Good to Grow Week 2024

From 22 - 29 April London's community gardens can join our week of action to celebrate the new growing season, open your doors to volunteers and build the community growing movement. 

. Credit: Pauline Shakespeare | MindFood

. Credit: Pauline Shakespeare | MindFood

Good to Grow activities will take place across the whole of the UK from Monday 22 to 29 April 2024.  This year we're offering growing spaces the option to plan an event around two key themes: 

  • Growing for Nature: encouraging and tracking nature and biodiversity as part of the Capital Growth Growing for Change campaign, linking up with the global City Nature Challenge
  • Right to Grow: support and amplify the Right to Grow movement, led by Incredible Edible.

Good to Grow Launch webinar

Join us on Wednesday 6 March at 10am for the launch event. Find out more about Good to Grow week and hear from leading voices leading the charge for community food growing, right to land and nature restoration. 

Register for the webinar

Want to host an event?

Inspire and engage the next generation of growers, attract more volunteers to your project and connect your community to the wider movement.

Log in to your account to register your event

Plan and register your event, get on the Good to Grow map and access resources, expertise and support to publicise your event.

Not already a member of Capital Growth? No problem! Membership is free and the form takes about 5 minutes. Anyone in London growing food in at least one square metre or more is eligible to join. Read more about the benefits.

Become a Capital Growth member

 

Why get involved with #GoodtoGrow2024?

Each year thousands of volunteers take part across the UK to kick-start the growing season and provide opportunities for people to get involved in community growing. After you sign up your garden to take part in Good to Grow week, you'll receive toolkits and guides to support you to run an activity plus resources to help plan and promote your event, including a free webinar in March.

This year we have two suggested themes for your activities, to bring a fresh approach and support national campaigns. 

 

Growing for Nature activities

We know that community food growing supports biodiversity and has huge potential to do even more to help bring endangered populations back from the brink and connect people to nature.  The more we can measure and prove this, the greater our case for saving and securing sites.  

What sort of activities could you run?

You could organise a BioBlitz or nature trail to spot and record plant, animal, and insect life on your site, run a bug hotel-building workshop or nature-themed activity to get people in your community involved in giving wildlife a boost and learn about our friendly pollinators. 

If you’re a London-based garden, you can also take the Growing for Change pledge helping support the campaign. 

We're seeking 4 flagship gardens to run workshops during Good to Grow week. If you're interested look out for the email or get in touch with ali@sustainweb.org

Right To Grow activities

The Right to Grow campaign, is run by Incredible Edible and seeks to make it easier to grow food on suitable public sector land, through influencing decision-makers to make it easier to access land. In a climate of food insecurity driven by the cost-of-living crisis and global warming, and a years-long wait for allotment spaces, join us in building momentum in the call for a much needed 'right to grow'. 

What sort of activities could you run?

Be a part of the movement advocating for accessible land. You could host a panel discussion, a youth engagement session or invite along councillors, MPs, activists and other growers along to make the case for the Right to Grow. Or you could create a banner, to make a splash on social media. Either way we encourage those of you with land to join forces to prepare beds, sow seeds, and revel in the growing season together while advocating for accessible land for all.  

 

Want to join Good to Grow Week 2024?

For gardens: Register via your Capital Growth account 

For individuals and others: Gardens and growing spaces across the UK will be added to the map from late February onwards so check the Good to Grow map. Alternatively, get directly in touch with your nearest garden to express your interest. 

Find a garden near you

 

The history

The Big Dig Day started as an event run by Capital Growth in 2012 to engage volunteers in local food growing projects. Funding was also received to roll this out across the UK , recruiting 7,500 new volunteers to take part in community gardening. These local networks continue to recruit and engage volunteers locally.

Since the Big Dig was first launched in 2012, a growing number of gardens have been adopting a 'no dig' approach to food growing and to reflect that we surveyed our members to find a new name that was more inclusive and representative of our network. After a great debate and lots of ideas, Good to Grow was voted in as the overwhelming favourite and we changed the name in 2022.

"Good to Grow is far more all encompassing in my opinion, great name!"

"Big Dig is just not appropriate to our project which is run on organic and no dig principles."

"Good to know, it might be - Good to Grow!"

"Good to Grow seems to me more inclusive"

 

Capital Growth

Capital Growth is London's Food Growing Network, with over 2000 members. Whether you are growing at home, as part of an allotment, in a community group or school you can join for free to receive benefits such as discounts, advice and monthly enewsletters.

Capital Growth
C/o Sustain
The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London
E2 9DA

0203 5596 777
capitalgrowth@sustainweb.org
www.capitalgrowth.org

Capital Growth is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

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