Watch Dalston Grow Front Garden Growing Manual

(front) Garden growing

part of the ‘watch dalston grow’ series

Community growing plots AgrocitĂŠ - Paris

why grow in the city?

04

Traditional Food Production Contemporary Food Production

05 06

Food Poverty

08

what is terrace growing?

10

The Concept

12

The Potential

14

how will it work?

16

Policy and Ownership

16

Scaling the Project

18

what you need

20

how it is managed

22

Small Scale Management

24

Self-Governance

24

Managing a Network

25

visualising

26

what can be grown?

30

the instructions

insert

Growing plots at Camley Street Nature Reserve - London

(front) garden growing a ‘watch dalston grow’ prototype

This manual aims to provide the information required to facilitate a terrace growing project in the UK. This guidance has been formed in relation to ‘Watch Dalston Grow’, a wide reaching urban agriculture project in Hackney which aims to empower locals to reclaim their neighbourhoods alongside addressing the pressing issues such as deprivation and food poverty.

why grow in the city?

When fully considered, the question why we don’t commonly grow food in urban areas is relatively unanwered. The precedents attached to this project (see Watch Dalston Grow Precedents) show there is an interest and numerous examples of where it has been done well both in the UK and all over of globe. The more direct question of why grow in the city is easily answered therefore. Growing in the city links supply to demand of food, however the modern food demand, expects all foods irregardless of season. Urban agriculture is a great use of dead spaces in our cities. As well as providing produce, they also brighten the grey address modern comsumption and aid community cohesion.

Traditional Food Production Traditionally, humans have always existed alongside food production. However industrialisation of the western world began to seperate this as food became transportable and able to retain freshness through new technology. The separation of people and production has led to expectations of exotic foods all year round. This project attempts to reintroduce the production within the people to unlock the benefits that this brings.

FOOD FOOD MILES MILES milesapproximated. approximated.based basedoff offproduce producefrom fromtesco tescostores stores- -sheffield sheffield **miles

300

miles miles

contemporary Food Production

MUSHROOMS MUSHROOMS

Only recently has a widespread interest appeared around the production of their food. Arguably this started with GM crops which boosted sales in organic foods. An increase in the fair trade movement could also be attributed to this. More recently, this concern focussed around food miles.

Whilst the distance food has been transported is now vast, it is still often more energy efficient for this to occur rather than growing exotic foods in the UK. The issue therefore surrounds again the expectation of exotic and out of season produce.

This modern day expectation could arguably be attributed to the separation of production and people.

ORANG ORAN TOMATO TOMATO GAR GAR AUBERGI AUBERG COURGET COURGE BROCCO BROCC LETTU LETTU

7500

BLUEBERRIES BLUEBERRIES

miles miles

NGES GES OES OES RLIC RLIC GINE INE ETTE TTE COLI OLI UCE UCE

PEPPERS PEPPERS

800

2300

miles miles

miles miles

PEACHES PEACHES GRAPES GRAPES

6000

miles miles

Food miles of a selection of winter produce of a Tesco supermarket

Food Poverty Whilst urban argiculture does not have to be a reactionary means (such as the victory gardens during the world wars), an important argument for projects such as this is to increase access to nutrious food. Those who lack access (either spatially or financially) to healthy food are described as being in food poverty. Areas of the UK with concentrations of deprivation and social housing (i.e. a high percentage of inner city areas) see large numbers of people in food poverty. Poor diet is now attributed to a third of premature deaths in the UK which the Faculty of Public Health blames on food poverty forcing lower income groups to eat processed foods.

Growing healthy, nutrious food in the city can have a huge impact on these groups therefore. How this can be done through terrace growing will now be explained.

09

Community food production AgrocitĂŠ - Paris

what is (front) garden growing?

Urban areas, however dense, almost always contain ‘dead’ or underutilised spaces. Front garden spaces especially are one of these spaces, and are especially effective for communal growing if they exist along a terrace. This manual explains how an efficient growing space can be established at a number of scales along front garden terraces, as a form of active urban agriculture.

the concept (Front) garden growing is based around the concept that front gardens are generally under-utilised which are highly visable to the passing public, therefore potentially inspiring others to do the same. Gardening private land including front gardens is perfectly within individuals development rights, as is gardening communally. This idea explores how communal growing can be facilitated through the use of party wall agreements, to create efficient and more robust growing spaces. All of these ideas can be replacated in back gardens, however it is the visual impact of front garden growing that has been used to explore this idea in busy urban areas. Growing projects such as these benefit from a network of similar projects around it to provide knowledge, skills, volunteers as well as the physical resources to maintain function.

How will it work?

In the UK, residents do not have a right to development, hence the need for planning permission. However agriculture does not constitute development, therefore gardening of any sort, can be carried out without permission. To garden communally does require consideration of other policy. Party wall acts would need to be agreed for any and every wall removed between boundaries in order to transverse from the private to the communal threshold. These would need to be agreed with the landlords if the space is privately rented.

Along a terrace, access from the road exists to every front door. However if the space has become communal, a number of accesses reduces the amount of growing space available. Creating joint accesses is therefore a solution to allow more growing space, however this must comply with Building Regulations, especially H6 concerning waste removal. Planning and conservation area policy also controls the removal of a front wall onto a highway. This may become relevant if you are considering scaling up the project and introducing it into the public realm (see page 18).

In a conservat requires perm remove wall gre 1m in height ad

Policy Threshold

tion area, mission to eater than djacent to a highway Building Regulation H6 requires bins to be stored within 30m of collection point

Party Wall Act 1996. Joint agreement required to remove party fence wall

Private - Communal Threshold

Governance between flats Public - Private Threshold

the potential

How is it managed? landlord permisson

gardening agreement

01

02 tenant decides to garden in an individual space

03 tenant agrees with their neighbour to collectively manage a small number of plants in the shared front garden

tenants persue permission from the landlord for more intensive gardening in the front garden

now governance of the space is needed to ensure effective management 06

governance of the space is bounded by top down pressure, the council inforces rules onto the landlords, which themselves enforce more rules on the tenants

prototype #03

conservation officer prototype #02 NETWORK trustee

NETWORK trustee

NETWORK trustee

planning officer

dalston eastern curve garden

party partywall wall agreement agreement

gardening gardening agreement agreement

05 05

04 04 interest interestfrom fromneighbours neighboursabout aboutfront frontgarden garden growing growingleads leadsto toaaparty partywall wallagreement, agreement, allowing allowingthe theremoval removalofofthe thefront frontparty partyfence fence wall wallto toincrease increasegardening gardeningability abilityofofboth bothgroups groups

more moreneighbours neighboursfollow followsuit, suit,allowing allowingthe thegardening gardeningabilities abilitiesofofall allto to increase, increase,until untilall allfront frontgardens gardenshave havebecome becomeaacollective collectivegrowing growingspace space

landlord landlord

participant participant

gardening gardeningnetwork network

non-participant non-participant

ononaalocal locallevel, level,decisions decisionsare aremade madecollectively collectivelyvia viaaadialogue dialoguewith withall allparticipants participantsininaacommunal communalspace spaceat atthe thesite. site., ,This This will willbebeknown knownasasthe thegrowing growing association. association.these thesedecisions decisionscan caninclude, include,ororbebepassed passedonto ontothe thewider widergardening gardeningnetwork network via viathe thenetwork networktrustees. trustees.

prototype prototype#03 #03

conservation conservationofficer officer prototype prototype#02 #02

ggrroow wiinng g aass ssooc ciiaatio tion n

NETWORK NETWORKtrustee trustee

NETWORK NETWORKtrustee trustee

NETWORK NETWORKtrustee trustee

planning planning officer officer

dalston dalstoneastern eastern curve curvegarden garden

Here we see a typical ‘Actor Network’ of how growing projects such as these start to grow

front garden space

Scaling the Project

what needs to occur?

DISUED space

COLLECTIVE gardening space

COMMUNAL gardening space PARTY FENCE WALL AGREEMENTs

PLA

landlord agreement

collective agreement from all landlords and tenants

leg

tenant agreement

governance of use Flat A Flat b Flat c Flat D Flat E

communal meeting space

individual residents

collective residents

collec

landlord

landlord

landlo

neighbouring residents

neighb

neighbouring landlords

neighb

who is involved?

landlord

collective residents

local

highw

plann

what is it challenging?

conser

challening reliance on supermarket food taking control of food production

removing barriers preventing community engagement

blur

challenging privatisation of modern lives

chal

testing flexibility of planning policies

ROAD

ROAD

PATH

PATH

PUBLIC gardening space

sprawling gardening space

ANNING PERMISSIon

activism

gal change in ownership of land?

willingness to squat/occupy land

ctive residents

collective residents

lord

landlord

bouring residents

neighbouring residents

bouring landlords

neighbouring landlords

l community

local community

ways agency

highways agency

ning authority

planning authority

ervation officers

conservation officers wider activists

rring ideas of public and private space

challenging boundaries of occupying public space

llenging concepts of ownership

challenging rigidity of ‘high quality public space’ actively taking control of the community

what you need As the project grows, you will start to discifer the best way in which to work. One way which is particularly resilient is by using reusable and recycled materials and share these in a network of other gardening spaces nearby. Elements such as seeds and compost as well as invaluable knowledge are easily shared amongst gardening groups/projects which exist almost everywhere. In the early stages, this network can quickly help the project become self sustaining once compost and seeds are being generated. Only minimal inputs such as recycled palettes to create planters will then need to be inputting into the system, while your project becomes a catalyst in the network to help newer ones.

As projects start to develop, new techniques will undoubtably form such as seed ‘upcycling’, a free way to introduce new seeds into the system using wasted food. Sharing these skills and knowledge is imperitive for the network to grow and adapt to remain function into the future.

1 Attracted to start a gardening project in Dalston area

2

new individual gard

recycled wood

compost

network local collection external source

network

new project new project

new project

4 ‘growth’ of garden

dening project

front garden collective project

3

guidance

5

seeds

contributing back into the network

compost skills

knowledge

external source

seeds

supermarket upcycling

LOCALLY CLOSED LOOPS OF PROTOTYPE 01

Small scale management Starting a project and managing it whilst it is small requires simple agreements between the gardener, the landlord and potentially other tenants (assuming the building is privately rented). It is important that a good relationship between these groups are maintained as these projects are visual, they attract attention and if they were to grow, it is only these individuals who can allow it.

self-governance The management of these projects exist in a self-governing form.

This is important to be inclusive and it allow those involved to use the gardening spaces how they wish. Strong dialogue between gardeners as projects grow and reaching collective decisions is important to allow a communal growing space to involve, and not a series of individual spaces. Communal growing prevents neglection, allows greater yeilds as well as a range of expertise for decisions such as crop rotation.

managing a network A successful project which has grown in size and which has applied the ideas of creating a network outside the project, also needs to consider a network within it. Diagram 06 shows how a growing association may be managed. With a space for the association to meet, a collective decision making process can occur which is a benefit of the self-governing process.

visualising a front garden growing project

1pm

bin shed

N 1:2500

tools shed

compost

bin shed tools shed

communal communal space space

bin binsheds sheds

kingsland road sunrise sunrise

PROTOTYPE #01 COMMUNAL GROWING SPACE Party wall agreements alongside informal easements between landlords and tenants allow a communal growing space to emerge between gardens. Large planters could be shared and gardened communally in this new space. A communal space for conservations is needed to allow self-governance to occur, alongside shared tool sheds and composting facilities.

PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE#01 #01 PUBLIC PUBLICGROWING GROWINGSPACE SPACE This Thisprototype prototypecould couldbe beextended extendedinto intothe thepublic publicrealm realmthrough through the theremoval removalofofthe thefront frontwall, wall,opening openingup upthe theavailable availablegardening gardening space space toto challenge challenge our our ideas ideas about about private private land. land. Planning Planning permission permissionwould wouldbe beneeded, needed,however howevermore morepeople peoplecould couldthen then benefit benefitfrom fromthis thisproposal. proposal.This Thisidea ideacould couldnot notbe bemanaged managedinin the thesame sameway wayasascommunal communalgrowing growingspace, space,asasplanters planterscould couldbe be added addedanywhere, anywhere,testing testingthe thecommunities communitiesright righttototake takecontrol control ofoftheir theirarea. area.

what can be grown?

Try anything! If it can be grown in the UK, there’s no reason why it can’t be grown in an urban garden. Considering the exposure to shade and wind is important, as is the soil type/compost and drainage used in planters. Beyond this however, the sky is the limit. A list of relatively simple and commonly grown crops are listed below: • Aubergine • Beetroot • Broad Beans • Brocolli • Brussel Sprouts • Carrots • Courgettes • Cucumbers • Garlic • Green beans • Leeks • Peas • Potatoes • Raspberries • Rhuburb • Spinach • Strawberries • Tomatoes • Winter Salad

tHE INSTRUCTIONS The insert provides instructions towards the physical aspects of creating a ‘Watch Dalston Grow’ garden. This includes building garden infrastructure from recycled palettes and sourcing seeds.

Sharing, updating and adding new knowledge and information is essential for this manual and the attached instructions to retain relevance moving forward.

Below is a link to the Facilitating Resilience blog (for which this project belongs to), where information can be shared in a discussion board, which allows this guidance material to stay as relevant as possibly. Any information you feel is relevant for others to know, whether it concerns technical set up, gardening knowledge or anything else, please feel free to share this information using the link below. Thank you!

www.facilitatingresilience.wordpress. com/student-projects-christopherhall

Produced by Chris Hall in relation to MA Urban Design Project ‘Watch Dalston Grow’ for studio Facilitating Resilience Sheffield School of Architecture

www.facilitatingresilience.wordpress.com