Dig for Victory - against climate change

When most people think of BTCV they see us as a solely a practical conservation charity involved in managing woods, ponds, parks, grasslands and regenerating urban sites.

Whilst this is mainly true, over the last few years the number of food growing/ horticultural and community gardening projects that we are involved in has steadily grown. This is because of the increasing interest in food growing amongst the population as a whole linked with BTCV’s ability to respond to the interests of its volunteers and provide the types of projects that they want to do. In 2008-2009 BTCV staff organised about 2,500 food growing project days which achieved almost 30,000 volunteer workdays. (This is over 15% of BTCV’s total volunteer workdays).

BTCV firmly encourages the idea of growing, cooking and eating food that has been produced within the local community. Not only is this a healthy form of physical activity it also reduces food miles and thus CO2 emissions.

The beauty of learning how to grow food and undertake community gardening projects with BTCV is that you are able to learn basic horticultural skills alongside others who are all too pleased to share their wealth of knowledge. Gardening by yourself can be quite solitary whereas working with a BTCV team is a more sociable and fun way to work.

Some of BTCV's gardening projects

Below are listed some of our most successful community gardening / food growing projects. These are just a few of the many projects which are digging for victory against climate change. Check out our volunteering page to see what your local BTCV Project / BTCV Community Network Group is doing.

Other national food growing initiatives

Alternatively, rather than joining in with a BTCV project such as those listed above, you might wish to grow fruit and vegetables in your own garden or allotment. If this is the case there is lots of information and support available to those many 1,000s of people who are turning their hands to food growing for the first time.

Below is a brief description of some of these new national initiatives. Also, don’t forget to, contact your local Horticultural Society, Gardening Club or Allotments Association for advice.

Eat Seasonably

There’s never been a better time to ‘Grow Your Own’. More people than ever are getting involved, saving money and experiencing the joy of tasting the fresh fruit and vegetables they’ve grown themselves.

To help you get growing this spring, the nation’s biggest gardening stores and organisations have all teamed up in one place:, the Eat Seasonably website

On the website you’ll find:

• The ten easiest fruit and veg you can grow, with step-by-step instructions of how to grow them
• The best products and special offers to help you get started
• Tips on what to be growing now
• The latest news and info about food growing events near you

So if you’re a first-time grower and are wondering where to begin, go to eatseasonably.co.uk where help is at hand at from the nation’s garden gurus.

Landshare

The Landshare website is bought to us by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Channel 4 who ‘matchmake’ people with spare land with people who want to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

Thousands of gardens, allotments and areas of land owned by individuals and organisations is being made available for cultivation all across the UK. http://landshare.channel4.com/ Visit this website if you;

• Have a spare plot of land that you would be happy for somebody to cultivate
• Would like advice from your local ‘veg doctor’
• Would like to volunteer to become a ‘veg doctor’