“I am really pleased to see that the fruit is being used”. Tree owner, London, September 2011. Picture: surplus pears donated by the tree owner.

From pears to figs and kiwis, many fruits grow in London, where this blog started.

Often wasted these days, because modernity has taken us away from the edible garden, home-grown fruit is a source of simple and healthy sustenance and satisfaction accessible to many.

The blog presents stories, recipes and tips gathered across Europe on growing, eating and sharing local fruit, educational initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of such activities, and articles on historic kitchen gardens and heritage fruit varieties conservation and improvement.

About the author

Jean-Jacques has long worked as a market researcher for the food industry. He believes that taking care of all lands, including domestic and community gardens, will trigger better eating habits and enable to improve food availability for all, across the planet.

Based in Aurillac, his home town in rural France, he tutors design and business students at Central Saint Martins in London.

Jean-Jacques started researching and experimenting with local food after completing a Master of Art in Design Studies at Central Saint Martins in 2008. He volunteered with non profit organisations such as Abundance Wimbledon and The Orchard Project until he moved back to France after seventeen years in London.

In 2016, he completed a degree in education for sustainable development delivered by the Institut National Supérieur du Professorat et de l’Éducation Clermont Auvergne (France) and the Haute Ecole Pédagogique de Fribourg (Switzerland).

In 2017, he became a trustee of Les CROQUEURS de pommes^®, a network of 63 local associations with 8,000 members which has safeguarded heritage fruit varieties in France since 1978.

In 2021, he inherited three gardens: a 18th century urban kitchen garden, a countryside garden with a few old fruit trees, and a field he would like to transform into a grazed orchard. He is redesigning the three of them.

Pictures

The pictures in this blog are his, unless otherwise stated. They can be used in online publications, with a reference to the blog in the form of an active web link.