MAXgarden
Our community garden was created in 2014, transforming an abandoned church yard.
We grow around 500 species of mostly edible plants which we use for learning, playing and eating! Our volunteers and visitors help shape and adapt the garden each season to make it a welcoming and creative space for people and nature to come together. Watch a short video from one of our volunteers here.
Get in touch to arrange a visit and find out how to get involved.
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We Are Building Community
We are building community at different levels - in our garden we give local people positive experiences in food growing, cooking and sharing. We provide skills and resources so everyone can do it across our city. We showcase how even a small shared garden can bring together people and ideas as well as the health benefits of good food and nature connection. We believe and are testing how to make better use of public green space for neighbourhood health and happiness. We share what we learn with other community groups, connecting those who can help each other and strengthening networks.
Garden Volunteering Sessions
We have two weekly gardening sessions, Tuesdays and Fridays 10am to 2pm where we grow food and make our garden space and local park diverse, beautiful and safe for all the people that use it in many different ways. Watch a short video of Mo and Aden talking about this. We provide a homemade lunch with garden produce where possible, and travel expenses. Volunteers really enjoy meeting people from different walks of life, diverse cultures and interests. Join our volunteers team here.
Harvest and Cooking Sessions
We have realised how important it is to make the connection between food growing, and learning how to cook with it. This is why we set up our popular Tuesday cooking sessions to make use of produce, weeds and wilds!
During growing season we offer free Harvest Boxes or Pick your Own sessions with recipes to test new ideas and flavours in your kitchen.
Each Friday we go on a journey around the world through our Intercultural Community Lunches where we cook (outdoors when possible) and feed up to 40 people in the park, garden or centre. See some of our delicious recipes here.
From pruning to herbal first aid, wildlife photography to edible flowers, yoga to potato parties...we love bringing people together to learn and celebrate everything green. Our Gigs in the Garden are also a very popular feature. We use our Community Garden and Hilltown Park to connect with other people and with nature through a broad range of topics to appeal to everyone! Checkout all upcoming workshops and events here.
