Launching the "Stone Oven Club"
Minna no Uen Kitakagaya had long been nurturing a dream: to eat freshly baked pizza topped with summer vegetables from our own field. In November 2014, volunteer members launched the "Stone Oven Club" to make that dream happen.
At the kickoff, we opened a book on stone ovens and talked about what kind of oven to build. We visited stone ovens in various places to learn, and set out to make an original oven of our own. Rather than hire a contractor, we insisted on building it with our own hands. In December, we were even given the fire bricks for the oven.
From the foundation, with our own hands
Construction began in February 2015. The first weekend was spent greeting the neighbors, buying materials, and building the foundation. Members with the skills took on the heavy work while other members prepared warm chai. Each person brought what they could do, and we moved forward together. In late February we poured the concrete for the foundation, and on March 22 we held a completion party. We made not only pizza but also gratin and smoked dishes, and it was a lively day with many members and guests.
An oven is only an oven if it keeps being used
It did not end with completion. In July, we held a class on how to use the stone oven, where members of the Stone Oven Club taught everything from splitting firewood and lighting the fire to the pizza dough recipe. The more people who can use the oven, the more it becomes an asset of the place.
A stone oven gives people a reason to gather. Around a fire, conversation comes naturally even among people meeting for the first time. We have fired it up many times since, for events and cooking classes. With a field, a kitchen and a fire, a community can be connected through food. I feel this oven taught us about the role of "Food" in an urban farm.