Edible Eastside in Digbeth, Birmingham is run by Urban Grain Social Enterprise partnership C.I.C is a unique, vibrant and contemporary urban garden covering a quarter of an acre of canal side land. A former gas filling station converted into a pop up garden ‘edible park’ using temporary containers and raised beds.
Edible Eastside supply businesses and educational institutions a space in the city to master the art of horticulture. They rent out raised beds to local people, city workers, and dwellers to grow produce and to develop their horticlture skills.
Edible Eastside also provide a cookery school and cafe and provide support to community groups who are growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and are interesetd in horticulture.
Edible Eastside also promote urban food production in the city and aim to create a spontaneous landscape and raise the profile of food and urban agriculture in Birmingham.
Edible Eastside also sell produce to restaurants in the city such as vegetarian Bistro 1847 whose development chef Alex visits every week to pick flowers, herbs and garnish for the beautiful vegetarian dishes created every day.
See my previous review on Bistro 1847’s new grazing, sharing exploring menu.
I was fortunate to visit Edible Eastside with Alex of Bistro 1847, and as a keen grower of vegetables (with some success) and lots of un-success 🙂 finding a peaceful and creative space that is like an oasis near the canal amongst factories and creative businesses and is the inspiration behind the beautiful dishes created by Alex.
It was very inspirational and gave me lots of ideas on how to use raised beds and containers and how plants can grow compatabily together in a small urban space.
In September this year Edible Eastside began an exciting partnership with Hotel La Tour nearby in Birmingham City Centre to provide a roof top garden where the restaurant of the hotel, Grill La Tour will grow their own fruit and vegetables for use in their kitchen.
It’s an exciting opportunity to develop a space that can bring the source of the food closer to the kitchen and respond to seasonality and to their guests requests more directly. Good for vegetarians 🙂
Visitors to the hotel will also be able to visit the roof top garden. The garden will be maintained by Hotel La Tour in house. Offering a unique experience to staff who work in the kitchen who will experience a from the ground to the plate philosophy.
Next year Edible Eastside will be merging with Kitchen School http://www.kitchenschool.co.uk to form one organisation offering a range of culinary services and food spaces.
Edible Eastside is a unique social enterprise C.I.C a place to grow, cook, and eat your very own food an asset to any city, but certainly one to Birmingham and its community.
Edible Eastside
122 Fazeley Street,
Digbeth,
B5 5RS
07970 730 646
http://www.facebook.com/edible-eastside
Twitter @edibleeastside
Last three photos taken in Bistro 1847.
veggiefoodie 