Niemikotisäätiö has been collaborating with Perho Culinary, Tourism and Business College‘s Green Care urban farming programme for five years. Every Thursday, a group of service users interested in urban farming has gathered at Perho’s Green City Farm teaching field to learn about sustainable urban agriculture and ecological food production. In Perho’s video, Jouni Nisula, Deputy Director of Niemikotisäätiö, and Heidi Hovi-Sippola, Development Manager at Green City Farm, share their insights into the programme.
Green City Farm is Perho’s teaching field that is located in Malmi, Helsinki. Its cultivation activities are open to all Niemikotisäätiö service users. The collaboration began five years ago, when a group of Niemikotisäätiö’s service users visited the site for the first time. A close-knit and active urban farming group has been involved from the very beginning.
A Wide Range of Learning Opportunities
At Green City Farm, service users have learnt about sustainable food production and the fundamentals of ecological growing, including biofertilisers and pollinators. For Santtu, taking part in the programme has also provided an opportunity to develop his writing and photography skills by through frequent blogging.
“The best things about the Green Care programme have been working outdoors, learning new things about organic farming, working together and, through writing the blog, having a challenge and a responsibility to turn up every week and produce a blog post,” Niemikotisäätiö’s Expert by experience Santtu explains.
Writing the blog has required plenty of creativity and the ability to come up with fresh perspectives. Alongside writing, Santtu has collected a wealth of photographs documenting the different stages of the growing season.
“Writing the blog has also taught me how to use a camera and observe what is happening in the field. You need to find a ‘hook’ or a small detail that makes each week’s post stand out from the others,” he continues.
The events of the growing season have been documented in blog posts written by Santtu, and published on Niemikotisäätiö’s website and the Niilo online community platform.
Self-Grown Produce Put to Good Use
Members of the urban farming group spend the whole season getting their hands dirty and carrying out practical work in the fields. Their work covers the entire growing process, from sowing seeds and watering plants to weeding and, finally, harvesting the crops.
The field has been used to grow a variety of produce, including herbs, cabbages, leeks and different types of squash. The largest squash weighed almost 24 kilograms!
The practical benefits of the programme can be seen in everyday life at Niemikotisäätiö, where vegetables grown in the plots are used by the foundation’s catering service and activity centres.
“Every Tuesday, a large quantity of produce grown with Niemikotisäätiö’s involvement is delivered to the catering unit in Haaga. In addition, three of our activity centres receive larger bags of seasonal vegetables,” Heidi explains.
Using self-grown, organically produced ingredients has also proved to be an easy way to increase the amount of plant-based food served at the centres.
“One of our environmental initiatives is to try to eat more plant-based foods. Climate change is an urgent issue, so we want to highlight all the small steps we can take. That’s our job!” Jouni sums up.
Nature Promotes Wellbeing and a Sense of Community
The health benefits of nature are also evident while working in the field. Spending time outdoors helps calm and refresh the mind, reduce stress levels and, when harvest time comes around, the large crop of vegetables guarantees a real sense of achievement.
“Here, we’ve had the opportunity to discover biodiversity and learn about gardening, which is truly meaningful for all of us,” Jouni says.
According to Jouni, engaging in meaningful growing activities give service users a great deal of energy and strength.
“Our service users enjoy working outdoors and love gardening. They get so much out of it. You can really see the benefits here.”
Urban farming activities also give service users the opportunity to get to know one another and spend meaningful time together. The friendly staff at Perho and conversations with other group members add to the enjoyment of the day.
“The gardeners who lead the activities at Perho are friendly, and we usually have interesting conversations with them and the other group members. Even if you arrive at the field feeling tired, you generally leave feeling refreshed,” Santtu says.
Watch Perho’s video and discover more about the urban farming activites at Green City Farm!
Video: Perho Culinary, Tourism and Business College
Photos: Santtu
