On Thursday 1st of October we started the project with a bang, at Spitalfields City Farm. A beautiful day, we sat in the sun surrounded by by the bounty of the community gardens. The meeting was an opportunity to introduce the project to the farm partners and also to the academic steering committee.

Brassicas and saltbush

Pumpkins and beans

As part of our community-based Participatory Design methodology, we will start with 4 workshops this November to find out what kinds of data (qualitative – e.g. stories, tips, histories –  and quantitative – e.g. humidity, light, temperature) will be useful to incorporate in our “smart” seed-bank.

We are also planning a trip to the Sussex community seed bank to see how they do things there. Sussex community seed bank

The meeting ended with a delicious lunch cooked by farm staff, with vegetables produced at the farm.

Lutfun’s amazing treasure chest of seeds – mainly Bangladeshi vegetables

Drying seeds in the polytunnel

Hamed having way too much fun