“Planting Up” permaculture project aims to create community gardens in Milton Keynes that serve the local community and the natural environment.
Our project was originally formed by volunteers at Transition Town Milton Keynes and was supported by funding from MK Community Foundation for our first community garden and project base at Westbury Arts Centre (WAC) in Shenley Wood.
Our volunteer group created a Forest Garden and social growing area that works with nature to be a low-maintenance, self-sustaining and productive space for local people to enjoy at WAC. Building a community garden this way, where volunteers learn from each other and help one another along the way, is at the heart of us creating a permanent culture that benefits everyone.
Taking what we’ve learned, we now aim to support the development of a community garden in every estate of Milton Keynes.
We believe that every local community should have a safe, welcoming and sustainable community garden for people of all ages to use and enjoy -connecting them to local food, the natural world and each other.
In it’s simplest form, our project connects with the Transition movement by teaching us how we can grow our own food; which can not only save you money, keep you fit and give you a healthier lifestyle, but that also allows you to know exactly what you are eating and how to produce it in an environmentally-friendly way.
Our focus on permaculture also means that we recycle, reuse materials, and keep to local resources; saving money, protecting the environment and helping to reduce our carbon footprint.
By following permaculture principles we apply “no-dig” gardening methods and work together to grow organic produce we can eat and learn about, whilst also creating wildlife habitats that encourage a rich biodiversity in the garden. This sociable and environmentally-friendly way of gardening helps our project to be inclusive and helps us to reduce our food miles, produce less waste and grow plants/trees that help to clean the air around us.
Our project can help you lead a happier, healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyle as you get stuck in, learn new skills and make new friends volunteering on a meaningful project that will make a positive difference to your local community, Milton Keynes and in tackling climate change.
Find your nearest community garden on our map and contact us to help us add more MK sites.
To join our group, sign up to our mailing list or contact us here. Or you can always follow us on Twitter and Facebook too.
In this short interview with Jon from Arthur Ellis: Mental Health Support we talk about nature and community gardening in Milton Keynes, and all the benefits they can have on our mental health and wellbeing…
It all started with an idea… Back in February our newest volunteer, Agne, emailed to confirm that she had bought the two hay bales the group had talked about over lunch at the last permablitz garden work party. Agne had mentioned that she’d read an article about growing pumpkin out of hay bales and wanted…
We can’t underestimate the impact of social distancing and self isolation (not to mention the financial burden) that the pandemic is having on people’s health and wellbeing. Milton Keynes NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have these helpful self-care resources to share with us…
Despite the lockdown, we’re still Planting Up. Here’s what we’ve been doing to start off some seeds which we hope will inspire you to grow your own at home too…
To help with the impact of social distancing and self isolation on people’s health and wellbeing in the wake of the Coronavirus, Milton Keynes NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have shared these helpful self-care resources…
We enjoyed another perfect community garden work party on Sunday 8 March – sharing knowledge, skills, active outdoor work & amazing food in wonderful company…