Urban Gardening

As a brief introduction, my name is Yasmin Khan and I am currently in my fourth and final year studying towards a Masters in Product Design and Manufacture (MEng) at the University of Nottingham.

I am currently in the early stages of my final project with my chosen brief of Urban Agriculture: designing a product that is simple to set up, manufacture, implement and maintain within the context of the urban environment. As I am still at the beginning of my project I am still not sure what direction it will take â?? be it fruit/veg, animals (i.e. bee keeping or keeping chickens) or composting.

I thought Iâ??d post on this forum and see what your views are. Do you live in a city but still grow your own? Or do you do you grow fruit/veg or keep bees (for instance) as a hobbie and think it would easily transfer over to an urban environment? What do you grow? Any views, opinions, thoughts would be much appreciated. Iâ??m trying to get a rounded view and not just my own thoughts.

Thanks,
Yasmin

 

Hi Yasmin...there are still many more sections to post this in...your only at 5 so far....:skp:

 

green walls are big and im sure there may be better solutions than are currently being offered.

Home hydroponic kits indoor and out are available now but im sure theres room for new innovation there

 

LOL yeh it was a bit excessive sorry wasn't sure where to post it tbh. SORRY!!

Yeh I've been thinking about using more wall space than having something that sits onthe ground. I also have been looking into 'Food for Life' - so trying to educate children about food, health etc from teaching them about growing own veg or looking after chickens.... however I still think theres something really nice about bee keeping!!

I promise I'm not a spammer :-) and will be here regularly to dicuss gardening... I might also show you my designs as I go along

 

Yes I know about Sutton Bonington, but thank you anyway :-)

Food for Life is a charity and government initiative where by 2011 they are aiming for all schools to have direct experience of food growing and production, in school gardens and on farms.

 

Hi Yasmin

Yes, I live in an urban environment and I grow some basic vegetables in two small raised beds (totalling just 7.2 sqm) in my garden. I do it for a variety of reasons e.g. I like to know what's gone into (and on to) my vegetables, I like my vegetables to be as fresh as possible and I prefer the taste of some varieties that the supermarkets don't regularly stock.

As I've got older, I've scaled down production (also fewer mouths to feed) but I have to keep on doing it. By now, it's second nature to me. I missed one growing season when I was moving house and it just didn't feel right, buying everything from a supermarket.

Growing your own food is rewarding in more ways than one.

 

Thanks. I went to the Garden Museum in Lambeth on Friday. Have you been? They have an exhibition at the moment of 100 years of growing your own. Really interesting and kept hearing that growing your own far tastier than whats in the shops.

At the moment I only have a herb garden (which is getting quite a bashing in this weather), but when I'm more settled I hope to grow some veggies.