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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.


Elder jam for the Elders (but mostly for the others)

Sep 212012
 

On Sept 19, 2012 I held a jam-making party in the local park as part of the M4 Rakowiec community action project organized by the great people at Odblokuj. We made jam from wild elderberries, wild grapes and Antonówki apples from the garden. Wild fruits of Rakowiec! There were some really sweet old ladies there, but sadly I didn’t get any photos of them.

ELDERBERRIES, WILD GRAPES, AND ANTONÓWKI APPLES

ELDERBERRIES, WILD GRAPES, AND ANTONÓWKI APPLES

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED

CASUAL STIRRING AND A VIGOROUS MASH

CASUAL STIRRING AND A VIGOROUS MASH

A SHOT OF THE POT

A SHOT OF THE POT

THE JAM PASSED THE VAMPIRE TASTE TEST!

THE JAM PASSED THE VAMPIRE TASTE TEST!

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

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.

 

Public food, public eating

May 232012
 

Find and eat food in public! Wild Food on the Escarpment / Dzikie Jedzenie Na Scarpie. Join me for a wild food walk and feast this Sunday, May 27. Behind the National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe), 12:30 and 3:30.

Dzikie jedzenie na Scarpie

Dzikie jedzenie na Scarpie

Poszukaj kulinarnych inspiracji na łace. Spójrz na otaczającą zieleń z zupełnie innej perspektywy i zostań koneserem zieleni(ny). Dołącz do naszej ekspedycji poszukiwawczej, znajdź okazy dzikich roślin jadalnych i użyj ich jako składników potraw.

Początek warsztatu bedzie polegać na eksplorowaniu okolic Parku Marszałka Edwarda Smigłego-Rydza) i poszukiwaniu roślin jadalnych. Następnie przemieścimy się na przepiękną łakę, znajdująca się na tyłach Muzeum Narodowego, gdzie, z zebranej zieleniny, przygotujemy pyszną, wiosenną sałatkę i dzikie naleśniki.

Przewodnikiem po jadalnej łącę bęśdzie Jodie Baltazar

In English:
Look for culinary inspiration in the meadow. Check out the greenery from a completely different perspective and become a connossiur of Greens. Join us for an expedition to find wild edible plants and learn how to use them in cooking.

The workshop will start by exploring the Park Marszałka Edward Smigłego-Rydza looking for edible plants. Then we’ll move to the beautiful meadow behind the National Museum and make a tasty salad and wild pancakes with what we found.

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

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

Foraging in Park Skaryszewki, Warsaw, Poland

Apr 262012
 
Foraging in Plain Sight

Foraging in Plain Sight (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

Great time! So great! The greatest! Cool people, places, kids, sunshine, conversation, walking, cooking, food! My only regret was that I didn’t get to check out the other people who were doing things at the Praga Cultural Center that day.

Here is a list of what we collected and some pictures from our Earth Day Foraging Expedition.

What we collected:
Mlecz  / Dandelion – leaves for salad, flowers for juice
Pokrzywy / Nettles (of course!) – for a salad with parsley, leeks, and walnuts
Babka / Plantago – for salad and also for omelets and pancakes
Wierzba / Willow – young leaves and catkins for salad
Pięczornik Gęsi / Silverweed – leaves
Tasznik / Shepard’s Purse – leaves, flowers, stems
Dziki Szczaw / Wild Sorrel – leaves
Ziarnopłon / Lesser Celandine (A real European plant!!) – leaves, flowers
Koniczyna / Clover – leaves
Krwawnik / Yarrow – young leaves
Podagrzycznik / Ground Elder – leaves
Jasnota róźowa / Dead Nettle – flowers and leaves
Gwiazdnica / Chickweed – flowers and leaves
Bluszcz kurdbanek / Ground Ivy – flowers and leaves

Sławek and I think that Warsaw needs 1) a map of wild edibles, herbs, and medicinal plants in Warsaw, and 2) an online encyclopedia of what these edibles are, what they are used for, in both Polish and English, with photos. Well, until we can figure out how to use Boksoi I am making this map on Google Maps. Here are some photos! Thanks to Centrum Promocji Kultury and my awesome partner Sławek Sendzielski.

Wild Food Walk! Dzikie Jedzenie! Spacer

Wild Food Walk Dzikie Jedzenie Spacer

Foraging in Park Skaryszewski

Foraging in Park Skaryszewski (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

Baby Willow Leaves and Catkins are Edible

Baby Willow Leaves and Catkins are Edible (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

Are Dandelions Really Edible?

Are Dandelions Really Edible? (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

 

Dandelions are Delicious!

Dandelions are Delicious! (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

Our beautiful wild greens salad

Our beautiful wild greens salad (photo: Jodie Baltazar)

Dandelion Juice

Dandelion Juice (photo: Agnieszka Kowalinska)

More Dandelion Juice, Please

More Dandelion Juice, Please (photo: Jodie Baltazar)

Everybody loves to eat wild food!

Everybody loves to eat wild food! (photo: Jodie Baltazar)

Earth Day Foraging Expedition – Sunday April 22

Apr 182012
 
Tasznik - Capsella - Shepard's Purse

Tasznik - Capsella - Shepard's Purse

Are you ready to eat some dandelion (mlecz), nettles (pokrzywy), capsella (tasznik), lime tree leaves (liście lipy), baby sorrel (szczaw), and chickweed (gwiazdnica)? What other treasures will we find to eat in the earliest days of spring?

On Earth Day, Sunday, April 22, at the most wonderful cultural center known as Centrum Promocji Kultury in South Praga, Warsaw, there will be a great day of events. Sławomir Sendzielski and I will be leading a Foraging Expedition in the area the Cultural Center — parks and abandoned spots — looking for greens for an early spring salad. There are also many other activities, such as a Recycling Workshop, Films, Sprout Growing and more. Information (in Polish) here:

http://www.cpk.art.pl/News/view/1820

EXPEDITION at 2-3:30pm
Join us for an expedition to find the wild edible plants of South Praga! We will look for and collect fresh spring plants. Then, back at the Center, we’ll prepare and eat a big, delicious salad! We’ll leave around 2 and return around 3:30. Please bring a bag or basket to collect the goodies, plus a bowl and a fork to eat them with. We will have dressing and homemade bread to accompany it.

EKSPEDYCJA w godz. 14.00-15.30
Dołącz do ekspedycjiw poszukiwaniu jadalnych dzikich roślin na Pradze Południe! Będziemy szukać i zbierać wiosenne świeże rośliny. Potem,w CPK, przygotujemy i zjemy dużą pyszną sałatkę! Wychodzimy o 14.00 i wrócimy około 15.30. Proszę przynieść torbę lub koszyk do zbierania roślin, miskę i widelec,którymi będziesz jeść. Mamy sos do sałatki i chleb domowy!

Apple Bark Dye

Mar 132012
 

Last week during Niedziele na działce (Allotment Sundays), in addition to burning a huge pile of vines and twigs, we used some of the trimmings from the apple tree to make some dye. We also took some cherry bark from the dead cherry tree. Look how beautiful this cherry bark looks:

Cherry Bark from old dead tree

Cherry Bark from old dead tree

For the apple, first we peeled off the bark. It was about 200 g of bark from young branches.

Peeling the apple bark

Peeling the apple bark

I poured boiling water over it and let it sit for five days. After that, I added 200g of mordanted wool (mordanted with Alum), brought to a simmer (80C) for an hour, and then let it cool overnight. Rinse and dry. Here is what it looks like. I think the color is very much like the inside of an apple pie, or like honey. Very nice color.

Apple Bark Dyed Wool

Apple Bark Dyed Wool

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