Anne:seed (anniseed)
DEBRIEF BY MARCUS MACDONALDIn the summer of 2021 Land In Our Names were invited by Assemble collective to renovate the garden of House of Annetta and make it a functional space that can host workshops, events and create a space to grow food and herbs. We were also asked to curate a series of workshops and events in the Annetta garden over the summer and we centred BPOC, women and queer LGBTQIA+ people within these events.
The first phase of the project was landscaping the garden, this involved clearing out rubbish, repurposing wood we found at House of Annetta to create a floor in the garden room and a decking outside. Annetta Pedretti often used materials that would be thrown away for her DIY projects. We also cleared the rooftop garden of weeds and restored the soil health for planting of medicinal herbs, pollinators and shrubs. Our planting design was designed to encourage wild life back into the garden, encourage bees and other pollinators to visit, herbal medicine and plants visitors could forage and smell. This was all inspired by Annetta Pedretti and her interest in beekeeping and foraging and preserving wild foods.
— The state of the garden
— The roof garden before
— Completing the outside decking
The second phase of the project was curating a series of workshops and events that focused on practical skills like carpentry, beekeeping and herbal medicine, this again was influenced by Annetta’s personal interests. We wanted to prioritise BPOC, queer, women/non-binary folks to lead and participate in the workshops and events.
— Carpentry
— The almost completed bench
— Bee workshop
— Herbalism Workshop
— Film screening
The workshops and events were:
Bee Urban facilitated sessions with candle making, honey tasting and bee hotel building workshop over 2 days.
They also designed and supported attendees of the event in making solitary bee hotels which are currently located on the rooftop garden ready for spring.
Herbalists Randa Toko and Kirstin Wu facilitated a workshop where they shared their knowledge, stories and skills with herbs and plant allies, the workshop included tea tasting, mixing teas and making a herbal balm.
Carpenter Imani Qamar led 2 days of carpentry workshops building planters and benches for the garden.
We organised an outdoor film screening of the documentary “The Street” by Zed Nelson
House of Shango (a black liberation collective of squatter) were invited to host a BPOC only conversation circle sharing knowledge on housing discrimination in the UK, how this relates to the squatting movement, and how we can fight to achieve housing justice. We also had a black vegan chef Sister Woman Vegan cater for the event.
A birdfeeder and seedbomb workshop led by Sam Siva and Kieran Kirkwood
The programme that we curated was a huge success, tickets for every event sold out and we had excellent feedback from all the participants. There was a desire for more events and we were told that the space felt very inclusive and comfortable for folks.
In the winter months we varnished, lined and filled the bench planters with compost. We then planted a variety of bulbs so that by Spring there would be new flowers for the garden. We want to use the ceramic sinks to make wildlife ponds and plant some vegetables in the Spring.
We will continue to have a relationship with the House of Annetta folks and use the garden and house as a venue for events. We hope to maintain the garden too and want to have more community planting events.