Over 200 celebrate the creation of a new Roots Allotments growing community in Stourbridge

It’s a special thing being able to bring so many like minded people together and enjoy such a special place that our Sugar Loaf Fields community has become. We put on a lovely day of fun and talks that helped us feel grounded in why we are all part of the grow your own movement, whether a market gardener, horticulturist or allotmenteer we all had a platform to discuss why we all see a positive future in growing local food.

From the snail grand national to welly wanging, we had a ton of fun and also managed to raise £370 for the Ruskin Mill Trust (https://rmt.org/) through our Roots raffle that had some amazing prizes from Passenger Clothing, Charles Dowding, Tomato Revolution, Tamar Organics and Urban Herbs - thank you so much to our kind prize donors it’s lush to be able to spread good vibes outside of our allotment communities. The money raised goes to their student council enrichment fund which goes towards a college student trip at the end of the summer term!

We heard from Paul & Emma who run Wild Wisdom Farm a no-dig regenerative farm just down the road from our location, where the highest nutrient density of the produce is their primary goal together with maximising the biodiversity of the land. We need more food growers gardens in the world and finding them access to land is a topic that comes up time and time again!

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Next up was Charles who is a volunteer for Ruskin Mill Trust with the experience of being a Landworker and Tutor at Valehead Biodynamic Farm. He spoke about thee primary work of the Trust being to re imagine the potential of their students through Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE). The vision of the Trust is that each individual has the potential to shape their own future through experiencing meaningful relationships with universe, earth and people.

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Lloyd, Founder, of Riverside House gave a passionate speech about running an ambitious social regeneration project located at a derelict and neglected grade II listed 19th Century iron masters house and grounds.Through thick and thin he has managed to turn the space around and now it helps runs a brilliant programme to a diverse and inclusive community. This includes anything from social prescribing, working with people with ASD and local schools and colleges.

Finally we heard from Andy of Urban herbs who gave a passionate speech that beautifully summarised the reasons behind why we grow, whether it’s community, wellbeing, biodiversity or nutrition we should all take an interest in where our food comes from and the the fellow humans who we experience life with.

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Asides from talks, one of our members, Amy, baked an incredible cake that was shared between many people! Some serious bake off skills were on show and we all appreciated it! We also had the fab Lisa of the Silver Cafe Co to supply hot and cold refreshments throughout the day. The airstream was super cool and totally fitted our vibe - thank you for coming along!

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The day ended with us all feeling super inspired and grateful for this green space that our members can now come to and share and connect over the power of growing!