Our story
Global Gardens Project is based on Flaxland Allotment site, Cardiff. We took on an overgrown area of the allotment in 2016 and since then have been working to create a community garden. At the site there is an organic kitchen garden, orchard and wildlife outdoor play area.
Activities are centred around bringing people in the Cardiff community together to learn about organic gardening; seasonal, nourishing cooking, and; sustainable arts and crafts. In the process we hope to nurture intercultural and intergenerational communication and understanding and nature-based connection. We also host a forest school at the site. We aim to inspire people to take climate action, building upon the mentoring we have received from Renew Wales through the Climate Action Boost Scheme.
We offer two weekly volunteer garden sessions at our community growing site (Wednesday 10am-1pm and Saturday 10-1pm). These sessions provide opportunities for volunteers to learn about growing food sustainably through a range of practical activities (including composting, propagating, cultivating), reducing social isolation and making friends in the process.
We also offer outdoor play sessions for local families at the site that support child-led nature-based play with an experienced forest-school practitioner (once a month on Saturdays and Wednesday 10am-midday). Alongside these activities, we curate a programme of workshops to support development of sustainable skills within the Cardiff area and inspire climate action, with topics ranging from composting to cooking to making and mending.
Through facilitating community-based learning, activities at Global Gardens Project provide space for the forging of friendships across cultures, ages and backgrounds whilst also inspiring people to take climate action at individual, household and community levels. We believe community connections are nurtured through the process of exchanging skills and learning together.
Activities are promoted to people living in Cardiff including families, students and people seeking santuary via our existing social media following, our newsletter, as well as via local community groups.
We are part of the Edible Cardiff network and participated in the annual #HaveaGrow Annual celebration of community gardens. We have also received fantastic support from Social Farms and Gardens Wales, Food Cardiff, Renew Wales and Cynnal Cymru.
Our advice
Organic Principles: Soil food web is vitally important for healthy plants.
Permaculture Principles: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share.
Support Diversity: Different life forms such as plants, insects, birds and mammals; different people with diverse skills and interest, and; different landscapes including wild areas, cultivated areas and woodland all have a role in creating a resilient systems.
Stepping Up: Create space for people to share skills and take responsibility.
Climate action: Urban community gardens can support climate action in the kitchen and garden?
Gardens of Sanctuary: We are interested in exploring how community gardens can be welcoming spaces for those seeking sanctuary.
Our metrics
We monitor the volume of produce we grow at the site and the number of people participating in garden activities. We continue to cultivate dialogue and collect feedback from participants and the wider community to inform the direction of our future work and programme of activities.
