An Drochaid

The event was a huge success  there were two workshops one jam and chutney making the other willow weaving as part of a rural skills day. Both groups met for lunch and ate homemade cakes and tried the chutneys etc. Everyone had a great day and took their homemade wares home.

 

 

Glasgow Blasda took place at the The Briggait – Glasgow’s iconic former fish market which is now an amazing arts and cultural venue – and which was also open as part of Doors Open Day.

The event kicked off with the opening of two photography exhibitions on Thursday evening – Handmade by Clementine Sandison, which is a body of work created during the Hidden Garden’s Culture Kitchen relay, an epic road trip around Scotland celebrating local food and regional recipes, and Sown by Daniele Sambo, which is a series of temporary light installations in urban void/empty areas which are re-occupied by people, often to grow food.

 The venue looked absolutely amazing due to the hardwork of some very creative people with lots of colour and home made bunting creating the perfect backdrop for a great day to celebrate local food and local communities.

The afternoon kicked off with an avenue of stalls and stands with visitors harvesting a bounty of information and inspiration as well as sowing seeds of great ideas still to grow!!! This was complimented by a series of workshops to allow people to dig a little deeper into some of the issues including demystifying composting, envisioning self-reliance, using wild herbs as food and medicine and the challenge of getting local farm produce into Glasgow.

And for those people who were just popping in to see what was happening they could get stuck in to some creative reuse, learning how to transform everyday unloved household objects into useful and celebratory items.

Or they could ‘map their plot’ as part of the Glasgow Local Food Network online map, which was created to make it easier for people to find out who is growing food locally and where!

And of course if that just seemed like too much effort then people could just chill out and relax in this great venue whilst supping on some delicious coffees and teas and scrumptious cakes (from Tapa Bakehouse)

And then, after lots of talking and listening and sharing and learning and reading and thinking, it was time to get ready for an evening of eating and drinking and laughing and dancing!!

A team of dedicated volunteers went to work preparing for the local food feast and setting up for the ceilidh.

The feast was created using lots of local produce from community gardens and allotments across the city and featured vegan vegetable broth, vegetable quiche, sausages and mash and a pearl barley mushroom and vegetable risotto. This was followed by fruit compote and all washed down by local Kelburn Brewery beers and Cairn O’Mhor fruit wines. The bar was provided by Ethical Events, with support from the Co-operative Membership.

Even an unexpected visit by the local fire brigade (all due to a few steaming potatoes!!) couldn’t dampen the spirits!

The music was provided by the wonderful John Carmichael’s Ceilidh Band who called the dances with an enthusiasm that got everyone Dashing their White Sergants, Waltzing their St Bernard’s and Stripping their Willows with a gusto that The Briggait had surely never seen before!

However all good things must come to an end and soon people were scurrying and lifting and cleaning and stacking as the space was once again returned to a blank canvas, ready for a new day, to tell a new story.

The event would never have happened without the commitment and dedication of a lot of people and organisations, especially the volunteers who made things happen on the day – too many to mention – but your support and efforts are greatly appreciated.

And what next you ask? Well thoughts have already turned to next year and how we can grow from this year. A date is in the diary for a de-brief / initial planning meeting so if you would like to be involved then please get in touch…you can contact the Glasgow Local Food Network on glasgowlocalfood2012@gmail.com and you can also join the Glasgow Local Food Network Facebook group too or check out the Glasgow Local Food Network online map!

Glasgow Blasda was locally produced by the Glasgow Local Food Network including Dumbarton Road Corridor Environment Trust, Ethical Events Scotland, Glasgow Locavore, Greencity Wholefoods, The Hidden Gardens, Oxfam Scotland, SAGE (Sow and Grow Everywhere), Towards Transition Glasgow, Urban Roots, Wasps Studios, Collective Architecture and The Fife Diet

View Glasgow Local Food Network in a larger map

Yesterday was a great afternoon of food sharing and chat at Edinburgh’s Blasda at Out of the Blue. There’s too many people to thank but in the meantime here are a selection of photos and links (see more at our Facebook page here). Also, Ally Tibbit from Greener Leith couldn’t make it but we are creating the Edinburgh Food Map online between now and the Nourish conference.

Ally writes:

As part of the Edinburgh Blasda celebration, we’re making an Edinburgh Food Map with your help. If you know of a good community food project anywhere in Edinburgh please tell us about it using the form below. The information you provide us will then be used to build a community food map of Edinburgh.

Go here to add your local food idea: http://www.greenerleith.org/edinburgh-food-map

It could be an allotment, community garden, great cafe specialising in local food, community food project, orchard, a great spot for brambles or whatever you want- add it in!

Yesterday was such a good day – here’s some of what was going on. We had good bread from Breadshare Community Bakery (find out all about them here)…This is such a good project that combines community-building and really great bread and baking (!)

Wonderful chat and cheese from Phoebe Weller, Scotland’s finest Fromagière – exploring a Scottish terroir with wit and wisdom…(see Vive le Cheese here).

Great to have Sunshine on Leith garden (plus Granton Community Garden too)  see more here.

So good to have wild drinks to taste and experiment with. These were brought to us by Anna Canning and friends from Flora Medica: reconnecting people with food, wild nature and plantlife, community medicine. See all about them here. It sometimes seems peripheral but it’s vital that we can reconnect and regain some natural control over our health and wellbeing.

Absolutely brilliant to have the Leith World Kitchen along demonstrating three different ways with potatoes via Spain, India and Africa. Find out more about them here.

Finally, lots of people talked about what a brilliant space the Drill Hall is, check out their activities and events here.

Just one of the highlights is Phoebe Weller (Roving Fromagière) on the proliferation of quality artisan cheese-making and traditions they’re drawing on. Come along for a taste of the best cheese in Scotland. SCOTTISH CHEESEBOARD 5.00 – 6.00 pm

“Lanark Blue is Scottish Roquefort. Master cheesemaker Humphrey Errington uses the same breed of sheep and the same process as Roquefort, but his Lacaune sheep are fed and watered by the warm(ish) wet conditions of Southern Lanarkshire. You can taste the lanadscape in the cheese: the white of the cheese is more characterful than its’ French counterpart, whilst the blue is more peppery and chewy. It has the depth and bitter edge that is characteristic of all modern Scottish cheese.”

Workshops – 2-6pm – the programme for the afternoon has now been finalised and is as follows…

There will be a drop-in Creative Reuse Zone where you can learn how to transform everyday unloved household objects into useful and celebratory items – all ages welcome – and a drop-in post-Olympic sprint through the whys and hows of growing your own food.

There are more details on the workshop flyer GlasgowBlasda_WorkshopDetails.

There will also be a photo exhibition and a chance to have a cuppa and a good ol’ chat about food in and around Glasgow! More details on the event flyer GlasgowBlasda_Flyer_Final

Evening Food Feast - 6-8pm – if you’ve got a ticket then great – if not then we’re sorry to say that the tickets for the local food feast are SOLD OUT! However…

Ceilidh - 8-10pm – there are still tickets available for the ceilidh and they only cost £3 per person and will be available on the door! Music will be provided by the wonderful John Carmichael’s Ceilidh Band! So get your dancing shoes on and get on down to…

Venue – the event will take place on Saturday 15 September in the The Briggait – Glasgow’s iconic former fish market which is now an amazing arts and cultural venue.

Contact details – if you’re interested in helping out with the preparations for #GlasgowBlasda, we’d love to hear from you: glasgowlocalfood2012@gmail.com You can also join the Glasgow Local Food Network Facebook group for updates.

Locally produced – Glasgow Blasda has been bought to you by the Glasgow Local Food Network including:

• Dumbarton Road Corridor Environment Trust
• Ethical Events Scotland
• Glasgow Locavore
• Greencity Wholefoods
• The Hidden Gardens
• Oxfam Scotland
• SAGE (Sow and Grow Everywhere)
• Towards Transition Glasgow
• Urban Roots
• Wasps Studios
• Collective Architecture
• and The Fife Diet