Join the Good to Grow Day festivities and discover Eastbourne’s edible gardens

National Good to Grow Day (formerly the Big Dig Day) is taking place between Friday April 21 and Monday April 24, with gardens across the country welcoming volunteers and visitors, new and old.

Five gardens in and around Eastbourne will be participating, with a range of activities suitable for all ages and abilities. From live music and crafts to garden tours, Good to Grow Day is all about exploring the joys of growing and sharing food as a community, and celebrating the start of Spring with friends and neighbours.

Edible gardens can be found all over Eastbourne, from allotments to community centres. They’re growing more resilient communities by making tasty, ultra-local produce available to affordable. For more information visit eastbournefoodpartnership.org.uk/community-growing-projects

Sally Lee, Rooted coordinator and Eastbourne Food Partnership steering group member, said: “It is about working towards re-imagining our food systems, to make them more sustainable and resilient, and giving people an alternative to supermarkets. A shared purpose is what makes it so successful. Everybody is very different and each person has their individual reason for coming but we are all working towards the same goal which creates a wonderful sense of community.”

A full list of Good to Grow events in and around Eastbourne:

- Rooted Community Food will celebrate their launch with a veggie barbecue, live music and a luxury raffle draw at their event on Gorringe Road Allotments 11-4pm Sunday April 23.

- Join Gather Community Garden for a freshly prepared garden feast from 11.45am on Friday April 21, and come along for an open day 10am-2pm Saturday April 22 complete with coffee, cake and restore yourself with the wildlife and tranquillity of the Quiet Garden

- Discover the delights of Pevensey and Westham Forest Garden during their open day 11pm til 4pm Saturday April 22

- Visit Willingdon Trees Community Centre for a ‘come and try’ session on their toddlers allotment, a fun, friendly, educational and free gardening club for parents/carers and their preschool and home schooled children. Monday, April 24 10am-12pm

- Check out the Grow Eastbourne community garden at Langney Community Centre for a weeding and planning session. Tuesday, April 25 10am-12pm

Good to Grow is part of Eastbourne Food Partnership’s Veg Cities campaign, aiming to celebrate the value of veg to Eastbourne’s communities and encourage individuals, public organisations, community groups and businesses to put veg at the heart of their activities. You can make a veg pledge by signing the Eastbourne Food Partnership charter.

Eastbourne Food Partnership are also using the celebrations to encourage Eastbourners to ‘Grow A Row’ of extra produce to donate to community food projects. “Community gardens are already doing brilliant work providing affordable food projects across the town with locally-grown nutritious fruit and veg.

We want to give all growers the opportunity to donate their produce, from windowsill herbs to courgette gluts.” Nancy Wilson, Eastbourne Food Partnership Coordinator. The Grow A Row scheme will allow growers to drop off produce at convenient spots across the town that will then go directly to community fridges and community kitchens across Eastbourne.

If you want to repurpose your surplus, or dedicate some of your growing space to plant, grow and share a row, get in touch at [email protected].