Recognition for green-fingered estates
2 November 2010
A community garden which transformed a housing estate in north London blighted by anti-social behaviour into a thriving green space full of home-grown fruit and vegetables is among three prize-winners in a competition to find the best grow-your-own initiatives on housing estates throughout the capital.
The garden in the Isledon Village Estate in Islington was created on a patch of derelict land previously used for drinking, drug-taking and burning stolen motorcycles. However residents got together and with the help of a grant from Islington Council started growing their own food, transforming the area into a thriving communal space known as the Parkside Growing Plot (pictured above) which is also used for regular community events.
“We now have a thriving growing plot which is used and enjoyed by everyone," says Maria Panteli, who helped set up the garden. "This has brought the community closer and everyone is talking and wanting to get involved in growing their own food."
The title of Best Estate Garden in the Edible Estates competition, run by Capital Growth as part of the London Mayor's initiative to create 2012 new growing plots in London, went to Somerford and Shacklewell Tenants and Residents Association in Hackney. More than 150 people helped plant fruit trees on neglected grass, created raised beds planted with vegetables and distributed their surplus produce around the estate.
The third award, for most creative ways to use recycling in the garden, went to Welcare Greenwich, on the Nightingale Estate in Greenwich, where residents created raised beds from scaffolding boards, laminate flooring and even discarded furniture on land they reclaimed for an open access allotment.
"It's incredible what people can achieve when they get together to create a food growing project," said Paola Guzman of London Food Link, one of the project's partners. "These gardens have created a sense of ownership and pride for residents."