It’s a joy to see a building project reach completion and come alive; walking onto the SAGE growing site in Possilpark, the drawings that we have pored over for months have become a reality. There are black growing cubes of various sizes set out neatly on what was previously a derelict patch of ground wedged between St Matthews Church and Allied Vehicles. The surroundings haven’t changed significantly; there’s still concrete under foot and accumulation of rubbish around the perimeter, but during the day we took the next step towards transforming this Concrete Garden into a living, growing place. The day was about planting and bringing the idea of “SAGE (Sow and Grow Everywhere)” alive… ok this isn’t “Everywhere”, but it’s certainly somewhere.

Plug plants have been grown especially for the garden; I ought to surround the term “Plug Plants” with inverted commas because like me, some readers may not be horticulturalists, or even gardeners; excuse me the vulgarity of stealing a description from the interweb of knowledge… “a plug plant is any developing plant whose growth cycle is initiated well in advance of its actual planting”… basically they’re little veg waiting to become big veg.

The site has a cubic aesthetic, and so we planted vegetable plugs in straight lines, squares and rectangles. We do not dare plant in curves for fear of suffering the wrath of the site’s designer, Rolf “The Cube” Roscher. And yet the site’s design suits its urban surrounding well. It might look out of place in open country, but in the city it’s a marriage of urbanism and the natural form. And it will be much easier to work out which plant is which if there is some regularity in their planting.

Later on in the evening we were joined by a gaggle of children and teenagers from the nearby Depot Arts organisation; the younger ones ready to throw themselves into any activity that involved getting dirt on knees and between fingernails; some of the older ones bearing immaculate nails and threatening sickness if their fragile skin comes in contact with manure; we planted potatoes together and the stench was forgotten. I remembered I was fortunate to have had contact with gardening activity as a youngster; admittedly this involved much wonder about why my parents spent SO much time in their beloved back garden rather than riding the flumes at Chessington World of Adventures; but now I really appreciate the context and the love of productive countryside that it has instilled in me. With kids, plugs and cubes, the urban food growing adventure has taken its next step, at least in this small corner of North Glasgow.

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To find out what Tasty twEATS & Harvest 2010, click here.

NVA are back again with a brand new project! This time think less white bike-riding and more sowing and growing, all in the name of sustainable living. Glasgow Harvest is a celebration of urban growing and a chance to share your Glasgow-grown produce as well as your knowledge in exchange for others’ knowledge and food!

Glasgow Harvest is taking place on 28th August at the Hidden Gardens and entry requires you to have grown food to share. However do not be put off if you haven’t started growing this year or if you have never ever grown before because we are giving you the opportunity (literally – we are giving you the plants and foolproof instructions) to grow in return for documentation of your beautiful baby seedlings into (hopefully) thriving courgette and chard plants complete with vegetables! What’s the catch to this wonderful opportunity? They are flying out the NVA door and the deadline is 7th June so be quick! To enter tell us what your favourite vegetable is and a delicious recipe it features in – send to harvest@nva.org.uk.

So as to avoid stage-fright or a fear-of-performance situation we have started posting pictures of our chilli plants (which we all planted from seed here in the NVA office 2 months ago) on Flickr (also in photo above) and will document our chard growing, too, for you all to see! Weekly rundown of our office-growing experience to come over the next 12 weeks. Chard replacing Rich Teas? Chillies climbing into the photocopier? Only the summer growing season will tell…

So folks, get your green fingers on and trowels at the ready and get growing!

For other ways to get involved in Glasgow Harvest or to simply find out more you can visit our facebook page.

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To find out what Tasty twEATS & Harvest 2010, click here.