As a community growing project, the core aim of Global Gardens Project is to bring people together to learn about gardening, cooking and craft.

As a result of Covid-19, we have obviously had to stop all in person public project activities at the garden for the time being. Some of our learning opportunities have shifted online, including the #GrowYourOwn course with Kai and the Permaculture Design Course with Shift Bristol. 

Thi...

I was introduced to gardening when I was little, at my nana’s. I grew up learning the names of plants, developing a fascination with roots and a love of sweet-smelling herbs. Decades later, I still crave gardens; it’s one of the reasons I’ve been involved with Cardiff’s community growing haven, the Global Gardens Project, these last few years.

During lockdown, I’ve had a chance to rekindle this love. In early March, five years after she signe...

Another four weeks in 'lock-down' and another zoom! Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have had to cancel all gatherings at the garden. Instead of stopping the Grow Your Own course, we felt it would be more beneficial to continue with the course online albeit in a different way, with a practical to catch up when we can all be at the garden together again.  

The April theme was soil building and soil fertility. This is the heart of organic...

Today, we held the March Grow Your Own course via zoom due to the Coronavirus lock-down. Although different from gathering at the garden, it was nice to see the faces of those doing the course, particularly amidst these times of social distancing!

We began with a check-in - it was nice to hear lots of people spending time at their allotment or in their back garden. Kai then introduced the theme of the session: soil cultivation. 

Soil cult...

This week we held the first Outdoor Play session at Global Gardens. These sessions aim to support family-based outdoor play in the setting of the Global Gardens plot.

We were excited to welcome nine families to the session.

Led by Johana Hartwig, artist and forest school facilitator and supported by Stephen Watts, Ediculture we began by creating the foundation of the gathering space for the Outdoor Play sessions - a log circle.

We used flour t...

Right now, it is really important to support our immune system. 

Drawing upon the amazing resources of the Rhizome Community Clinic, here are a few top tips that will help you stay well. 

1. Keep healthy.

Take adequate rest, eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses and whole grains and keep physically active.

2. Stay hydrated.

It is really important to stay hydrated. Start the day with hot lemon and ginger and drink warm water/hot lemon and g...

Thanks to support from the Co-operative Local Community Fund, we are able to host herb workshops for clients from CHAP Women's gardening group with Kate Aster, a medical herbalist. 

This week, on the full moon otherwise known as the Worm Moon, we harvested nettle and dandelion from the garden for a mineral tonic. We rinsed the dandelion roots and decocted with the nettles for an hour on a low heat.

Nettles

Nettles are high in iron, protein, cal...

On the 22nd February, we gathered for the first of ten Grow Your Own workshops of 2020. Led by Kai Lange, a grower and biodynamic educator, the aim of each session is to attend to the seasonal needs of the garden and to learn by doing.  

The February session was all about planning and pruning. After introductions, Kai spoke about plant connections: links between roots, stems and leaves as well as with subterranean communities in the soil...

Today we had a bird-watching workshop at the garden, as part of the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch (25-27 January 2020).

The RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch is one of the biggest citizen science projects in the world. Every year around half a million people in the UK set aside one hour to watch-out for birds in their garden or local green space. Information gathered from the weekend is used to gather information about bird populations and distribution...

2019 has been a busy time at Global Gardens. From sowing seeds, planting out, watering in and harvesting at the plot. Writing, weaving and dyeing fabric in the greenhouse. To cracking on with some infrastructural improvements - including installation of a compost toilet and commencement of construction of the Global Gardens kitchen/classroom.  

Land-based Arts and Crafts

This year we hosted a series...