GROW WARWICK
FUTURE FOODSCAPES
for
an alternative university experience Imagine a campus where everything around you is edible…where you could pick fresh herbs for lunch outside the entrance of a lecture hall …cut a salad on your way home, collect fruit from the trees or vegetables from the patch in front of your residency, grab a handful of beans or a kiwi as you get on your bike…
f
« aced with a sytem which
confiscates the rights of
people to nourish themselves,
the act of tending one’s garden is one of political, legitimate and peaceful resistance»
Pierre Rabhi
agroforest groves
edible flower beds
an elegantly landscaped place of learning ///:::::::
-
how
how
how
how
how
how
how
how
many students work on campus ?
many teaching and support staff work on campus ?
many people live on campus ?
many nations/cultures are represented and in what quantities ?
many of these people know how to grow their own food ?
many of these people eat fresh food daily ?
big is the university ?
much space is left after you take off the buildings and the sports and leisure
- how many people could this amount of land feed if it was all turned over to fruit,
vegetables and starch crops ?
- how much growing space could you add if you included the roofs, balconies and walls
of the existing buildings ? or if we planted climbing fruit and veg on structures built
over all the car and bike parks ?
- how many restaurants/cafés/food shops are on campus ?
- how much fresh food do they import onto campus ?
- how much dry food, or basic ingredients, do they import onto campus ? - how much
processed food ?
- what are the transport costs for the food they import ?
- what are their costs for the subsequent recycling and transporting of waste material?
- what do each of the cafés actually do with their green waste ? - do they all have a
compost bins ?
- what percentage of local food do they sell ? what type of produce is it ?
- how far away, in miles, do these products come from ?
- would these outlets be prepared to stock some or all of their fresh produce, from
food grown on campus ?
- if not, why not ?
- if their answer is «yes, in principal, but…» what laws or university regulations
would have to be changed in order for food grown on campus to be sold there ?
- how many people does it take to maintain the green spaces on campus today?
- how many people (professionals and students/staff) would it take to maintain a
- could all the food grown on campus be available for free for those living or working
on site ?
- could we have an entirely edible campus created on principles of community
engagement, shared resources and hands-on-learning...?
definition///:::
edible, colourful and stunning …here are some of the many beautiful blooms for showy central campus borders that are also delicious !
• Queensland arrowroot Canna indica
sweet starchy rhizomes, delicious in soups, mashed or roasted in the oven
• Mashua Tropaeolum tuberosum
originated in the Andes, roots are eaten mashed, roasted or fried
• Dahlia Dahlia spp
sweet and crunchy roots eaten roasted like parsnips
• Borage Borago officinalis
annual herb with edible leaves and beautiful star shaped flowers
• Quinoa Chenopodium quinoa
brightly coloured, high yielding, both grains and leaves are edible
• Asparagus peas Lotus tetragonolobus
pretty red flowers and delicious beans harvested when young
• Day lilies Hemerocallis
flowers can be eaten raw – crunchy in salads, in fritters like elderflowers, or even once they’ve wilted, tossed in stir-fries
• Globe artichokes Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus
cultivated version of the thistle, flower buds can be eaten before bloom, boiled, with vinaigrette
• Cardoons Cynara cardunculus
the wild version of artichokes, the heads just as edible but also the stems. wonderfully sculptural for mixed borders • Orpines or Stonecrops / Sedum spectabile/Sedum telephium
leaves are crunchy with a slightly acid tang - a great addition to salads (all Sedum leaves are edible)
• Sweet Cicely Myrrhis odorata
renowned for its aniseed taste and fragrance.
• Chinese dogwood Cornus cousa var. chinensis
ornamental tree, fruits eaten raw or cooked
• Autumn olive Eleagnus umbellata
shrub with masses of edible berries - for all those windbreak hedges round campus
root vegetables over at Rootes
definition///:::
a farming system combining trees and shrubs with crops and livestock ; either with single rows of closely spaced trees or hedge species, or trees or shrubs planted in wide strips. The trees can provide nutrients, in leaf form to the crop, or can have a purely productive role, providing fruits, nuts, etc. while, at the same time, protecting nearby crops from soil erosion and harmful winds.
smallholdings
Whitebeams
Sorbus
aria
around
Whitefields
questions i have asked myself while walking over
definition///:::
small scale garden «farms» surrounding all student housing units for the planting and harvesting on their doorstep, by residents, of perennial vegetables, fruit canes and herbs along polyculture/permaculture/organic farming principles. • Strawberries Fragaria spp chiloensis, vesca
• Groundcover Rasberry Rubus tricolor
• Sea Beet Beta vulgaris
• Broccoli, Collards, Kale Brassica oleracea botyris group
• Rhubarb Rheum spp
• Wild Rocket Eruca Selvatica • Sweet Potato Ipomoea batatas
• Asparagus Asparagus officinalis
• Egyptian Onion Allium cepa proliferum group
• French Scorzonera Reichardia picroides • Goji Berry Lyceum barbarum
• Lemon Balm Melissa offiinalis
• Fennel Foeniculum vulgaris
• Skirret Sium sisarum
• Lemon Verbena Aloysia citrodora
underplanted orchards
definition///:::
large orchards of mixed fruit trees underplanted with herbaceous layers made up of edible perennials and self seeding annuals eg : garlic, chives, egyptian walking onion, ramps, tagetes, carrots, daylilies, camas, purple-flowered comfrey, clover, cardoon, artichokes and nasturtiums, producing a very healthy poly-culture, which would mimic a natural woodland edge. Flock of sheep to maintain grassed areas and free range chickens.
well why not?
«I believe it is impossible to feed the entire university population with the food that could potentially be produced on campus. Even more than a matter of farming method (organic,
conventional, permaculture, agroforestry, etc.), I believe it is an
issue of diet. The difference between the land needed to feed the
population using organic as opposed to conventional methods is
much smaller than the difference between the land needed to
feed an omnivorous population, compared to a vegan population.»
Carla Sarrouy
ancient woodlands
definition///:::
existing forests dating back to 1600 or before, Tocil and Cryfield woods.
Sarah Harper
beehives definition///:::
bzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzz zzz zzzzzzzzzz
can use.)
HOPE
2
courtyard A CURIOUS SALAD
• Borage Borago officinalis
• Winter Purslane Claytonia perfoliata • Musk mallow Malva moschata
• Mashua Leaves Tropaeolum tropaeolum
• Red Veined Sorrel Rumex sanguineus
• Egyptian walking onion Allium cepa Profilerum
• Garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata
• Goji berries Lyceum barbarum
3
courtyard COLOMBO
• Amaranth, (Calalloo, Dhata) Amaranthus caudatus
cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable throughout the tropics and in many warm temperate regions. • Hamburg parsley P. crispum radicosum group
common in central and eastern European cuisine, used in soups and stews, or eaten raw, as a snack • Tasmanian mountain pepper Tasmannia lanceolata aka Drimys lanceolata - berries and leaves. Withstands temperatures as low as -15°C
• Yard-long beans Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis vigorous climbing vine, subtropical/tropical. Cooked in chinese and west indian stirfries • Japanese Hardy GingerZingiber mioga (2 crops a year)
• Cardamom Elettaria cardamom
watercress beds
definition///:::
a boggy area which floods regularly to be turned over to watercress beds and bog loving aromatics
• Watercress Nasturtium officinale
• Thai Basil Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora
• Vietnamese Fish Mint Houttuynia cordata
• Sweet Galingale Cyperus longus
• Wasabi Wasabia japonica
4 courtyard KIWANO SALSA
• African Horned Cucumber Cucumis metuliferus
green, jelly-like flesh with a tart taste, texture similar to cucumber
• Jalapeno pepper Capsicum annuum
• Coriander Coriandrum sativum
• Red onion «Rossa di Tropea» Allium cepa
AND a pineapple from the polytunnels for the Salsa !
5
courtyard HARIRA MARRAKCHIA • Kidney beans Phaseolus vulgaris
• Chili pepper Capsicum annuum
• Cumin Cuminum cyminum
• Saffron Crocus sativus
• Strawberry spinach Chenopodium capitatum
«To forget how to dig
the earth and to tend
the soil is to forget
ourselves.»
Ghandi
wild food already on campus you could forage for...if you know where to look : clover, daisies, dandelion, nettles, elderflower, grow all over and can be eaten fresh, dried, in soups, stews, salads and infusions
vinecrops on bicycle definition///:::
sheds
«We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of
thinking that we used when we made them.»
Albert Einstein
free-for-all allotments corridor
mushroom farms
1
courtyard GUMBO
• Black-eye beans Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata
Consumed in many parts of the world, has high nutritional value and as a legume, it adds nitrogen to the soil.
• Carolina allspice Calycanthus floridus
• Okra Abelmoschus esculentus
• Maize «Popcorn» Zea mays everta, maïs à éclater, maïs perlé
• Garlic Allium sativum
AND a chicken from orchards for Chicken Gumbo !
Cover all the existing bike sheds with perennial climbers :
• Grapes Vitis spp.,
• Kiwis Actinidia arguta
• Yams / Air Potatoes Dioscorea spp.,
• Groundnuts Apios americana
• Hops Humulus lupulus
«The issues around food systems are not black and white, and people can have significant misconceptions or see complex issues simplistically. The question about food miles, for example, is not just about the distance food travels, but rather about the impact of food
production on a place environmentally, economically and socially. Local food can offer an answer, but not the answer. Local food can
brighten our diet and enhance community, but it cannot feed a city.»
Rosemary Collier
definition///:::
a pre-dug corridor planted with leguminous green manure* running right across the campus ready for anyone to claim a strip and plant it up…with whatever juicy veg they fancy. (* such as clover or vetch that fix atmospheric nitrogen in a form that plants definition///:::
mushroom production in «farms» using logs, compost beds
or straw, installed on the shady, damp floors of the existing
woodland areas.
Slimy spikes, Dusty waxy caps, Trumpet chanterelles, Inkstain
Boletes, Goliath webcaps, Oilslick brittlegills, Bare-toothed
russulas …
spice kitchen courtyards
definition///:::
a series of sheltered spaces right on central campus for experimenting with herbs, spices and exotic crops not traditionally grown in the UK
polytunnel domes
definition///:::
protected growing areas, structured into domes and corridors, some «walk-through» linking central university buildings. Structures providing warmer temperatures for half-hardy or mediterranean produce (aubergines, cucumbers, peppers, lemons, chillies and tomatoes) and an extended growing season for tender herbs such as basil and coriander, year-round salads, early crops of carrots etc forest gardens
aromaquatic water edges
definition///:::
Thank you to the following individuals, departments and organizations
who helped make Future Foodscapes: Grow Warwick possible:
Robert Batterbee, Roger Boxall, Jayne Brown, Dave Chandler, Elizabeth
Dowler, Richard Doogan, Sarah Goler, Luke Harrison, Tony Howard,
Amy Howes, Barbara Kenny, Robert Lillywhite, Suzanne Matthews,
Chris Maughan, Emma O’Brien, Ian O’Donoghue, Emily Peverelle, Mark
Potter, Howard Potts, Yvonne Reddick, Ben Richardson, Alan Rivett,
Sarah Shalgosky, David Shuker, Ken Sloan, Nigel Thrift, George Ttoouli,
Sarah Wall, Tim White, Robert Wilson, Allotment Society, Department
of Theatre and Performance Studies, Estates Office, Estates team at
the Wellesbourne Campus, Food Co-Op, Food GRP, Garden Organic,
Horticultural Services (School of Life Sciences), Sea Spring Seeds,
Stirman family, Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick Crop Centre (School of
Life Sciences), Warwick Retail and the many students who contributed
their time and innovative ideas to the event.
use of walls and roofs, to grow edible plants, in soil or an inorganic growing medium planted over a waterproofing membrane. Bee hives.
Future Foodscapes: Grow Warwick was curated by Susan Haedicke
(Theatre and Performance Studies) and Rosemary Collier (Life Sciences)
with the help of Nese Ceren Tosun (PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies) and Carla Sarrouy (Senior Research Technician in Life
Sciences).
definition///:::
Planted all around the lakes, ponds and waterways : edible plants that thrive with their feet in the water...
• Arrowheads Sagittaria latifolia
• Thai Basil Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora
• Vietnamese Fish Mint Houttuynia cordata
• Water chestnuts Eleocharis dulcea
• Water celery Oenanthe javanica «Flamingo»
• Water lotus Nymphaea odorata
green roofs and vertical gardens
definition///:::
«A forest garden is a garden modelled on the structure of young natural woodland, utilising plants of direct and indirect benefit to people - often edible plants. It may contain large trees, small trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, herbs, annuals, root crops and climbers, all planted in such a way as to maximise positive interactions and minimise negative interactions, with fertility maintained largely or wholly by the plants themselves. The plants in a forest garden are mainly perennial which gives the system its long-term nature. Many of the plants used are multi-purpose; they may have a main function or crop but will very often have a number of other uses. Plants are mixed to a large degree, so there are few large blocks or areas of single species, and each species is grown close to many others in ways that are mutually beneficial.»
Martin Crawford Creating a Forest Garden ed. Green Books
is a wooded time
The map of a possible edible campus was conceived and designed by
Sarah Harper and Camille Frechou (Friches théâtre urbain).
inspired by the work of Martin Crawford,
Gilles Clément, James Wong
and Maurice Chaudière.