Food from gardens, small green public spaces and allotments
Information on how climate change is affecting - even now - food production and availability of residential water supplies, as well as ideas for growing food by community groups, households and individuals, and ensure as little produce as possible goes to waste
Apples. Many gardens in both urban and rural areas have apple trees, and yet many of the apples are not harvested, but ignored and can be seen all over the ground near the tree rotting away.
This is presumably for a number of reasons - people don't have the time to harvest them, or don't realise that many apple varieties can be stored and will last for 3-5 months. Or they simply cannot be bothered - they know apples are available all year round in shops - and they have the money to pay for them. However, if people want to save money or reduce their food global heating emissions score, they can harvest and store their crop.
BENEFITS: lower 'carbon footprint'; save money; house garden apples are usually organic (no pesticides); 'glow of inner satisfaction'
Kg CO2+ per Kg of Produce
Local 0.3 / From New Zealand 0.6 / Back garden c. 0
REFS: https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-store-apples/
Community Gardens
NGS has a grant scheme for those who want to set up a community garden
"To mark Community Gardens Week in 2025 (7-14 April) the National Garden Scheme was delighted to announce the distribution of £288,876 of funding to 115 community garden projects across the UK"
https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/community-garden-grants/Write your text here...
An Overview
A study by Sheffield University identified the potential of urban horticulture to national food and nutrition security.
Urban land could grow fruit and vegetables for 15 percent of the population. Growing fruit and vegetables in just 10 per cent of a city’s gardens and other urban green spaces could provide 15 per cent of the local population with their ‘five a day’.
Evidence for community and collective gardening subject to systematic review show positive associations with improved mental health and nutrition through increased fruit and vegetable consumption.
Examples of Community Garden Projects
Garden Organic
One of WNCAN's Steering Group works for Garden Organic promotes organic growing and composting, citizen science and research, and seed conservation through our Heritage Seed Library. We want to help you garden 'the organic way', using natural methods to promote healthy, productive, sustainable gardens.
https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-volunteers
An extremely important part of the Garden Organic team is our network of dedicated UK volunteers who work hard to promote the organic growing message in their local communities.
We work with sectors including education, healthcare, local authorities, Public Health, NHS, housing associations, businesses and community groups to provide support for volunteer champions in your setting.
We know people are best influenced by family, friends, neighbours or work colleagues who understand their circumstances and local needs – and it’s for these reasons our volunteers provide a unique and vital role.
Our volunteers are from many backgrounds and age groups, but their unifying feature is their enthusiasm for organic growing, composting and waste reduction. They are brilliant at engaging with and making a difference in their neighbourhood.
The volunteers assist with event preparation, training and resources – and they’re available for a chat and a cup of tea when required!
Find out more about our Master Composters, Master Gardeners and Waste Reduction volunteers.
See the current list of opportunities to volunteer with us.