Growing Tips

Growing your own

Want to grow your own at home? Or Want to support your local community to set-up their own community growing site? Below are a list of growing hints and tips on how to achieve this.

GICIEI Expert Gardener Master class resources

• Starting Your Own Growing Site Considerations.pdf
• Wellbeing and growing within the multicultural society at Desborough Castle (DC) Community Allotment site, High W.pdf
• What to grow and when.pdf
• When to Harvest.pdf
• Gardening with Children.pdf

• BBC gardening guide for fruit and veg
• Royal Horticultural Society - grow your own section with A to Z pages to help you grow fruit, vegetables and herbs
• Kids Garden providing suggestions on ways to make growing interesting and fun for children
• Royal Horticultural Society: Get Set,Grow! Get Set, Grow! is a video series which guides you through the whole growing season. Perfect for those new to planting and producing their own fruits and vegetables, the series is great for growing a wide variety of crops in a small space. Follow the grow your own series on the RHS’s website or by subscribing to their YouTube channel.

There is also a Grow Your Own app – a useful tool for keeping track of what to do and when, for the crops you’re wishing to grow. Learn more and download the app for Android or iPhone.

Setting up your own community garden

Key resources for information to get you started:

• Year-Round Planning of your Site
• Health and Safety on a Community Growing Site
  • Example General Risk Assessment
  • Example Accident / Incident Reporting Form
  • Example Health and Safety Policy
• Promote your Site
• Reopening a Community Growing Site after Lockdown COVID-19
• Growing Connections: Guide to an inclusive and welcoming community garden.

We recommend all community growing sites sign up to the Social Farms and Gardens network which can provide you with all the key information needed to start and maintain your own community garden, click here for more details and to visit the website: Social Farms & Gardens | (farmgarden.org.uk).

Our Expert Gardeners* helping to set-up our Grow It, Cook It, Eat It sites are also at hand to provide advice and guidance to get you started. Please contact the Growing Site closest to you with any questions.