BBC comments CHUG promotes shared living space solutions in east of London

CHUG took part in Open House for the first time this year, and it was a huge success. Here we are in the news – scroll to the fourth picture along.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14950320

The BBC states “Good design is the theme but the event is also about the ongoing transformation of London. These narrowboats around a shared open space are providing solutions for living and working in the east of the city

http://www.londonopenhouse.org/

CHUG allotment in the Evening Standard

The CHUG allotment featured in the Evening Standard on the 12th of September, 2012. They caught wind of our allotment project and their Homes and Property section got in touch and interviewed CHUG’s Val Easty, top allotmenteer.

The article goes into detail about the choice of veg we grow – ‘cut-and-come-again’ crops like spinach, salad leaves and raspberries, rather than one-offs that wouldn’t go around all of the basin dwellers. They were also interested in the drainage of what is effectively a giant container garden, the difficulties we had along the way, the sad demise of the duck population and the introduction of worms to the allotment.

Read all about it…

CHUG in the Evening Standard

CHUG wins Edible Green Corners award

EDIBLE GREEN CORNERS – The Floating Allotment, Kingsland Basin, Hackney – Courtesy of Edible GreenCorners Website

A community of 14 Hackney boat dwellers has turned one of the old boats into a floating allotment on which herbs, perennials and annuals grow. The boat is a cornucopia of rosemary, basil, Thai sage, chives and mint, strawberries, artichokes, lettuces, tomatoes, squash, beetroot and much more. The produce is shared between the households involved and when there’s a particularly bumper crop, it’s left in a common area so people can help themselves. Here Valerie Easty, Tim Storey and Marnie Collins are congraulated by Susan Hampshire.

http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk/award_info.php?id=14

Hackney floating allotments win green award

Hackney Citizen on CHUG – ‘Away from the Hackney main stream’

Kingsland Basin resident Hannah Engelkamp Photo: © Bruno Conrad

‘Some of the borough’s more adventurous residents share the secrets of life on the river’

Jenny Stevens Monday 5 July 2010

‘Tucked behind Kingsland Road and encased in a rickety black fence lies Kingsland Basin, home to Hackney’s secret narrowboat community. From the bridge overlooking the basin from the Regent’s Canal, a series of neatly moored narrowboats bob like toy ships. The brightly coloured vessels are surrounded by pots of budding vegetable plants, compost bins and paint pots: a tidy yet shambolic home to the basin’s residents.’

go to the Hackney Citizen’s website for more:

http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2010/07/05/away-from-the-hackney-main-stream/