houses which you can take away 1:45-2:30 with Nicola

😲 Observation hive of thousands of bees plus local honey. All day long, with Richard  


And more Crafts - adults can of course join these too (times tbc):
🎨 Painting the big planters with Jeni

🌵 Making a textile cactus to take home, with Nikki

And more workshops on Growing, for older children & families:

💚More Plants for Free! Taking cuttings to increase your plants. 12:00-12:45 with Dermot

👽The amazing power of worms Composting 2:00-2:45 with Martin

Update on donating your local produce:

We look forward to an amazing selection - some we have heard about, and some will be a surprise. Don't be shy, we'd love to celebrate what you have grown whether you are a beginner or an expert!

Donation times are 5:00pm to 9:00pm at Mushkil Aasaan on Friday 15th Sept, and on Saturday morning from 10:00 to 11:00.

Donations go to the Top Tooting Cook Competition (please enter! Details here) and to the Big Feast on Saturday.

The Tenth Tooting Foodival - one week to go! Here's the schedule of timed events.

All welcome to the free Tenth Tooting Foodival: one week from today on Saturday 16th September from 11:00 to 5:00.
We're celebrating locally-grown produce, local cooking skills and our annual communal feast - and Tooting!
We'll be enjoying all the stands, workshops and activities which you'll discover right in the heart of Tooting.
It's all about the local community getting together, so do come along: it's going to be a special day for the Foodival's tenth anniversary!

Mighty oaks grow from small acorns in fertile ground! Here's a view of our very first Tooting Foodival in 2008:

What do you need to do to really enjoy the Tooting Foodival?
There are four ways to join in:

1. Please donate some of your lovely locally-grown produce.
It's about contributing vegetables and fruit for fun, so don't be shy. You can donate on Friday Sept 15th between 5:00 and 9:00 at Mushkil Aasaan, or Saturday morning between 10:00 and 11:00. Your produce is what the chefs use for the Big Feast, and what Top Tooting Cook competitors can use.

Bramble & apple pie made by a child

2. Join in our Top Tooting Cook competetion.
All the details here. There are four classes, and your dishes need to be delivered to Mushkil Aasaan from 1:30 on Saturday. Judging is at 2:30. It's a lot of fun and we all look forward to tasting what you make!

3. Tell your friends, come along on Saturday, enjoy the Big Feast and all the activities.
You'll be amazed at how growing, donating, cooking, creativity and diverse people make a blend of ingredients that create a wonderful community day.

4. Volunteer and help the day go brilliantly.
The Tooting Foodival is a volunteer-run event. We welcome you to join us as an equal contributor, make new friends and maybe help design the Eleventh Foodival! Contact us by email here.

All the events are either in the hall at Mushkil Aasaan at 220-222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando's) or outside in Hereward Road.

Some of the events on Saturday 16th are running at scheduled times, so please don't miss the ones you want to join.  
Some are available all day from 11:00 to 5:00.

There's a Schedule for the timed events. To read and download the running order please click here. Here's what's in the timed Schedule:

• The Big Feast with local chefs Manisha (from Pooja), Volker & Quinn and Elizabetta (from Minestra Supper Club)
• The Top Tooting Cook Competition - judged by Brian (Tooting Town Centre Manager) Rick (Tooting chef) and Saira (of KarimaandSaira).
• The Green Stage workshops all about local growing (details in this post here)
• Children's and Family activities including The Yum-Jam (details here), the Crafts Stage and Face Painting
• The Soap Box - our speakers' corner

In our next blog post we'll share the list of the stalls, stands and more which are running all day.

WANTED

The Tenth Annual Tooting Foodival - 2 weeks to go! All welcome & here's the latest plans!

All welcome 11:00 to 5:00 on Saturday 16th Sept at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW and in Hereward Road, right next door in the heart of Tooting

Welcome to the latest plans for the Tooting Foodival!
  
There's lots happening and it all feeds into the Foodival's purpose of celebrating local growing, sustainable food, local cooking and bringing the whole community together.
All done in diverse creative, refreshing and participative ways.


Would you like to volunteer as a Foodivalista?  
Volunteering info here, and all welcome!

 Here's a recap of the main events (more info on these three here)

• Donating Local produce. Share some of what you've grown locally! All donations gratefully received from 5pm to 9pm Friday 15th Sept, or from 10am to 11am Saturday 16th Sept at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW
• Top Tooting Cook Competition. Deliver your entries at 2:00, winners announced 3:30 Full details about collecting ingredients and how to enter - click here for the flyer
• The Big Feast. Local chefs cooking a mighty three-course meal of fresh local ingredients, for everyone to share

New information:
Growing, Sustainability and Creative activities:
Here are some details - please save the times to plan your visit

👪 YUM-JAM 11:30 - 1:15 in Hereward Road
The place for children to play with food! Yum-Jam is a workshop plus performance for children and families which mimics creating a magical dish from fascinating ingredients. With Andres, Emily and friends.

1. 11:30 - 12:30 'Making'. Children create food props and costumes using recycled materials, learn quick facts and stories about vegetables
2. 12:30 - 1:00 'Cooking'. The performance: children particpate using the props and knowledge from the Making, creating a fun and healthy imaginary dish with the help of a storyteller who invites the children to join the journey
3. 1:00 'Feasting'. Enjoying some of the Foodival Big Feast treats together. Children can take home the props and illustrations they have made

🌱GREEN STAGE 12:00 - 3:00 in the Hall at Mushkil Aasaan
Three hands-on growing sessions. 45 minutes each, no need to book, all materials provided.

1. 12:00 start 'More Plants for Free'. Learn how to increase your plants by taking cuttings and division. Practice your skills with scissors, soil and sharp sand! Take away a new plant. With Dermot
2. 13:00 start 'Tooting's insects need your love'. Sharing how to encourage pollinators and beneficial insects all year round in your balcony, beds or garden. With Chuck
3. 14:00 start 'Composting and the amazing power of the humble earthworm'. Working with nature to reduce waste and build soil fertility. With Martin

🎨CRAFTS STAGE Timing tbc, in the Hall at Mushkil Aasaan
Join Jeni, Nikki and Nicola to: 

1. Make and decorate ladybird houses out of waste plastic bottles. Use them outdoors as shelter for overwintering beneficial insects.
2. Make your very own textile cactus!
3. Create on a bigger scale by decorating the Big Bed planter outside in Hereward Road

More detail to come about many more activities!

The Tenth Annual Tooting Foodival - 4 weeks to go! All welcome & here's Part Two of the plans

Hello all and it's four weeks until the Tooting #Foodival2017 on Saturday 16th September!

In last week's blog post we shared Part One of the Foodival plans: all about food and cooking (surprise, surprise). We're inviting you to:

• donate locally grown produce
• enter the Top Tooting Cook Competition
• come along to The Big Feast

Today we're sharing Part Two of the plans: all the other wonderful activities that are happening right in the heart of Tooting as part of the 2017 Foodival. These activities are all about:

• growing
• sustainability
• creativity
• community 
• and fun 

All these activities are complementary to the Foodival's purpose of celebrating local growing, sustainable food, local cooking and the local community (the whole community including nature as well as people) - all done in diverse creative, refreshing and participative ways.

Timings to follow as the schedule comes together across the twin venues of Mushkil Aasaan at 222 Upper Tooting Road SW17 7EW and part of Hereward Road right next door.

What are we offering for all ages to come and enjoy and explore?
As well as Donating Local Produce (appear in our traditional 'I Grew This' poster!), the Top Tooting Cook Competition and The Big Feast, we're grateful to all our partners who are offering:

Stalls
Sales of locally-made Jams and Chutneys; Upcycled Crafts; Local Honey (plus an observation hive of 16,000 bees - nearly the same as Tooting Ward's population).

Jeni's Crafty Arts
There will be a series of hands-on creative workshops led by local makers.
In one workshop you can come and make ladybird and lacewing hotels out of plastic bottles...learn about beneficial insects and create a safe place for them to roost and overwinter.

Music
By artists from The Sound Lounge.
 

A sculpture to help check in with nature

The Story of Rewilding
A hands-on and imaginative storytelling event that introduces children to environmental thinking.
Join Andy to create amazing props with recycled materials and become part of the Story of Rewilding narrated by Emily our local storyteller.
Families are particularly welcome to participate together.

Spoken Word
With a food and growing theme - you can join in, surprise us!

The Green Stage
Three 45 minute workshops: Composting and Power of the Humble Earthworm; Autumn and Winter Gardening; Seed Saving and Propagation (with some more topics up our sleeves if we need them...).

Stands for meeting and discussion with local projects
Stands for Tooting Community Garden (explore how to make teas from your garden plants); for the Wandsworth Food Partnership, Carbon Conversations and more. Hear about 2017's Pollinator Paths Wandsworth project that has sown the seed for creating a growing network across the borough. Learn about the Gardens of Refuge project with our partners CARAS, and about Transition Town Tooting's plans (bring us your ideas!).

Our pop-up Big Bed
Made from a big recycled shipping container, the Big Bed will showcase vegetables and flowers grown in Tooting by the beneficiaries of Share Community garden. And you can help decorate the planter on the spot.

Whew!
There's bound to be lots here to catch your interest - we'll share the schedule soon and you can plan your day.
Or just come along and see what you find, have a chat and enjoy the atmosphere.

Woven through all these activities and more will be judging for the Top Tooting Cook, cooking and eating together at The Big Feast and admiring the displays of locally-grown produce. See last week's post for the timings for those events.

If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer in preparation or on the day or in follow up, please email Malsara Thorne at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com
Please share the #Foodival2017 plans by following Transition Town Tooting on Facebook and Twitter - thank you!

'I Grew This!'

The Tenth Annual Tooting Foodival - 5 weeks to go! All welcome & here are the plans.

Saturday, 16 September 11am - 5pm at Mushkil Aasaan, 220 Upper Tooting Road (close to Nando's) 
We are thrilled that the award-winning and free Tooting Foodival organised by Transition Town Tooting will be celebrating its 10th year this September.

The Foodival highlights the diversity of healthy and sustainable produce that can be grown, cooked and enjoyed in Tooting & nearby.
We welcome all growers and cooks and everyone of all ages who comes to take part!
All the Foodival events will be inside Mushkil Aasaan and also outside on part of Hereward Road right in the heart of Tooting.

There are several exciting strands to the Foodival:

• We invite you to donate some fresh local produce which you've grown - timings below
• There's the Top Tooting Cook competition for local individuals and cooks, using the donated local produce (info below)
• There's Volker's Saturday Menu which will be cooked live by our fab chef, also using the lovely local produce (info below)
• There will be a great range of practical and fun growing, sustainability and creative activities (more info soon) 

Donating locally-grown produce:
There are wonderful crops being grown right here by many people!
Foodival is about sharing the love, not necessarily donating big volumes - so please don't be shy to share some of what you've grown.
All donations gratefully received from 5pm to 9pm Friday 15th Sept, or from 10am to 11am Saturday 16th Sept at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW.
Or let us know when you would like us to collect.

See Volker's Saturday Menu below for some special donation requests.
There are still five weeks to go, so get out the watering can, the nettle tea or whatever it takes! Ready, steady, GROW!


The Top Tooting Cook competition: 
Open to anyone living, growing or cooking nearby & free to enter. 
Full details about collecting ingredients and how to enter - click here for the flyer

Why enter? It's a fun way to celebrate local food; you can try out your skills; you meet others who are interested and share recipes; it will be fun; there'll be media coverage..and there are prizes!

Prize categories:
1. A dish made with apples and pears
2. A savoury dish
3. A pudding, dessert or cake
4. Pickles, preserves, jam, jelly or chutney

Foodival produce donors will supply the seasonal ingredients (or grow your own!) for you to cook and serve to our panel of hungry judges. You can collect ingredients at Mushkil Aasaan from 7pm to 9pm on Friday 15th Sept, or from 10 to 11am on Saturday 16th Sept.

Dishes need to be delivered by 2:00 pm on Saturday 16th, and judging follows.
Winners announced at 3:30pm!
Then the audience can taste as well - and get the recipes soon after.

  
Volker's Saturday Menu:

Volker, our very own in-house gourmet chef at the Foodival has created a very special seasonal 3 course menu for this year’s Tooting Foodival. He's asking the green-fingered of the great South West London public to donate their locally grown produce.

• Starter: Sizzling Pakoras Ingredients needed: Onions, cauliflower, courgette, spinach 

• Main course: Rainbow vegetable stir fry Ingredients needed: Onions, carrots, potatoes, turnips, peas and any other vegetables including tomatoes, garlic, herbs

• Dessert: Fruity Crumble Ingredients needed: Any fruit – apples, pears, plums, berries, grapes, bananas (yes we've had them donated, locally-grown!)

Volker will cook the dishes live and answer questions so you are able to make these at home


Details of the growing, sustainability and creative activities to follow.

Contacts
For more info on Foodival, please contact Malsara Thorne via email
There's more info at the Foodival blog - click here
Please share on social media, and use the hashtag #Foodival2017

We hope to see you, and thank you very much - The #Foodival2017 Team.

Ready, Steady, GROW for the 10th Tooting Foodival

The Tooting Foodival celebrates local growing, cooking and eating together. It's based on what people locally grow and donate - so we can all admire Tooting's skills and productivity. Plus we can offer super ingredients to the Top Tooting Cook contest and the chefs' delicious demonstrations. 

Sowing radishes

Radishes harvested just 4 weeks later

There's still time to grow from scratch so you can donate to the Foodival on Saturday Sept 16th. It's about sharing the love rather than growing big quantities. We're  delighted by the diversity of what's donated
every year!


Starting now, what can you sow, grow and harvest for the Foodival?

If you can get sowing by the end of July, you could harvest these by mid-September:

• Rocket
• Coriander
• mixed cutting Lettuces
• Mustard Greens
• Cima di Rapa (that's turnip tops)
•  And more - do share your suggestions.

Rocket

White turnips

Alfalfa spouts, 5 days from starting

Much closer to the Foodival date:
> you could start Radishes as late as mid August
> you could start Sprouting Seeds just a week before (here's our handy guide)
> you could sow Cress just a few days before

Cress, 3 days from sowing

 Where can you grow?

• In your own garden or allotment
• In containers on a terrace, balcony or windowsill
• At a nearby community garden

Even if you're a beginner, why not give it a go?

Expert or newbie, everyone is included in our annual amazing 'I Grew This' celebratory Foodival poster:

If you would like to ask questions or get advice, or come and grow from scratch with us at Tooting Comunity Garden - all welcome on Sundays and Wednesdays, 5 North Drive SW16 1RN. Check for updates on opening on our facebook page.

NB there's a highly-recommended session on container gardening by our friend Mark Ridsdill-Smith and more at the London Permaculture Festival on Sunday 30th July - see you there.

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.

Foodival Logo

Loving this year's Foodival logo, Dave Mauger's simple twist on the logo used over the last few years. Yes it's the 10th Foodival unbelievably and we hope you'll want to get involved.  If you do we are meeting tomorrow night (Weds 5th July) in the King's Head at Tooting Bec at 7pm to discuss latest plans.  All welcome to contribute in whatever way!  And thank you Dave!