What is a Community Garden?
A community garden is, quite simply, any piece of land gardened by a group of people for the benefit of the group and the wider community.
Community Gardens provide open space, a place to grow organic food, healing centres for people with mental and physical disabilities, as well as creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education. Community gardens are an immensely valuable resource to communities and can transform an underused space.
Community Gardens are ideal for individuals who live in flats or homes that don’t provide enough space for personal gardens or those who have a bit of a garden but have no idea how to begin to grow food in it. Getting involved in a gardening community allows individuals who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to grow their own plants and vegetables to do so too.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to garden and to have a share of the free crops they have helped to grow.
We aspire to achieve a garden that local people can get involved in and reap the benefits, much like the Peoples Community Garden run by ActivLives. We’d love it if you’d like to be involved.
Where is the NW Ipswich Community Garden?
The NW Ipswich Community Garden is within the Castle Hill Allotment, which lies between Ashcroft Road and the railway line.
The garden is situated in the south-west corner of the allotment, nearest to Norwich Road.
We looked across the entire NWI BLT area for the most suitable space and settled on Castle Hill Allotments off Ashcroft Road and, if the project is successful, it is our aim to look to develop other underused spaces.
We hope to attract residents of all ages and backgrounds from Whitehouse and Whitton as well as Castle Hill which in turn will meet many of the Objectives of the NWI BLT project… Read our Mission Statement here
Why does NW Ipswich need a Community Garden?
Several residents from across the area of Whitehouse Castle Hill and Whitton have said they would like one that’s why. Its that simple.
The benefits of community gardening are not just limited to growing and eating your own produce. Many other factors come into play, such as helping people to make new friends who may be at risk of isolation offering an improved quality of life, lower family food budgets, conservation, better eating habits and much more.