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Jadalnia Warszawa #2: May 19 @ 12.00

May 182013
 

JADALNIA WARSZAWA WALK #2We had so much fun last week on our first walk, that before we’ve even documented it properly, we want to do it again. So, although it’s a bit late notice, please join us TOMORROW, Sunday 19.05, at 12.00 at the PKP Służewiec bus stop (north side). We’ll walk along the tracks and end up on Gimnastyczna street for some sweets, homemade jam and wild tea (black currant, mint). If you need to join in the middle of the walk, please call 796 532 208 (Jodie), 790 025 145 (Paulina)

We will be meeting here.

Najbliższy spacer niedziela 19.05 o godz. 12. Spotkanie na wiadukcie Marynarska/Sasanki, na przystanku autobusowym PKP Służewiec w stronę Żwirki i Wigury. Spacerując będziemy się posuwać wzdłuż torów kolejowych w stronę osiedla Marina. Spacer zakończymy w ogrodzie na ul. Gimnastycznej, dokąd zapraszamy na ciastka z dżemem z czarnych porzeczek i miętą.Kontakt: 796 532 208 (Jodie), 790 025 145 (Paulina).

Jadalnia Warszawa #1: Report

May 162013
 

Jadalnia Warszawa MAP 01

We started the journey on a sidewalk of magic carpets.

Carpet Sidewalk

Under our feet, a strange patch of red. Amaranth, perhaps? It seems to me somebody might have spilled her groceries here, but how many people actually eat amaranth seeds?

Intentional Amaranth?

Behind a mass of growth looms a mysterious house, one of three pre-war houses in Rakowiec. This was and shall be known as My Dream House.

Dream House

Before we even start walking, The Usual Suspects present themselves: Ground Ivy, Ground Elder, Chickweed, Grapes, Clover, Nettles, Dead Nettles. There will be more of these suspects later. I notice a strange red bamboo-like plant which I know now is called Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant that came to Europe in the 19th century. I’m sad that it’s not real bamboo.

Japanese Knotweed

[[ incomplete transmission ..... more to come ]]

Jadalnia Warszawa #1: Warm-up walk SUNDAY MAY 12 @ 12

May 092013
 

JADALNIA WARSZAWA

We kindly invite you to help us launch a long-term project to create an alternative map of  Warsaw (in particular Ochota and Mokotów), focusing on its edible plants and trees, soil health, as well as on how public space is used for marginal human and animal activity. On this first walk we’ll experiment with methods of data collection and help identify the most edible/useful plants and trees one can find in Warsaw.

WHERE TO MEET:
The walk will start here, near where Żwirki i Wigury crosses the railroad tracks (the address is approximately 25 Żwirki i Wigury) between Ochota and Mokotów. We will walk here on the path (Mikołaja Drigały) towards Grójecka. After the walk, we’ll go to Pixxe’s garden and drink teas made from black currant leaves, and taste some homemade elderflower cordials and wine.

The walk starts at NOON on Sunday, May 12. It will last between 2-3 hours and is approximately 1.6 km. Please call 796 532 208 if you need to locate the group after the walk has begun.

WHAT TO BRING:
Paper, pencil, smart phone, camera, video camera.

JADALNIA WARSZAWA (Warsaw Canteen) is an exploratory map-making project to investigate and mark sites for wild food, fruits, bioindicators, and the traces of land use by humans and animals as a means to understand and assess the health of our city. It is a long-term project originated and implemented by Jodie Baltazar and Paulina Jeziorek and consists of a series of urban walks/hikes which take place from May until October 2013.

We use all means of data collection: marking directly on paper copies of maps, adding date through mobile phones to google.pl and fallingfruit.org, recording media information, such as audio, photographs, video etc. As the project progresses, we will store information on a website and develop new ways we to present the information/images as the project progresses.

The aim of walks will be:

Mapping the Neighborhood: Exploration of urban space; creating maps of urban food crops such as fruit trees and shrubs, edible flowers, herbs, medicinal plants, and plants used for dyeing fabrics. By identifying specific plants that grow on the land, we can assess the type and health of soil. We also collect information on unoccupied buildings, abandoned plots, as wells as temporary structures and signs and traces of consumption and human subsistence activity (trash, eating, fires).

Monitoring of soil: While walking, we will collect soil samples from selected sites and transmit it to the laboratory. We may also conduct other tests of the soil as to its structure and composition. In this way we will be able to assess which of the sites are suitable for harvesting crops. The data will be used to scrutinize the stereotypes about growing food in the city as well as urban consumption of edible plants.


Soil Garden Project in Pictures

Aug 232012
 

2 Bikes. 2 Bike Carts. 5 Days. Nance Klehm, Jodie Baltazar and A BUNCH of other cool women, plus a few good men. 15,000 liters of waste. THIS was the SOIL GARDEN PROJECT! (And it’s not over! Every other Saturday we will continue…..) Photos by Nance Klehm, Jodie Baltazar, and Jen Knowlton.

EMPTY BINS AWAIT THE WASTE

EMPTY BINS AWAIT THE WASTE

BROWNS FOR COMPOSTING - STRAW, WOODCHIPS

BROWNS FOR COMPOSTING - STRAW, WOODCHIPS

FIRST WE TAKE THE BINS TO BANACHA MARKET

FIRST WE TAKE THE BINS TO BANACHA MARKET

IT'S NOT LONG BEFORE THE BINS ARE FULL

IT'S NOT LONG BEFORE THE BINS ARE FULL

WE LOAD UP THE CARTS WITH VEGETABLE SCRAPS AND CARDBOARD

WE LOAD UP THE CARTS WITH VEGETABLE SCRAPS AND CARDBOARD

WE RIDE TO THE GARDEN WITH THE PRECIOUS LOAD

WE RIDE TO THE GARDEN WITH THE PRECIOUS LOAD

WE CAN'T RESIST THE GARBAGE IN THE CARREFOUR BINS

WE CAN'T RESIST THE GARBAGE IN THE CARREFOUR BINS

THERE'S SO MUCH CABBAGE WE DECIDE TO CALL IT CABBAGE COMPOST

THERE'S SO MUCH CABBAGE WE DECIDE TO CALL IT CABBAGE COMPOST

WE TOP THE CABBAGE WITH STRAW, CARDBOARD, PAPER

WE TOP THE CABBAGE WITH STRAW, CARDBOARD, PAPER

IN THE AFTERNOONS NANCE LEADS WORKSHOPS ABOUT COMPOSTING

IN THE AFTERNOONS NANCE LEADS WORKSHOPS ABOUT COMPOSTING

THE FIRST THING IN THE NEW BIN: WOODCHIPS & CHUNKY YARD CLIPPINGS

THE FIRST THING IN THE NEW BIN: WOODCHIPS & CHUNKY YARD CLIPPINGS

HERE IS SOME WASTE FROM BANACHA THAT WILL GO IN THE BIN

HERE IS SOME WASTE FROM BANACHA THAT WILL GO IN THE BIN

BUT FIRST WE HAVE TO RIP THE WASTE

BUT FIRST WE HAVE TO RIP THE WASTE

AND WE HAVE TO CHOP THE WASTE

AND WE HAVE TO CHOP THE WASTE

SO MUCH TO CHOP. EVERYONE GETS A GO!

SO MUCH TO CHOP. EVERYONE GETS A GO!

SOME OF US PREPARE THE CARDBOARD

SOME OF US PREPARE THE CARDBOARD

THE TRANSLATOR DOES AN AWESOME JOB!! THANKS STAN!!

THE TRANSLATOR DOES AN AWESOME JOB!! THANKS STAN!!

NEXT WE ADD SOME HERBS LIKE VETCH....

NEXT WE ADD SOME HERBS LIKE VETCH....

...AND WHY NOT THROW IN SOME DANDELION???

...AND WHY NOT THROW IN SOME DANDELION???

NEXT WE MAKE SOME COMPOST TEA

NEXT WE MAKE SOME COMPOST TEA

ALL THAT WASTE AND THE BINS ARE STILL ONLY HALF FULL - WOW!

ALL THAT WASTE AND THE BINS ARE STILL ONLY HALF FULL - WOW!

Od odpady do źyzności: Rejestruj na warsztaty

Aug 082012
 

Nance KlehmCykl Warsztatów: OD ODPADY DO ŹYZNOŚCI
prowadzenie Nance Klehm

ENGLISH BELOW

UWAGA: Nastąpiła zmiana w planie warsztatów. Sobota będzie “Otwarte warsztat.” Warsztat w niedzielę (Dlaczego i jak budować toalety kompostujące w mieście)  również zawierać temat “ekstremalny kompost na ekstremalne czasy.”

Pozwól zgnić, czyli jak kompostować odpady organiczne
Piątek, 17 sierpnia, godz.: 15.00-17.00. Sugerowana dotacja: 30 PLN.
Liście, resztki jedzenia, papier, tektura, gałęzie, fusy, biodegradowalne przedmioty itp. Te rzeczy mogą zostać zamienione w ziemię, ale jak to zrobić? Na tym warsztacie będziecie mogli zadawać wszystkie pytania dotyczące “brudu” i sami też będziecie mogli się pobrudzić w trakcie budowy stosu organicznych odpadów. Zarejestruj się w tym warsztacie

Otwarte Warsztat
Sobota, 18 sierpnia , godz.15.00-17.00. Sugerowana dotacja: 30 PLN.
W tym warsztaty, zdedycujemy co zrobimy na miejscu. Możliwe tematów: vermicomposting, przemyślenia przestrzeń publiczną. Zarejestruj się w tym warsztacie

Dlaczego i jak budować toalety kompostujące w mieście
Niedziela, 19 sierpnia, godz.15.00-17.00. Sugerowana dotacja: 30 PLN.
Rozpoznaj w swoim ciele twórcę gleby. Dowiedz się, jak zbudować i prowadzić prostą suchą toaletę dostosowaną do gęstego, miejskiego otoczenia. Po dyskusji pokażemy, jak za pomocą termofilnego kompostowania przekształcić twoje odpady (i inne odpady zakazanego n.p. mięso, tłuszcz, i produktów mlecznych) w życiodajną glebę.. Zarejestruj się w tym warsztacie

Rozpoznaj rośliny w swoim mieście
Poniedziałek, 20 sierpnia, godz.15.00-17.00. Sugerowana dotacja: 30 PLN.
Spacer odkrywający roślinność Warszawy, podczas którego będziemy mogli nauczyć się rozpoznawać rośliny, poznać ich botaniczne pochodzenie, historie wykorzystania ich przez ludzi i zwierzęta, a także podzielimy się przepisami na antidotum z wykorzystaniem niektórych z nich. Zarejestruj się w tym warsztacie

PARTNERS:
Ulica ekologicznaSocial Ecologies


 

 

 

**************** IN ENGLISH *****************

NOTICE: There has been a change in the workshop schedule. Saturday there will be an Open Workshop. The composting toilet and extreme composting workshops will be combined and take place on Sunday.

Workshop Series: FROM WASTE TO FERTILITY
Conducted by Nance Klehm

Let it Rot 101: Composting organic waste
Friday August 17, 15.00-17.00. Suggested donation: 30 PLN.
Leaves, food waste, paper, cardboard, branches, coffee grounds, biodegradable utensils, etc. These are all things that we know can become soil but how to do it? This workshop is the place to get dirty and ask those dirty questions as we discuss and build a mesophilic compost pile out of organic wastes from Warsaw’s waste stream. Register for this workshop

Open Workshop
Saturday August 18, 15.00-17.00. Suggested donation: 30 PLN.
We will decide on the theme and activity on the spot, depending on who is there and what we want to do! Possible themes: vermicomposting, rethinking public space, or another foraging expedition. Register for this workshop

Dry toileting in an urban setting: the whys and hows
Sunday August 19, 15.00-17.00. Suggested donation: 30 PLN.
Reconnect with your body as a soilmaker! Find out how to build and operate a simple dry toilet appropriate to a dense urban setting. We will also discuss and demonstrate how to safely compost your waste, as well as other extreme waste such as meat, fat, and dairy products, through thermophilic composting into nutritious, life-supporting soil. Register for this workshop

Urbanforage
Monday August 20 15.00-17.00. Suggested donation: 30 PLN.
This is a guided walk through
 the spontaneous and cultivated vegetation of Warsaw’s urbanscape. Along the walk, we learn to identify plants, hear their botanical histories, stories of their use by animals and humans, and share antidotes of specific experiences with these plants. Register for this workshop

Pixxe’s new garden

Aug 012012
 
Pixxe Garden - Public Entrance

Pixxe Garden - Public Entrance

Pixxe has a new garden! It has been given the most original name: PIXXE GARDEN. It’s located in Rakowiec on the border of Szczęśliwice in Ochota, Warsaw, Poland.  GPS 52.198990, 20.967910, to be precise. We still have the Railroad Garden, but the main activities will now take place at the Pixxe Garden.

It will be open to the public for the upcoming SOIL GARDEN PROJECT, but there is an awful lot of work to do to make it ready for more ambitious activities. I’m hoping that with this new, more accessible, and less primitive garden (for example, it has water), we will be able to open up on a more regular basis by next spring. As such, Allotment Sunday / Niedziele na działce won’t be happening for awhile — it will be more like Codzienne na działce — everyday at the garden! So if you want to stop by, please let me know. Everyone is always welcome and there is always something to do.

Though the Pixxe Garden is not squatted, it also sort-of is. I thought I was beginning to understand how the allotment gardens work here, but now I have discovered a whole new in-between type of garden, called tymczasowy, or temporary. The Pixxe Garden is tymczasowy.

As I have written about before, there are “official” gardens (the Rodzinny Ogród Działkowy or ROD / Family Garden Allotments) and then there are “unofficial” gardens, like the Railroad Garden, which is basically a squat. ROD are gated communities. You must be a member and have a key to gain access. What is interested about temporary gardens like the Pixxe Garden is that sometimes they are located WITHIN an ROD, but are legally “unofficial”. This particular stretch of land abuts an “official” ROD and was taken by people in 1980. They have been temporary for 32 years! So the Pixxe Garden has one “Public” entrance, on Racławicka, and one “Private” entrance from within the ROD Zelmot. This dual status suits me well. I like being in between. And afterall, the city owns the land in any case!

Soil Garden Project – Call for Participation

Jul 262012
 

DOWNLOAD THIS CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

SOIL GARDEN - CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

From August 17-22,  NANCE KLEHM, an ecological systems designer, will be in Warsaw to help conduct Pixxe’s SOIL GARDEN PROJECT! Right now we are looking for volunteers.

The Soil Garden Project will cultivate soil from waste. Using bicycles we will collect and compost organic waste such as food scraps, coffee grounds, cardboard, yard trimmings, and so on from residents, businesses, organizations, and public institutions in the Warsaw neighborhood of Ochota (Rakowiec/Szczęśliwice). We aim to process 8-10,000 liters of waste during the project and turn it into humus for the 2013 growing season. Ongoing, we hope to process up to 1,000 liters per week.

During the project three WORKSHOPS will be lead by Nance: a Soil/compost workshop, a Composting toilet workshop, and an Urban Forage event. An Urban Feast will close the project.

Currently we are LOOKING FOR PARTICIPANTS: Planners, Waste Donors, Waste Collectors, Waste Processors, Workshop Participants, and Filmmakers.

Please contact Pixxe at pixxe.org@gmail.com or call Jodie at 48 796 532 208.

Share this call! DOWNLOAD THIS CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Collecting Water from the Old Ones

Jul 132012
 
Collecting jurassic water

Collecting Water from the Old Ones

In Warsaw, there are public water wells called Woda oligoceńska. Oligocene water. The Oligocene Period, I’ve learned since, occurred about 30 million years ago. Basically these are very deep wells, running more than 200m (650 ft) deep. They are housed in cute little buildings, and because it took me two years to be able to say oligoceńska, I always called them Dom wody, Water House. (But when I said Water House, not one person had any idea what I was talking about.) One can take the water all year. In the winter, you go into the house. In the summer, you tap the faucets on the outside of the house, as seen above.

In my neighborhood there are three such wells, though sadly, one of them has been closed for several months. We do not buy water. We go to the well. It tastes delicious. Someone else told me that her grandmother warned, “You must boil the water from the well before you drink it.” This never occurred to me. Two years and I’m still living, so I guess it’s O.K….

Because there is no water at the Railroad Garden, and no structure to catch it from, I haul it from the well. It’s about 2 or 3 blocks.  I used to use my bike, on which I could carry eight 5-liter bottles: three on the front, three on the back, and two on each handlebar. Now, I have a wheelbarrow and can carry 60 l (15 gallons). My arms are bulging. Soon I should have a bike cart and I’ll be able to carry 90 l (24 gallons). One liter of water weighs one kilogram. Brilliant, that.

One time an old lady came in and asked me, “Is it yellow or white?” White meant the water was good. It was white.

Elderflower wine, part 1

Jun 162012
 
Elderflower Wine Must

Elderflower Wine Must

I have been doing a lot of experiments with Elderflowers, starting on May 27, when I made some Elderflower cordial for the wild food walk on the Warsaw Escarpment. My friends Wojtek and Aneta posted the recipe here in Polish and English. They made some with honey and mixed it with Krupnik. It was fantastic.

Now I’ve decided to make some wine and champagne before the flowers are gone, but it will be a long time before I know if it worked or not. I collected all the flowers from my neighborhood Rakowiec/Ochota and some close by in Mokotów.

Step 1 is to prepare the must. I’ve made two batches — one will be wine and one champagne.  In the first experiment I let the flowers soak for four days, and then added the rest of the stuff. In the second I mixed all the ingredients and let it soak. They don’t have the same ingredients.

Experiment 1

Day 1-4: Soak 500 ml of flowers, zest of 2 lemons in 4.5 l of boiled spring water
Day 5: Add campden tablet & wait 24 hours at room temperature
Day 6: Add 1 kg of sugar, juice of 2 lemons, 1 packet EC-1118 wine yeast
Put in the basement (20C). When wine is at BRIX 7 /SG 1.03, move to demijohn.

Experiment 2

Day 1: Soak 500 ml flowers with sugar, rind and juice of 2 lemons, 250 g white raisins, 4.5 l of hot boiled water with 1/2 cup of strong green tea and 1.3 kg of sugar
Day 2: add 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 1.25 tsp SN9 wine yeast
One day at room temperature, then move to basement (20C). When wine is at BRIX 7/SG 1.03, move to demijohn.

 

Eating my back yard / What is the stuff?

May 212012
 
My Backyard

My Backyard

One thing I love about this place is that noone is too quick to mow the greens. It’s May 21 and it has yet to be mowed. But, it won’t be long, so today I decided to explore the wilderness that is my backyard and see what kind of edible treasures I could find. It’s a strip between the building and the street.
Field of Wild Turnip

Field of Wild Turnip


The best thing I found was a patch of Wild Turnip, Brassica Rapa. Sadly, this patch will probably be chopped down, so I’ll never get to eat the roots. The leaves & flowers were delicious, though.

Wild Turnip Flower

Wild Turnip Flower


A close-up picture of the flower.

Wild Turnip Leaves

Wild Turnip Leaves


A picture of the leaves.

Chickweed

Chickweed


I found some chickweed hiding under a bush. They were so sweet and crunchy.

I also found Shepard’s Purse (Tasznik), which can be found just about everywhere, Ground Ivy (Bluszcz kurdybanek), Yellow Dock (Szczaw kędzierzawy), and something I can’t figure out. I thought it was Good King Henry, but it’s leaves aren’t the right shape. It has a red stem. What is it? Amaranth? Some other Goosefoot? Here is a patch of the stuff:

Patch of the Stuff

Patch of the Stuff

Buds of the stuff

Buds of the stuff

Leaves of the stuff

Leaves of the stuff

Stem of the stuff

Stem of the stuff

WHAT IS THE STUFF?

And later, continuing…. Sławek suggests it is Rumex patientia, and I’m inclined to agree. Patience Dock? It seems to be a close relative of Yellow Dock or Rumex crispus. On the patientia, the stem is redder, the buds tighter, and the leaves broader. Here is the specimen of Yellow Dock I found in the backyard.

Rumex crispus

Rumex crispus

The Mystery of the Lock

May 012012
 

After six months, I finally did something about the lock. Something brilliant. If you didn’t know, last October someone cut the chain and put on their own lock.

I didn’t want to do anything destructive. For over a year, with the exception of cutting down some trees, most of what I’ve done here is constructive: fixing and building. So I was hesitant to break the lock or the chain. When I first arrived, there was a chain, but no lock. My gentlemanly neighbor told me the owner died fifteen years ago.

At first I thought that I would make two gates, but we thought of a better idea: two locks.

Two Locks

So now both of us can get in. The mystery man and I. As you can see, my lock is the weakling.

Edible Warsaw, a Map

Apr 302012
 

Edible Warsaw, a mapWe have started to make a collaborative map of edibles in Warsaw, Poland. It’s located here. If you would like to collaborate on it, please contact me.

Będziemy skartografowali mapa Warszawy, która wykazuje rośliny jadalne! Tutaj jest. Chętnie zapraszam wspólpracę, proszę mi kontaktować.

Here are the map icons (from this very nice site).

Leafy Green Weeds

Vegetable or root

Fruit Trees

Nut or Other Trees

Berries or Grapes

Edible Flower

Medicinal Plant

Mushroom

Fish

Water Well

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