By Phil Nichols

On November 15th, 16 students from the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) – East London’s newest university, which opened its doors at its Whitechapel Road site in September 2021 - visited the farm for an Ethnobiology field trip. In their Ethnobiology short course led by Dr Ash Brockwell, the first-year undergraduates are learning about how people classify, understand, and use edible and medicinal plants. This forms part of a module that aims to develop problem-solving skills, in line with LIS’s mandate to prepare students for the world of work by helping them bring together knowledge from different subjects.

During the visit, the students learnt from Farm Gardener Tanya Reynolds about vegetable growing, and then got involved in some hands-on activities with ‘herbalist-in-residence' Louisa Habgood – making hawthorn tincture and distilling rosemary water. Each student has also been researching a specific medicinal plant. The students’ research and photos will be compiled into a small booklet that can be sold or given out at the farm.

This visit represents a new stage in the partnership between LIS and Spitalfields City Farm, which started with the two organisations serving as venues for each other’s away days! For the next step, a group of five LIS students will work with the farm in early 2022 to explore sustainability issues.