Gardening community centre

[Rebecca_tree]

Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot about how amazing it would be to have a community space centered around gardening, good coffee, and learning together

Imagine a place where you could:
Rent your own allotment plot (with a small shed!) to grow your own veggies & flowers
Relax in a cozy café with great coffee and homemade treats
Join workshops & events on gardening, sustainability, and wellness
Meet like-minded people in beautiful communal areas designed for socializing & sharing tips


Would this be something you’d use? What would make it even better? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Lots of allotment groups have various forms of it, more or less organised.
Other things they do;
Save and share seeds, slips, roots, etc. Buy seeds communally. I know one where they get a regular delivery of horse manure from army barracks for anyone to use. Having a bee keeper is good.

 

[redback]

Would this be something you’d use? What would make it even better? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Probably a kitchen, an art studio and a mechanical workshop. The thought of more communal housing does appeal in the way you have described. I think shops selling the fresh local produce like vegetables, herbs and a local butcher and baker within walking distance of home would round off the idea.
One more thing - a government service center where staff explain services available (instead of hopeless phone advice from a city miles away).

 

[Rebecca_tree]

Lots of allotment groups have various forms of it, more or less organised.
Other things they do;
Save and share seeds, slips, roots, etc. Buy seeds communally. I know one where they get a regular delivery of horse manure from army barracks for anyone to use. Having a bee keeper is good.

thanks Oliver for your feedback to my thoughts - I'm based in the south east and although I meet people whilst I'm attending to my plot there is no communal spaces, but we often share seeds too and swap produce. Like the idea of a bee keeper. I would like to reach out to my local council to make the allotment more of a community

 

[Rebecca_tree]

Probably a kitchen, an art studio and a mechanical workshop. The thought of more communal housing does appeal in the way you have described. I think shops selling the fresh local produce like vegetables, herbs and a local butcher and baker within walking distance of home would round off the idea.
One more thing - a government service center where staff explain services available (instead of hopeless phone advice from a city miles away).

thanks redback for your feedback to my thought - I love the idea of the art studio and mechanical workshop. Agree with your other ideas. The allotment I use is in a residential area, people come and go there's not much community or communal spaces. I'm planning to reach out to my local council with feedback.

 

[redback]

I'm planning to reach out to my local council with feedback.

Fresh food is sought after as a health measure. The bigger the garden the better. Persistence and community connection will sway the council in time.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

For a start off is there space at the entrance to the allotment site where you could put a temporary building? Planning permission not required for a temporary building, a decent size shed with a window would do you to start off with, somewhere to meet and store communal stuff, seeds, larger tools, whatever. Get people to volunteer on a regular basis and it could run as a shop for excess produce, people need to know it will be open at certain times, or they won't bother coming. That could pay for other stuff.