Community growing

Fire

This is a new thread for community projects such as neighbourhood growing groups, street tree bed planting and 'guerilla gardening'.

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Through the covid lockdown period (since March 2020) we have started a mutual aid group that runs a community gardening club. Based in North London, we support neighbours over four residential streets. Most people in the group are new to growing. We have been giving out veg and flower seed, exchanging cuttings, bulk buying together, helping each other in our gardens, supporting our local GCs. We have also started a little community flower bed where a street tree has been removed and not replaced. Most of our gardens are of small, Edwardian terrace houses and flats, a full mix of social housing, rentals and private owned. Some residents have no gardens and are growing in window boxes, hanging baskets or in their kitchen. We support growing as inclusively as possible, free or cheap, to all levels of experience.

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Below are montages of our group harvests in the past few months. Tomatoes have been the big smash of the year. Many of the growers (nearly all first timers) grew Gardeners' Delight cherry toms and had good success.

LG_

Beautiful! 

bullfinch

What a wonderful project, and fantastic harvest!

Jacquimcmahon

Cool, I would love to try here but there are so many rules and regulations I would most certainly be breaking something!

Fire

Jacquimcmahon said:

Cool, I would love to try here but there are so many rules and regulations I would most certainly be breaking something!

That's a shame. Many UK councils and very supporting of guerilla gardening and community planting. Maybe have a hunt around on the internet and see what Paris has going on - you might be surprised. 

Fire

As part of our lock down gardening group, we made a little community plot where a street tree had been removed and not replanted. We weeded and added some compost on August 1st and today it's looking bushy. The purple tansy have gone nuts. They geminated after about four days, much faster than the other seeds we planted, most of which are still getting going. The neighbours at that end of the street water the plot. I live on the next street and come and weed once a week. There is netting over the plot, initally to stop dogs, foxes and cats using area as a toilet. It also helps to stop birds digging it up and people treading on it.

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Aug 1st 2020

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Sept 12th

Bee witched

Hello @Fire,

It looks fab. Amazing growth in such a short space of time.
Some lovely bee plants there     

Bee x

Fire

Thanks. The purple tansy was a bit of a shock as it's about twice the size as in my garden. But this plot has more sun and a whole street looking after it so it's very happy. It will be interesting when that flowers and dies back to see what will come up after it. I'm hoping it won't look too desolate over winter.

Mander

This is such a nice idea. There is an ugly plot of waste ground next to a electrical substation in my neighbourhood that I have always wanted to plant up but I suspect the people who live next door to it wouldn't approve. It's always full of weeds and trash but I would love to put in some nicer plants. 

Fire

@Mander - go for it!

Lyn

It looks pretty but maybe I've got the wrong idea,   How would people be able to walk along the pathway, I can imagine a mother with pram and a couple of toddlers holding on, having to walk in the road, or is it wider than it looks?