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A green space to learn about growing food
Catching the train into Peterborough or walking down London Road, you might notice that exciting things are happening on the patch of land next to KFC, which has stood unused for 15 years.
Catching the train into Peterborough or walking down London Road, you might notice that exciting things are happening on the patch of land next to KFC, which has stood unused for 15 years.Features writer Hannah Gray finds out more about the Green Backyard project.
AS project manager for the Green Backyard, Sophie Antonelli probably has one of the best jobs in the city.
Her office is the great outdoors, and her closest colleague her inspirational father, Renny.
Related:
Hannah Gray meets Renny Antonelli: Peterborough's original eco-warrior, 7 January 2009.
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Not that Sophie (25) takes her job for granted – she knows what a unique and positive project the Green Backyard really is.
"I wouldn't have done it if I thought it had a chance of failing," she said. "I didn't see it as a risk. It's a brilliant idea and it's something that Peterborough really needs.
"I was born in Peterborough and it will be fantastic to have something that will really change the place."
The Green Backyard began life in May last year when Renny was given permission to convert the council's Ramsfair Allotments into an environmental community, where the public of all ages can go to learn about growing their own food.
Sophie's official role began when the scheme was given three years' funding for a project manager through the Local Strategic Partnership. She was living in Brighton at the time, having gained a BSC in Geography from the University of Sussex, but was keen to come back and get involved.
"I've always been passionate about the environment and so the opportunity to come and help create a project like this in my home town was definitely not one I could turn down," she said.
"Coming back to Peterborough and getting involved in the Green Backyard is brilliant because it gives me a chance to show people that being green is not about just doing things because you 'should', it's doing things because they benefit your life, your health and your local environment as well as the future of the planet."
Now she's taken up the role, Sophie has big plans for the site.
"For me there are so many different things we can do on this land," she said.
"I don't want to aim it at any one group of people, it's for everyone. I see it almost as a hub for community activity that will bring people together around environmental issues and motivate and empower them to make positive changes to their own environment.
"The way I see it working is we will have two days a week where we will say we are open to anybody.
"It will be a case of people coming down and volunteering their time for us and, in return, we will teach them new skills and they can take away some of the produce they help to grow.
"The rest of the time we won't be open to the public, but we will be running courses for various groups."
Since they were given permission to use Ramsfair, Renny and Sophie have started work on the land and have already made their mark.A willow dome has been erected, compost has been delivered and some vegetable beds have been established using the "no-dig method" (see side panel).
A building has been designed and funding for the materials received from EDF Energy.
This building, it is hoped, will be a multi-purpose space for teaching, storage, and even somewhere to have a cup of tea and a chat.
It will be built from recycled materials as much as possible, for example garage doors, toughened glass which has been donated by Lloyds Bank, and MDF donated by John Lewis.
"I want the site to be sustainable in all senses of the word," Sophie said. "We want to be off-grid, we want to have our own water supply. We also want to generate our own power and be financially independent."
It looks as if this new year could be an exciting one for the Green Backyard.
"2009 is going to be a very busy year for us," Sophie said. "We are completely developing the site and by the end of the year we want to have finished putting in our vegetable beds, our first building, a composting toilet, an orchard, a children's garden and our composting demonstration area.
"This spring we will be working mostly on preparing the ground and getting our first crops planted, so if anyone is interested in helping they should think about coming to one of our open days."
The Green Backyard is a real labour of love for both Sophie and Renny, but what does she think of his contribution, and what's it like working with your dad?
"My dad really is the inspiration for the whole project so it's amazing to be working together with him to make it happen," she said. "He is brilliant at teaching people new skills and has a knack for making everything seem fun. I won't pretend that we agree 100 per cent of the time but we're father and daughter so that's never going to happen!"
Who has helped so far:
Progress that has been made on the Green Back Yard would not be possible without the help of a number of businesses and groups around the city.
So far, Free Thinking Design are designing the logo for free – their website is: www.freethinkingdesign.co.uk.
Bettaland have donated compost – www.bettaland.co.uk.
EDF energy has donated 2,000 for the materials for the building.
John Lewis has donated MDF and Lloyds Bank has donated glass for the building.
The project has also received donated materials through the Freecycle network and by using Eastex, the regional materials exchange forum for the East of England – www.eastex.org.uk.
How you can get involved:
Starting from this Sunday, 11 January, the Green Backyard will be open to volunteers every Wednesday and Sunday between 11am and 4pm. You don't need any gardening experience to get involved.
Do make sure you take warm clothes, sturdy footwear and something to drink.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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