Grow your own Drugs and a Homegrown Revolution

I braved the weather today and went up to the allotment to see what is going on up there. The sun was shining and the sky blue but it was very cold! And the ground is totally waterlogged - so absolutely impossible to dig the ground at all - it would really damage the soil to even attempt to walk over the plot.
But I did manage to pick some lovely sprouts, some purple sprouting broccoli, and dig a few leeks and parsnips. I shall roast the parsnips with a grating of parmesan cheese - delicious!
And quite unbelievably the rhubarb has started sprouting. It clearly thinks it's spring already!
Had a super book as a Christmas present. It's Homegrown Revolution by James Wong, the author of Grow Your Own Drugs. And in it he shows us how to widen our horizons, to grow the exotic and unusual - and he trials all these in his own small suburban garden in South London. How about callaloo, watercress, cucamelons, chop suey greens, tomatillos, inca berries, shark's fin melon, dahlia yam, electric daisies .... The list seems endless; he calls them "incredible edibles." So I'm really looking forward to following his advice and pushing the boat out this year on the allotment. I can see I shall soon run out of space up there.
And through the blog I shall let you know how I get on!

Incredible Edible

I've just come across a fantastic idea - one that started in the UK but is gathering interest from other parts of the world. I was listening to BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme today and pricked up my ears when I heard mention of food sustainability. Vegetables are being grown in a graveyard, I heard, and then came another snippet; that our food production accounts for 23% of our carbon footprint. So I stopped my noisy food processor and started to listen properly.
Todmorden is a an old Victorian mill town on the Lancashire/West Yorkshire border. 3 years ago it set out to be the first town to become self sufficient in food, with a target set for 2018. They call it the Incredible Edible campaign. And whilst the founders do not feel that the target date is totally achievable, nevertheless they are doing well - and they have a wonderful website to prove it, full of amazing resources to support those already in the loop, and to encourage others to start in their own localities.

The idea is that veggies and edibles are grown in public and unused spaces for the common plate, and it is now being put into practice in Wilmslow for example, and in Totnes, the original Transition Town.
And it's not just about growing fruit and vegetables - at least in Todmorden. It's also about educating residents on what to look for in sustainable meat supplies, and in how to pickle and bottle summer surpluses for winter consumption.
Now here's something I could start rolling in our own town! Just give me a little time! We've already started encouraging our local school to grow vegetables, for example, and we have a community orchard, but this is one huge step further. If there are any hints and tips out there as to how to start (in addition to the online resources mentioned), I'd love to hear.