Angell Town Estate has a newly developed community garden space, and adjoining land at present that has been used by the residents for the growing of fruit and vegetables.
Angell Town Estate has a newly developed community garden space, and adjoining land at present that has been used by the residents for the growing of fruit and vegetables, however at present is overgrown and needs some attention, with a plan to the project be sustainable locally eventually. Progress London have been approached to create a project in which more of the participants of the estate can do this on the existing green space, with an aim to clean up and maintain for community use.
They have been successful in setting up weekly gardening sessions with local residents and wider. Their primary activity has been facilitating weekly food growth sessions, and getting the community through such activities. From 2016 they have been working towards expanding the garden and growing their core group.
Caldwell Gardens Community Group is a collective of gardeners and our local community. We have established a thriving space with rich and diverse plantings. Well cared for and loved by the community, caldwell gardens has transformed a barren concrete jungle into a social space full of life. Caldwell gardens is a hub for the area and important to transform the lives of local residents and wildlife. The community of gardners extends to people living in the courtyard to others working public neighbourhood gardens and friends and family willing to help out.
Caldwell gardens provides a sanctuary for the young and old, and an amazing mix of plantings with edibles galore.
Community veg and herb patch with raised beds and composting project, based on Dorchester Court estate. We set up during the pandemic.
Over the last two years our small group of volunteers have worked hard to build a space to grow food and brighten up empty spaces making them more inviting and relaxing. Learning to grow new types of good every year and aiming to provide more fresh foods to the estate.
He really is the most abundant of growers. Mr. H. Douglas does an incredible job growing a variety of veg on Horle Walk – including featured here cabbage, sweet corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes. He shows what can be achieved in a small plot of housing estate land.
We are a small group of residents who are keen vegetable growers who have a small plot on the estate and grow organically, as we have limited space. I like to fill every available space with veg and encourage residents to join in.
Although it’s one of Lambeth’s newest parks, Loughborough Park has suffered a fair bit of neglect in recent years, so it’s great to see the new Community Gardens thriving.
As well as the new community garden, the park now contains winding paths, trees and shrubberies, an adventure playground, games court and play area.
Myatt’s Fields Park greenhouse is an amazing place, supporting a huge diversity of food growers with baby plants and growing food for use in community food projects at the park.
Last year the greenhouse project supported 75 projects with 50,000 baby plants. I love most that it is so informal and Fabrice has built such a great relationship with people so that people from all backgrounds feel comfortable to take plants and grow food. The baby plants make it easy to grow for even the most novice gardener, and Fabrice teaches people as he gives them plants – but so gently that you don’t really notice you are learning. He also ran a couple of education sessions where a lot of people turned up to learn more about growing, and he supports up to 40 volunteers a year who’s mental and physical health benefits from meeting new people, spending time in the beautiful greenhouse and contributing to their community.
He also goes out and supports five local projects with onsite sessions each year. He has built a library of seeds from around the world that particularly appeal to the diverse communities around the park and remind them of vegetables they would have grown at home. All power to Fabrice and the team at Myatt’s including all the volunteers that make it possible.
The charity organisation Nature Vibezzz has created a fun and nurturing space for everyone to learn together as a community while growing edible foods.
John Cannell and Douglas Saucedo have worked as a duo from Nature Vibezzz in tandem with families to establish a beautiful community space on the estate.
It welcomes all, young and old, to get involved in planting vegetables, from seeding them, to seeing them grow and then harvesting the goods.
What was previously a quiet and disused space has been turned into a community area where everyone can input their ideas and contribute to the growing of the food. In doing this they have helped people to feel more connected to their environment and their neighbours. They can see how they can make a difference to their surroundings and enjoy the fruits of their labour. They teach everyone who gets involved to care for nature and how rewarding and healthy it can be when you give it a little bit of your time and attention.
Featuring kale, herbs and other pollinators in concrete beds.
Urban Growth London were thrilled to have joined forces with Linda McCartney Foods, Lambeth Council, and The Remakery to redesign Paulet Estate’s Community Garden (located between Brixton and Camberwell) using sustainable and recyclable materials.
They ran an online focus group “Young Earth Champions” and invited local youth groups as well as young families, on Earth Day to help create the garden.
Since the site was transformed, they have hosted hundreds of volunteers plus dozens of residents and Remakery members to continuously improve the site.
They have hosted organisations like Social Landscapes as part of their Permaculture Design Courses. They’ve got a greenhouse and vertical herb garden as well as mushroom towers producing food for all to share. They run seasonal workshops indoors as well as out, on topics such as how to make and use your own botanical dyes, grow mushrooms and organic liquid plant feeds.
The Edible Playground was set up in 2019 by Urban Growth in Slade Gardens Adventure Playground. The garden consists of vegetable beds (some raised), a polytunnel, a pond, ornamental beds, beehives, a quail shed, edible hedge, as well as a wildflower meadow grown here for the 2021 Chelsea Flower Show and replanted in the playground afterwards. This winter we plan to plant an orchard and sensory garden. The space is now maintained by around a dozen local volunteers, spanning a large age range and several nationalities, who usually meet for 2–3 hours on Saturdays. We also host DofE volunteers and organise activities for children.
Like many gardens, this one has developed organically, with volunteers making use of donated plants and inputs. We adhere as far as possible to environmentally sustainable practices: mulching with manure and woodchips, both sourced locally; trialling the permaculture technique of Hügel beds; allowing patches of grass to grow long to encourage insect life; and capturing water from the roof of one of the playground structures.
The Edible Playground is self-sufficient financially, with sales of plants grown on site and produce (vegetables + honey) covering our various outgoings. In the longer term we hope to set up a café in the playground, which will be able to make use of our vegetables and herbs. During the COVID lockdowns fresh vegetables were delivered to local residents and produce is offered to families of children who use the playground. The garden also has an important educational role: children are encouraged to learn about vegetable growing and the importance of plants and insects to human life. The Edible Playground is also place for relaxation; tucked away in a peaceful corner of Slade Gardens, it offers a welcome sanctuary in a busy part of inner London.
The Southwell Road Community Garden is an oasis in a concrete jungle. We have a number of fruit trees including cherries, pears, plums, apples, quince and a fig tree. We also grow an abundance of fruits and vegetables including strawberries, raspberries, red currants, blackberries, potatoes, carrots and lettuce. A lot if pleasure is gained from both the gardening and enjoying the garden as it grows. It is a secluded area to sit and relax.
We would like to nominate Streatham Common Community Garden for this award. We are a charitable incorporated organisation, and have been running for eleven years.
We are a community food-growing project in a historic secret garden – formerly the kitchen garden For The Rookery – the large house at the top of the site,which was demolished in 1911.
We negotiated agreement with Lambeth council in 2010, to open the site as a community garden.
Since then,hundreds of volunteers have worked hard to transform an overgrown wilderness into a busy and productive garden.
We are only open two days a week – Wednesdays and Sundays – so we are proud of what we produce in this short working window. Currently, we continue to grow a large variety of vegetables and fruit.
We have a well established fruit garden, and grow apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, black and red currants and quinces. We use a variety of techniques to show visitors to the garden, that it is possible to grow some of these trees successfully in a restricted place.
We are also very proud of our 200 year old mulberry tree. Obviously, being fully organic, it is a race between us, the birds, the mice and the squirrels at harvest time!
Vegetables are grown in rotation beds. We have started a ‘no dig’ experiment this year – encouraged by the work of Charles Dowding, who advocates that this method is great ‘food your health, your pocket and the planet’. As well as beds which are worked on by volunteers, we offer a learner plot project to anyone who would like a small plot for a year, when guided by a mentor, can learn how to grow, maintain and harvest their own food. It is always oversubscribed, and we prioritise those who have no garden or only a balcony at home. Once enthused, these often continue to volunteer in the main garden after their year has finished, and some have even gone on to become trustees of the garden. We also offer the little growers club for children between the ages of 7 and 10, who are also guided to grow their own food in a small space and develop an early love for gardening.
Certificates are given at the end of the year for categories such as longest carrot, fattest radish, lettuce with the most slugs! etc which always goes down well! This year, thanks to the generous donation of a poly tunnel, we have started a ‘all around the world’ project. We have planted various tropical plants to see how they cope with our conditions. There are gourds from India, aubergines from Greece, tomatillos from Mexico and even a banana tree! It is such a wonderful little haven of peace and tranquility within this historic walled garden. Many of our volunteers have commented on how their mental health and wellbeing have improved since being part of this wonderful space. We continue to encourage everyone to the garden, either as a volunteer or as a visitor, from all walks of life, and are so pleased to hear comments such as these. Sharing our passion for growing is truly infectious, and it’s great to see that in all that come to the garden.
To have that recognised with an award such as this would be wonderful! We have attached several photos of the garden with our entry.
