It’s that time of year again! As the sun starts to shine and our plants are out in flower, National Gardening Week is a chance to celebrate and enjoy everything homegrown. This blog contains everything you need to know to immerse yourself in all things Gardening Week!
What’s happening this year?
This year the RHS are calling on gardeners and garden lovers to share their love and appreciation for home-grown produce with this year’s theme – Edible Britain.
“It’s clear that people are keen to reconnect with where their food comes from. We’re supporting this burgeoning interest by encouraging people, groups, societies, garden centres, nurseries and other organisations to showcase their edible expertise, and highlight all things grow-your-own”.
Why is it important?
National Gardening Week is the nation’s biggest gardening event, celebrating and raising awareness of the importance of gardening and the difference it can have to individuals and communities lives. This is a time to cherish the joy of homegrown and beautiful green spaces, as well as inspiring future generations to continue with their green fingers.
This year’s theme also aims to encourage the nation to start looking to their back gardens when it comes to food. It is also highlighting that everyone has a space to grow something, whether it be a a single herb pot on a windowsill, a tomato plant on a balcony or an allotment filled with potatoes and leeks.
So to celebrate this week we’ve come up a list of things you and your friends and family can do:
- Make sure you gain permission first, but cleaning up an unused area of your neighbourhood and turning it into a community garden is a great way to involve your community in a project that will benefit beyond National Gardening week.
- Add salad seeds (rocket/ purple lettuce) to a seed tray in the shape of your name and nurture until grown.
- Grow an edible hanging basket using tumbling cherry tomato or strawberries.
- Have a bake sale using ingredients from your garden such as carrot cake, beetroot brownies and edible flowers.
- Invite friends and family for a meal using ingredients from your garden (suggest guests bring their own creations using homegrown produce for dessert).
- Organise a plant sale and share edible plants that people can take away and grow at home.
Also – Make sure to look out for any gardening events this week in your local area, you can find them here.