Open Gardens Go Edible
Food growers in and around Hastings and St Leonards are opening their plots and gardens to the public for the first Edible Open Gardens weekend. HANNAH ROBBINS explains.
Stonelynk Edible Garden
On the 1 & 2 July, a diverse mix of food growing projects, ranging from compact domestic gardens right up to established commercial enterprises, will be hosting visitors for a weekend of discovery and inspiration. The aim of the initiative is to encourage more people to grow more of their own food.
The event is coordinated by Town Grown, a Transition Town Hastings project launched in early 2022 amid growing concerns about food sovereignty, spiraling food prices and the biodiversity crisis. Since its launch, Town Grown has been hosting free talks, workshops and guides, aiming to encourage more people to grow more of their own fresh produce, regardless of space, experience and resources.
THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO SEE HOW IT’S DONE
Edible Open Gardens was inspired by the popularity of trips, coordinated by Town Grown, to local farms and orchards that gave visitors a chance to meet and learn from experienced growers with expansive plots. This new event involves a greater variety in scale: large local enterprises along with smaller domestic gardens, guerilla plots and permaculture projects in pockets of underused green spaces around the town.
Anna Locke, Permaculture author and a founding member of Town Grown says: “There is a huge amount of talent and a passion for food growing in our town that we want to celebrate with this event; and to create an opportunity for growers to share their knowledge and experience with those either currently involved or interested in growing their own food.”
A total of eighteen different venues are taking part, and there’s a chance to meet the growers, talk about their project and learn from their experience.
Hopefully, Edible Open Gardens, supported this year by Sussex Community Foundation, will become an annual event to promote access to affordable local fresh fruit and vegetables.
Times and locations for all venues taking part can be found on the Town Grown website: towngrown.co.uk.
Here are just some of the highlights to look out for over the weekend:
Stonelynk Organics
Battery Hill, Fairlight, Saturday 10am-1pm
Nestled in the Stonelynk Valley, five miles east of Hastings, is Stonelynk Organics, a commercial vegetable garden that has been providing the local area with organic vegetables since 2018.
Certified by the Soil Association, founders Hélène Maerschalck and Stephen Atkinson farm in ways that are gentle to the local ecosystem and respectful of natural processes. This means they use no artificial products and very little machinery, leaving nature to do what it does best.
They grow a huge variety of seasonal salad leaves and vegetables which they sell directly from the farm and through local veg box deliveries.
Plot and Pantry on the Farm
Upper Lidham Hill, North Lane, Guestling, Sunday 1-4pm
Penny Foxwell uses her smallholding in Guestling to host year-round courses and workshops, sharing her passion and twelve years’ experience of self-sufficient food growing.
Describing Plot and Pantry as “two halves of a whole”, Penny grows an impressive quantity and variety of fresh produce on site, then harvests and preserves foods to be enjoyed throughout the year.
The smallholding is abundantly productive but is also a space dedicated to the wellbeing of people and planet as Penny delights in sharing how living sustainably and close to nature has transformed all aspects of her life.
Lion’s Den Mushroom Farm
6-8 Burgess Road, Hastings, Saturday 3-4pm
Lions Den mushroom compost
The duo behind Lion’s Den are Masterchef semifinalist Ollie and West-Hill born singer-songwriter Lauren. Their commitment to zero waste food systems runs throughout all ventures past and present including an award-winning pub, pop-up restaurants and a new café in the pipeline.
Lion’s Den has turned a shipping container into a mushroom farm, growing organic Shiitake, Oyster and Lion’s Mane mushrooms for wholesale and retail as well as converting them into meat-free umami sauces. This innovative container farm can be found at the Brewing Brothers tap room and will be open for a quick peak and chance to meet the growers.
Brewing Brothers Tap Room
6-8 Burgess Road, Hastings, Saturday 1-4pm
The garden (and chickens) at the Brewing Brothers tap room provide fresh produce for their restaurants, which in turn generate the nutrient-rich compost on which this vegetable and herb garden thrive. Visitors are welcome to wander at their leisure around the garden or head directly to the tap room selling craft beers brewed on site.
Church Wood Community Orchard
Church in the Wood Lane, off Churchwood Drive, St Leonards, Sun 11am-4pm
Church Wood Community Orchard
The orchard was planted in 2021 in Church Wood Nature Reserve having gained a 25-year lease from Hastings Borough Council. The 12 apple trees are tended by volunteers who also have plans to develop a wildflower meadow of local species; creating a space for the Hollington community to access and enjoy and providing a haven for native ecosystems.
Local entomology expert Andy Phillips and botanist Judy Clark will be leading visitors wanting to identify and learn about the plants and insects that can be found in the orchard.
The Forager’s Garden
Side garden, 29 Quarry Road, Sunday 2-4pm
Proving that even small spaces can be productive is this example of a forager’s garden. The space is packed with a biodiverse range of fruit trees, vines, fruiting shrubs, wildflowers and edible annuals.
The garden provides its owner with wines, liqueurs, vinegar, jams, jellies, chutneys, and an array of herbal teas and even some medicines to use throughout the year.
For more information contact [email protected] or call 07841 848235
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