Is it a bar? Is it an allotment? Good news - the Beautiful Allotment pop up at London's Geffrye Museum is both.
Georgina Wilson-Powell
Fri 3 Aug 2018
There's no end to the pop up bar themes, we thought we'd seen them all but Beautiful Allotment, the latest installation in Hoxton in London is both an actual allotment and a gardening themed cocktail bar and barbecue spot all in one.
Spend a sunny evening pottering around the garden that's growing fruit and veg in the grounds of one of London's most low key museums.
Image Pop to Hoxton's Geffrye Museum to find London's coolest growing space
Keen gardeners can peruse the raised plots and check out the repurposed chairs, a vintage car and other inventive upcycled bits into flower beds, while those more interested in cheeky summer tipple will love St Germain's cute cocktail cart parked up under the shade of a tree. Our favourite? The Nettle Gimlit, with allotment grown dandelion and nettle cordial.
The plants have all been grown in compost created by food waste collected from bars and restaurants across London and looked after by OrganicLea, a workers' cooperative growing food on London's edge in the Lea Valley.
Grab a long table and put an order in at the locally sourced barbecue and salad bar (with lots of vegan options) or book a day bed, polytunnel or potting shed to call your own and plot your own move to the country (and a Good Life style garden). Although the country might not have wheelbarrows full of booze on demand.
A little kitsch? Certainly, but if it gets more people understanding the value of growing spaces, interested in growing food - and relaxing in an underused space - we're in. See you in the potting sheds.
Beautiful Allotment is at Geffrye Museum in Hoxton until 3 September, Wednesdays-Sundays, 4pm-11pm.
Want more ideas of what to do in London? Check out our feature about exploring without your phone or our round up of ethical date spots in the capital.
