Cranbrook Community Food Garden is a flourishing community garden, creating a space for anyone to come and help out, and be rewarded with fresh food for their efforts.
Cranbrook Community Food Garden started in 2009, in the heart of Cranbrook Estate, in Bethnal Green. Before this, the land was a playground that had fallen into disuse, and was attracting antisocial behaviour. The local residents worked with the housing association to turn the land into a large community food garden, where the aim is to create a space for anyone to come and help out, and be rewarded with fresh food for their efforts.
Members of the garden are typically residents of Cranbrook Estate, or nearby residents from Tower Hamlets. These are areas with enormous diversity and income disparity, so garden membership brings people with very different lives together around a shared project and pleasure.
Their Just FACT project was to implement a rainwater catchment and storage system to reduce our reliance on tap water (Project Raindrop), which is especially important as summer droughts increase due to climate change. They also established a fruit bush area outside the garden fence (Berry Lane), so that passersby and residents can engage with the food growing (and eating!) at any time, and also be inspired to pop into the garden for more goodness.
- Read their end of project report
- Follow on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
- Email at CranbrookCCFG@gmail.com
