Sunday, August 28, 2011

I'm a gardener now, me.

Since a couple of weeks I've been busy doing some gardening. Where? On a roof top about ten minutes away from where I live. It's a roof garden with grass, a white fence, wonky tables and chairs and even a bar. My personal oasis where I can flee to when need a break from my intense relationship with my laptop.
We are about a dozen of volunteers who grow all sorts of things, from green beans, courgettes, broccoli, chard, rhubarb, kale, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broad beans, peas, grapes, all different varieties of lettuce - from green to red, herbs, kohlrabi, strawberries, gooseberries and red and black currants, radish, leeks, you name it. And some flowers, too.

I've taken over the herb section with sage, mint, coriander, thyme, rosmary, basil, loveage, camomile and parsley. I will plant some oregano, I decided and we have some red basil somewhere in the garden, too.
Usually we meet up on Thursdays for a garden session with the gardener who would give advice on what to plant where and what needs to be done. Some of us are advanced and some are beginners. Every now and then, we will get together on Sundays, do some work first, then heat the barbeque and eat until nobody can move anymore. Of course we'll have some of our lettuce.
A greek-style salad I had yesterday, with lettuce from the garden, plus olives, tomatoes, cucumber, flat parsley, dressed with walnut oil and sherry vinegar.

The company who owns the place runs events in the summer, if it rains, there's an inflatable roof which makes it rather cosy. I've been to an event (band and movie) last Thursday and it was rather nice.


This is how the bar-area looks like, don't ask me why that pole is there, it wasn't there today. It's lit by coloured lights - even if it's not really coming across in this picture.
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

The inflatable roof, a band playing.

It's a good alternative to the crowded pubs, in the 'fresh' air of London, high enough to see Canaray Warf and the Gherkin or even Center Point and it's a special place to me.



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