Good to Grow Week 2024
From 22 - 29 April community gardens can join our week of action to celebrate the new growing season, open your doors to new and current volunteers and build the Right to Grow movement.
Good to Grow activities will take place across the week from Monday 22- 29 April 2024. Each year, we invite gardens to celebrate the new growing season by opening their doors to volunteers and community members to help out in their local garden, while supporting and enjoying all of the valuable community spaces around the UK. Good to Grow Week is a great way to get the garden ready for the growing season.
This year we are offering community gardens and growing spaces something a little different, with the option to either run a normal Good to Grow open day and/or choose to plan an event around one of two key themes:
- Right to Grow: support and amplify the campaign for the Right to Grow, led by Incredible Edible.
- Growing for Nature: encouraging and tracking nature and biodiversity as part of the Capital Growth Growing for Change campaign, linking up with the global City & Nature Challenge
Whatever you decide to do with your Good to Grow Week, the event provides a great way to inspire and engage the next generation of growers, attract more volunteers to your project and connect your community to the wider movement.
Plan and register your event, to be added to the Sustain Good to Grow map as well as access resources, expertiseand support to publicise your event. Publicity and a resource pack will be available on your Capital Growth member dashboard.
Not already a member of the Good to Grow network? No problem! Membership is free and the form takes about 5 minutes. The Good to Grow Network is for everyone, whether you’re growing food already or keen to get started. We welcome community gardens, allotments, school gardens, city farms, growing enterprises and growers.
Why get involved with #GoodtoGrow2024?
Each year thousands of volunteers take part across the UK to kick-start the growing season and provide opportunities for people to get involved in community growing. After you sign up your garden to take part in Good to Grow week, you'll receive toolkits and guides to support you to run an activity plus resources to help plan and promote your event, including a free webinar in March.
This year we have two suggested themes for your activities, to bring a fresh approach and support national campaigns. Of course, you don't have to do either and can go ahead with a normal Good to Grow day if you would like!
Right To Grow activities
The Right to Grow campaign is run by Incredible Edible and seeks to formally establish a right for citizens to grow food on suitable public sector land through influencing decision-makers in local and national government. In a climate of food insecurity driven by the cost-of-living crisis and global warming, a years-long wait for allotment spaces and increasing institutional barriers to land and growing spaces, join us in building momentum in the call for a much needed 'Right to Grow'.
What sort of activities could you run?
Be a part of the movement advocating for accessible land. You could host a panel discussion, a youth engagement session or invite along councillors, MPs, activists and other growers along to make the case for the Right to Grow. Or you could create a banner to make a splash on social media and run a garden open day to make the case for the benefits of community access to land. Either way we encourage those of you with land to join forces to prepare beds, sow seeds, and revel in the growing season together while advocating for accessible land.
A full resource pack with a campaign brief, template motion, tips, how to guides and comms support will be provided to all growing spaces who wish to participate in this growing national movement when you register For more information, get in touch with lily@sustainweb.org
Growing for Nature activities
We know that community food growing supports biodiversity and has huge potential to do even more to help bring endangered populations back from the brink and connect people to nature. The more we can measure and prove this, the greater our case for saving and securing sites.
What sort of activities could you run?
You could organise a BioBlitz or nature trail to spot and record plant, animal, and insect life on your site, run a bug hotel-building workshop or nature-themed activity to get people in your community involved in giving wildlife a boost and learn about our friendly pollinators.
If you’re a London-based garden, you can also take the Growing for Change pledge helping support the campaign.
We're seeking 4 flagship gardens to run workshops during Good to Grow week. If you're interested look out for the email or get in touch with ali@sustainweb.org
Want to join Good to Grow Week 2024?
For gardens: Registration is open now.
For individuals and others: Gardens and growing spaces across the UK will be added to the map from late February onwards so check the Good to Grow map. Alternatively, get directly in touch with your nearest garden to express your interest.
The history
The Big Dig Day started as an event run by Capital Growth in 2012 to engage volunteers in local food growing projects. Funding was also received to roll this out across the UK , recruiting 7,500 new volunteers to take part in community gardening. These local networks continue to recruit and engage volunteers locally.
Since the Big Dig was first launched in 2012, a growing number of gardens have been adopting a 'no dig' approach to food growing and to reflect that we surveyed our members to find a new name that was more inclusive and representative of our network. After a great debate and lots of ideas, Good to Grow was voted in as the overwhelming favourite and we changed the name in 2022.
"Good to Grow is far more all encompassing in my opinion, great name!"
"Big Dig is just not appropriate to our project which is run on organic and no dig principles."
"Good to know, it might be - Good to Grow!"
"Good to Grow seems to me more inclusive"
