Enjoy another chance to view the highly popular festival sketches exhibition.
As we continue to celebrate our 10th year of operations, we’re delighted to throw open the doors of the festival sketches exhibition again on 27th-28th June, 12-3pm, during the @towngrown #EdibleOpenGardens weekend.
Alongside the garden planting and soundscapes in the log stores, view 6000 children’s sketches inspired by John Agard’s My Name Is BOOK, illustrated by Neil Packer. The drawings are exhibited in ceiling to floor scrolls, scrapbooks, cardboard automata and illuminated shadow exhibits.
Venue directions on the news page of the #ATownExploresABook web site and in the Edible Open Gardens map to be published soon.
A quick reminder that entries for Edible Open Gardens 2026 close tomorrow, Friday 15th.
If you’d like to help inspire fellow food growers over the weekend of 28th/28th June, head over to the website to register your space, link in bio.
#localfoodmovement #edibleopengardens #hastings
As we look ahead to Edible Open Gardens 2026 (27–28 June), here’s a look back at just some of highlights from previous years.
EOG is a chance to discover different approaches to growing food, creative problem-solving, and productive use of all kinds of spaces from gardens and window boxes to community spaces and small holdings.
“The best way to learn is to see.”
We have some fantastic projects we can’t wait to showcase, and there’s still time to register your plot if you’d like to take part. Entry closes this Friday, 15th May.
If you’re already growing food in the Hastings area and would like to welcome visitors on Saturday 27 or Sunday 28 June (or both), head over to the Town Grown website to register; link in bio.
Let’s grow food everywhere!
#edibleopengardens #growyourown #hastings #localfoodmovement
THE URBAN ORCHARD
Imagine transforming our urban areas into greener, lush and edible landscapes!
Well that's exactly what the Town Grown team and their community are doing in Hasting, UK.
In 2022 they launched the 'Our Town is an Orchard’ campaign, where they encouraged people to plant fruit trees in their gardens and community spaces, to create a town-spanning orchard. The team hosted an informal apple tasting, shared details on growing fruit trees and donated several to the campaign – funding from the Transition Network supported this, as well as the mapping on the website and a crib sheet on choosing the right tree.
Over six months over 150 new fruit trees were planted in this virtual and collective orchard. Adding a single tree to individual gardens forms a much wider network of trees – ideal for wildlife. Anna Locke, one of the team members, has 54 trees in 1.5 acres permaculture orchard – a sizeable space that would be difficult to obtain for a community orchard.
"By focusing on individual gardeners who don’t need permission to plant a tree in their own garden, and who care for it as an act of love, our tiny campaign achieved a significant impact."
You can read more about this inspiring project in our BRAND NEW issue of Permaculture magazine – PM128. It's out now in shops and via our website: shop.permaculture.co.uk
#permaculture #urbanorchard #fruittrees #community #ediblecities
Edible Open Gardens is back for 2026!
Over the weekend of June 27th and 28th, we’ll be celebrating local food-growing projects in all shapes and sizes; from window boxes and small domestic gardens to community schemes and commercial initiatives.
If you’d like your plot or project to be featured in this year’s EOG, click the link in our bio or drop us a message.
#localfoodmovement #hastings #stleonardsonsea #growyourown #edibleopengardens
Oh hello sunshine!
Town Grown is springing (ahem) back into action with a mini-series of talks and workshops on the timely theme of food resilience.
Join us at Hastings Contemporary to learn how we can grow food systems that thrive come flood or drought.
See our booking page (link in bio) for sessions on:
⁃ the importance of soil health and composting in agroecology and food security
⁃ how to improve the soil of your own plot while reducing effort and boosting yields
⁃ the top ten nutrient-dense berry crops to benefit the grower and garden ecology alike
We will be giving away seeds at each session - vegetable crops that actively help each other thrive when planted together.
Tickets £5pp/session. Places are limited so early booking strongly advised!
#hastings #soilhealth #resilientfoodsystems #permaculture #edibleopengardens
Joyous and grateful thanks to @towngrown with @greatdixterofficial and @transitiontownhastings who brightened our day in a magical, nature-connecting trip to #GreatDixter.
It was idyllic. Do we feel better for it and more connected to plants and to our community? Yes we do🌼🌸🌺
WIN - Great Dixter prize draw!
If the Edible Open Gardens weekend whetted your appetite for more, our kind sponsors at Great Dixter are offering EOG visitors the chance to win one of 10 free tickets to their wonderful house and gardens.
Click the link in our bio and fill in the feedback form to enter.
Closing date 29th July, winners announced 31st July
#edibleopengardens #prizedraw #greatdixter
Edible Open Gardens is here!
We have so many inspiring spaces taking part this weekend, from smallholdings to window boxes, back gardens to community plots. Come and see how they grow!
Check the website for full listings and opening times, see link in bio.
If you’re quick you can grab one of the few remaining brochures from Wonderfill, 43 Kings Rd.
#permaculture #growyourownveg #localfood #hastings #stleonardsonsea
No car? No problem!
We have 26 amazing gardens, farms & growing spaces opening their gates to Edible Open Gardens 2025. Most are easy to reach on foot or by public transport — but three special spots on the edge of town are a bit trickier to get to… so we’ve arranged a tour!
Join us for a Saturday morning tour taking in Stonelynk, Small Meadow Farm & Gad’s Reach — beautiful places well worth the trip.
🕙 Departs: 10am Sat 28th June 📍 From: St Leonards Warrior Square (Kings Rd side) 💷 £5 (subsidised by HVA) ⏰ Back around 1:30pm 🎟 Limited places — aimed at those without transport
Book at Wonderfill (43 Kings Rd, open Weds–Sun) or email [email protected] / call 01424 532104 . First come, first served!
See TownGrown website for full listings
#edibleopengardens #hastings #stleonardsonsea #localfoodmovement #permaculture
Edible Open Gardens, 28th & 29th June. See the Town Grown website for full listings and opening times of all 26 locations.
Here are just a few highlights:
Ore Place Farmhouse: A 17-year-old no-dig organic garden featuring fruit trees, 110m² of mixed veg and flowers, a raspberry patch, greenhouse, and a grapevine.
Woodland Cottage: A permaculture-inspired garden, blending food, flowers, and wildlife into a biodiverse oasis with no-dig veg plots, a forage garden, and a wildlife pond.
St Matthews is one of St Leonards’ historic communal gardens. Once a WWII home guard training ground, it’s now a vibrant space with formal borders, food growing, an orchard, play areas, and design that nurtures biodiversity.
#naturefriendlygardening #growyourown #hasting #stleonardsonsea #biodiversity #localfood
