London’s edible gardens get ready to share their urban harvest

Capital Growth organises this annual autumnal city-wide garden open day to help gardens promote their good work in local communities and demonstrate just how much food is being grown within London’s urban gardens. With an interactive map of gardens taking part across the city, it’s easy to find out what’s happening in any neighbourhood.

“Tomatoes are ripe for picking, courgette plants are overflowing from their beds and peas can be eaten fresh from the pod – September is the peak harvest season and a perfect time to discover what’s growing in the city. It’s a great way to get outside, meet your neighbours and learn more about all the amazing ways to grow food in urban areas,” says Maddie Guerlain from Capital Growth.

Cordwainers Garden in Hackney will be hosting their annual vegetable show to show off what can be produced in small urban spaces, with anyone welcome to bring their own entries on the day. At De Frene Market Garden in Sydenham, volunteers can take part in a morning of activities to help prepare the garden for winter and harvest food for a shared feast at lunch. Agnes Riley Community Garden in South Clapham will be focused on salads for the day, inviting visitors to help harvest their own and plant new varieties for colder weather. In Green Lanes, The Castle Garden will have a full day of family activities, including nature crafts for children, garden tours and smoothies made from freshly harvested produce. A full list of participating gardens and their activities can be found on our Urban Harvest map.

Capital Growth’s flagship allotment garden in The Regent’s Park will host their annual harvest party, where visitors can have a go at pressing fresh apple juice, take part in garden competitions or grab a pizza fresh from the cob oven topped with garden produce. There will also be children’s activities, live music and plenty of garden goodies for sale to benefit the project’s ongoing work with local schools.

The Urban Harvest is a showcase event taking place during London Food Link’s Urban Food Fortnight, and is part of Capital Growth’s London Grows initiative, supported by City Bridge Trust.

For full details about The Urban Harvest, please visit www.capitalgrowth.org/events/opengardens

ENDS

For more information or photos contact Janelle Conn at janelle@sustainweb.org or 0203 5596 777 or visit www.capitalgrowth.org

@Capital_Growth        
www.facebook.com/capitalgrowth

Editorial Notes

1. Capital Growth is a London Food Link project (part of the charity Sustain), started in 2008 to help set up 2,012 new community food growing spaces by the end of 2012. Capital Growth continues to support over 2000 members to set up and run gardens, with funding from The Mayor of London and The City Bridge Trust.
2. London Grows is Capital Growth’s three year initiative to support 2,000 Londoners to learn how to grow their own fruit and vegetables and increase wildlife in the city, funded by the City Bridge Trust, as part of their Investing in Londoners programme. The funding covers training, events and large volunteering days, with the aim of improving knowledge and understanding of wildlife-friendly food growing, and the well-being of Londoners as a result of volunteering in their local food growing gardens.    
3. The Urban Harvest is a showcase event taking place during London Food Link’s Urban Food Fortnight, which celebrates the ultra-local food being grown, cooked, made and saved on London’s doorstep and runs from 8-24 September.