Home grown fruit, vegetables and flowers take centre stage at the Islington Grow Show
The third Islington Grow Show was a huge success, with around 1000 people attending Caledonian Park on Sunday to celebrate food growing, gardening and community.
Throughout the day people displayed an impressive range of fruit, vegetables, flowers, herbs and other homemade produce, demonstrating the creativity and passion in local people.
Not all attendees were green fingered pro’s either – some had bought some impressive produce that they had grown for the first time, including tomatoes, peppers and fiery chilli peppers, pickles, herbal teas, and beautiful edible flowers.
As well as the food on display, visitors enjoyed a host of different activities including tree walks, horticultural sessions, ecology and tree walks, microgreen and ‘you can grow that here’ workshops with Black Rootz, a food growing talk with the Vertical Veg Man, pickling workshop with Sustainable Nutrition Academy, and bramble bee habitat making with Archway Upcyle.
The atmosphere was enhanced by Mbilla Arts who ran African drumming sessions throughout the day, and everyone enjoyed a shared community lunch, created by The Barefoot Planter Chauntelle Lewis, and Tina Nito, a Filipino chef from Migrateful, using food donated for the event.
Cllr Ruth Hayes, Executive Member for Health and Social Care said: “The Islington Grow Show is a great example of what can happen when communities come together, share ideas, and support each others visions.
"The variety of produce on show celebrates the diversity in Islington, and the passion and dedication of gardeners who grow in window boxes, balconies and community gardens.
"Local people, community groups and businesses growing food is good for the environment, good for people’s mental and physical health, and good for the purses too!"
Chauntelle Lewis, the Barefoot Gardener, said: "The Islington Grow Show this year is a celebration and reminder of community resilience in ever changing environments. With limited rainfall due to five heatwaves across this Summer, we've collectively observed the direct impact on gardening and farming activities nationwide.
"Improving food security, reducing food waste and supporting local farmers is crucial now more than ever. We're grateful for the generous donations from both Farm Direct (organic produce) and Felix (surplus food), which contributed to both the annual plant-based community lunch and the giveaway."
Notes to editors
Notes to editors
Chauntelle Lewis, founder of The Barefoot Planter, delivers sustainably-led gardening workshops, cooking classes, and dining experiences by partnering with businesses, local authorities and institutions.
Chauntelle and Sana Barclay met while assisting on a National Trust workshop for the Sky Gardening Challenge campaign. That connection carried through to the Islington Grow Show, where The Barefoot Planter partnered with Islington In Bloom to curate another seasonal, plant-based community lunch – supported by chef Tina from Migrateful, with Sana assisting throughout.
Farm Direct is a weekly delivery service bringing fresh, seasonal food direct from over 150 small-scale UK farms and food producers to Londoners. Roots established in Islington in 2009 with a mission of “feeding London within biophysical reality”. Placing an emphasis on agroecological farming practices that work in harmony with nature, protect soils, and help tackle climate change.
Felix, surplus food charity and distributor “rescue food for fuller lives”. Felix partner with supermarkets, restaurants, wholesalers, manufacturers, farmers, and charities to get surplus food to 8,000 charities and community groups across the nation.
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