GARDEN: Community Gardening – Learning by Growing

 

More recently there has been a surge in demand for communal plots of land thanks to the current trend towards sustainability and eco-aware consumer habits. More people are looking to “grow their own” and ensure that the food they eat and feed to their children is free of harmful chemicals, grown organically and produced ethically. 

 

Community gardens come in many different shapes and sizes. The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, the national face of the community farm and garden movement in the UK, describes them as, “community-managed projects working with people, animals and plants ranging from tiny wildlife gardens to fruit and vegetable plots on housing estates, from community polytunnels to large city farms”.

 

Schools are getting in on the act with the assistance of organisations such as Growing Schools a partnership, funded by the Department for Education and managed on a day-to-day basis by Farming and Countryside Education (FACE).  Growing Schools gives children “the opportunity to connect with the living environment, whether it is an inner city window box or a vast country estate, a school veg plot or a natural woodland”  because they believe that, “interacting with living plants and animals provides a very rich, hands-on learning experience in which both formal and informal education can flourish”.

 

 

A great one for the kids is Deen City Farm, a registered charity in South West London which has changed a disused, weed ridden part of its site on Morden Hall Park Estate (National Trust land) into an interactive, colourful vegetable and flower growing area with a special turf maze! The garden attracts people of all ages, successfully running volunteer placements; Green Fingers Educational Tours which allow children to experience the garden first hand; The Growing Links project which allows individuals a section of the garden to grow what they want and Environmental Workshops.

 

Community gardens are by no means the sole preserve of urban dwellers. Grace and Flavour, a community vegetable growing co-operative, set up in a derelict walled garden on a National Trust property based in West Horsley, Surrey is a prime example of what can be achieved in terms of growing output by these projects. The co-operative grows food for people living and working in the surrounding areas with crops going to co-op members, sold via local retailers and 10% set aside for free distribution to those in the community who have no access to fresh, locally grown produce. In its first year the co-operative produced: 103K of carrots, 401 cucumbers, 161 peppers, 195K of runner beans and generated approximately £2300 from crop sales; impressive indeed!

 

 

It’s easy to see the attraction of such projects. Abi Mordin is Project Co-ordinator at Urban Roots, a community led organisation in Toryglen, Glasgow, committed to working with local people on projects that improve the environment, health, nutrition and environmental arts. Abi sums it up perfectly, 

 

“Community gardening brings people from different walks of life together and builds networks within neighbourhoods, turning messy, disused and abandoned spaces into thriving beautiful places that are not just gardens but places to meet, play, chat and hold events. By working together, sharing skills and ideas, many a bounteous crop can be produced – all sorts of things can be grown... peas, beans, potatoes, courgettes, salads and spinach, not to mention herbs and fruit. It’s a great way to learn how to grow veg and get into gardening slowly as many hands make light work.  Growing your own food can also help to reduce your food miles – helping to cut your CO2 emissions and impact on the planet.”

 

Further information visit the following websites:

• The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens

• Growing Schools

• Farming and Countryside Education (FACE)

• Deen City Farm

• Grace and Flavour

• Urban Roots

• The Green Back Yard