Tag Archives: Big Dig
Big Dig in Birmingham – 2016
The Big Dig returns to Birmingham this April for the third year running. The event will be on the 16th April and will see gardens across the city throw open their doors and give anybody the chance to get down and get digging to really kick start the growing season. Last year was a great success with over 1,600 people taking part across the UK, 1,207 of which had never been involved with the gardens before!
We’re keen to top that number this year so keep your eyes out for further information on the gardens that will be involved, free seeds giveaways and networking events which will all be advertised on here in the coming weeks and months.
Between now and then head over to The Big Dig website and take a look at some of the photos from last year and get inspired to make this year bigger and better! Alternatively, pop over to our Birmingham map and register your own event here.
11am Saturday 21st September – The Big Dig – Thornbridge Allotments
Following the success of our MacMillan Coffee Morning (£365 raised!) and Vegetable Show, it is now time to focus our attention on The Big Dig and Edible Garden Day. Thornbridge Alotments are opening the gates once again to anyone and everyone who is interested in growing their own, plants, wildlife – essentially anything to do with the gardening.
The Big Dig at Mallard Community Orchard
Despite the cold and drizzle, a successful Big Dig event took place on 16th March in Acocks Green. Volunteers have been digging over this piece of derelict ground since December. The land had been untouched for 50 years and became a local dumping ground for rubbish and litter. After lots of heavy digging work, and getting rid of the couch grass, rubble and rubbish, this forgotten corner of Acocks Green was ready for planting a variety of fruit trees and shrubs.
The Big Dig Day. Planting fruit trees in Acocks Green
Birmingham’s first Big Dig Day
Saturday March 16th saw the first ‘Big Dig Day’ in Birmingham. Across the weekend, over 30 grow sites, allotments & community gardens opened their doors to all.
Although the weather forecast was non-too hopeful, groups all around the city put this aside, and welcomed new and existing volunteers to many varied and fun events.
Visiting my first event of the day, I arrived at Edible Eastside, to be met by Jayne & Rob. Lizzie Bean soon arrived and work began in earnest on the next stages of the earth oven.
Despite the rain, volunteers soon started to arrive, and with a fire lit, and work underway, I took my leave to visit Park Lane Garden Centre in Aston for the second stop of the day.
Park Lane were beginning their work on a new community garden next door, and as well as welcoming volunteers, Julia took time to show Clare Savage and I the plans and setting for the new garden.
Big Dig News……..
Birmingham Food Growers NEED YOU!
On the 16th March food growing projects across Birmingham will be opening their doors, gates and sheds to locals in order to introduce you to their sites, start the growing year and get help from volunteers to complete a range of activities (tree planting, seed sowing, soil preparation and MORE!). Across the city, 26 sites have signed up so far….more on the way.
If you want to find out what’s happening there are lots of projects signing up http://bigdig.org.uk/
Big Dig Brum has begun!
Fifty or sixty people were expected. My guess is well over 150 turned up.
Big Dig Brum began at Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Wednesday evening. Enthusiastic, lively, interesting people, a heart-warmingly friendly bunch who gave of their all in the break-out session. Thank you everyone.
Special thanks to organisers/speakers: writer and horticulturalist Alys Fowler, Mike Hardman from BCU, Lee Hale and Clare Savage from Winterbourne’s Urban Veg, Vic Acland (Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Botanical Gardens) and last but by no means least, the instigator of the whole shebang and MC on the night, Chris Blythe.
Community food growers meeting at Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Are you interested in urban food growing, as an individual or part of a community group?
On the 16th January Big Dig Brum is holding a meeting at Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
As well as an opportunity to meet new groups, gather contacts and get ideas, the meeting will also include short presentations by local author and gardening journalist Alys Fowler and Mike Hardman (Birmingham City University) on the need, importance and context of growing food in Birmingham.
A Big Dig in the Growing Gap
Every grass roots movement finds itself pulled in two directions: mucking in vs. wider coordination; hands on vs. strategy. Birmingham’s many community growing projects find themselves getting on with the former, and not so much of the latter.
An emphasis on one direction over the other leaves us with gaps: gaps in communication, gaps in in getting things done, gaps in sustaining a project. For example, at this point, the communication gap means that we don’t even know how many Birmingham groups there are!
Making community food growing part or every town & city – The Big Dig Project plans to expand across England.
Across England, six cities are already participating in the Big Dig Programme: Brighton & Hove, London, Sheffield, Middlesborough, Coventry and Manchester.
The Big Dig is a national project to engage people in community food growing projects across England, and is all about making community food growing a part of every urban landscape.