Brighton & Hove Food Partnership has been working with Growing Hollingdean – a local community group developing community growing and wildlife spaces – and with Brighton Permaculture Trust, who bring expertise in food forests, orchards, and community co-designed spaces. Together, we have collaborated to increase the amount of edible food grown in Hollingdean Park and around the Family Hub as part of the Edible Brighton & Hove campaign.
From January’s first design session through to October’s joyful harvest celebration, our community has come together throughout the year to create something truly special at Hollingbury Park. Over 100 plants now flourish in the edible forest garden, and the journey getting there has been every bit as rewarding as the destination.
Where It All Began: Community Design Day (January 12th 2025)
On a crisp sunny winter morning in January last year, around 30 enthusiastic adults and children gathered at Hollingdean Family Hub with a shared vision: to design and create beautiful edible gardens in their local community space. There was energy in the room as we spread out plans, shared ideas, and began to map out what would become our edible forest garden.
Children sat at tables coming up with fantastic designs, while others explored the outdoor space, imagining where fruit trees and herbs would soon grow. It was the perfect start to our journey – collaborative, in
Getting Our Hands Dirty: Edible Landscape Training Day (February 9th 2025)
After we collated the designs, we priced up the overriding favourites and contacted B&H City Council’s Parks team for approval. After their input we tweaked some of the designs in readiness as February 2025 brought our first major planting day, and what a day it was. Despite the overcast skies, nothing could dampen the enthusiasm as we rolled up our sleeves and began transforming our designs into reality.
This was where theory met practice. We learned about food forests, prepared the soil, and started building the framework for our edible hedgerow. Children worked alongside adults, discovering the satisfaction of using real tools and getting properly muddy. The sight of wooden stakes going into the ground, wheelbarrows full of compost being moved about, and the first plants finding their new homes was incredibly rewarding.
The highlight? Watching the youngest members of our community master new skills – from using spades to understanding why we mulch. Their determination and joy were infectious. By the end of the day, the bones of our edible garden were taking shape, complete with chestnut stakes marking where our plants would soon create a productive boundary.
‘I came here with my son and I have had an exceptionally lovely day what a lovely way to spend a day, I have some delicious food, apple pressing and now there is some music, I am really impressed’
Community Planting Day: Bringing the Orchard to Life (March 9th 2025)
March 2025 blessed us with beautiful spring sunshine as we gathered for our largest planting session yet. The Hollingdean Park Community Orchard sign stood proudly as families worked together among the fruit trees, adding to the diversity that would make this space so special.
This was the day our forest garden really came into its own. We planted over 50 specimens including wildflower plugs, fruit bushes, and herbs. The variety was astonishing: honeyberry, jostaberry, walking onion, and Ugni alongside more familiar favourites like raspberries, strawberries, and various thymes and mints.
Watching children carefully position their plants, learning to give each one the space and care it needed, was a joy. The pear trees we planted that day, still in their winter dormancy, held the promise of harvests to come. Everyone worked with purpose, knowing that what we planted together would be enjoyed by our community for years to come.
Nurturing What We’d Grown: Forest Garden Care Training Day (July 13th 2025)
By summer, our gardens were starting to establish and some thriving – and it was time to learn how to keep them that way. July’s training day brought our community back together under glorious sunshine, with the established trees of the orchard providing welcome shade.
This session was all about deepening our knowledge. We learned seasonal pruning techniques, discovered natural pest management approaches, and got hands-on experience with scything. The group photo captured the pride and commitment of everyone involved – volunteers who’d returned time and again, now becoming skilled guardians of these spaces.
Walking through the gardens we’d created, seeing how much everything had grown in just months, was extraordinary. The edible hedgerow was filling out beautifully. Children who’d helped plant were now learning to care for and harvest from the very same plants.
‘Today it has been wonderful to me to see the children, just playing together and hanging out, you have created a real safe space for them to really explore apple making, to have food, to run in and out of the apple orchard and also to be together with their parents or with other parents, a real intergenerational community happened here today, it was absolutely wonderful.’
Celebrating the Harvest: Forest Garden Harvest Celebration (October 5th 2025)
And then came October – the moment we’d all been working toward. Our Harvest Festival was a perfect autumn celebration that brought together everything we’d achieved.
The morning saw dedicated volunteers gathering for one final work session, tending to the gardens before the main celebration. Then, from midday, families streamed in to enjoy the fruits of our collective labour – quite literally.
The sound of traditional Appalachian folk music drifted through the orchard as musicians gathered among the fruit trees. Children crowded around the apple press, fascinated to watch the transformation from whole fruit to golden juice. Anna was back with her cooking demonstrations, filling the air with delicious aromas. The Tree Guardians banner fluttered in the breeze, bunting adding splashes of colour between the branches.
This wasn’t just about the harvest. It was about community. Families who’d planted together in winter now celebrated together in autumn. Children who’d learned to use spades in February were now operating the apple press. The gardens we’d dreamed up in January were now living, productive spaces buzzing with life and laughter.
This wasn’t just about the harvest. It was about community. Families who’d planted together in winter now celebrated together in autumn. Children who’d learned to use spades in February were now operating the apple press. The gardens we’d dreamed up in January were now living, productive spaces buzzing with life and laughter.
What We’ve Created Together
Looking back over these five sessions, the statistics are impressive: over 100 plants establishing two distinct growing areas, approximately 30 people at each sold-out session, countless hours of community effort. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
We’ve planted apple and pear trees, created an edible hedgerow bursting with blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, and herbs, established a forest garden featuring everything from wine berries to walking onions, and introduced wildflowers to support pollinators. The diversity is remarkable – from the familiar (rosemary, thyme, sage) to the unusual (honeyberry, Ugni, jostaberry).
But more than plants, we’ve cultivated community. We’ve created a space where children learn where food comes from, where neighbours work side by side, where skills are shared freely, and where everyone – regardless of experience – can contribute meaningfully.
The Road Ahead
Our edible gardens are established now, but this is just the beginning. These fruit trees will grow stronger each year. The berry bushes will become more productive. The herbs will spread and flourish. And our community will continue to gather, to learn, to harvest, and to celebrate together.
If you’ve been part of this journey, thank you. Your enthusiasm, your hard work, and your commitment have made this possible. If you’re reading this and wish you’d been involved, it’s not too late. There are three more sessions planned during February half-term. In addition, we are also running three sessions at Saunders Park on alternate Wednesday’s on February 4th & 18th and 4th March. Both gardens need ongoing care, and there’s always room for more hands and hearts wishing to get involved.
Special thanks to Anna from Cardamon Pod for providing delicious lunches at every session – fuelling our work and bringing us together around good food. Thanks also B&H City Council for approving most of our design plans. To Cultivate EU for their partnership in making this project possible, and to everyone at Growing Hollingdean who’ve worked tirelessly to make these sessions happen.
Here’s to many harvests ahead.
This project is brought to you by Cultivate & Brighton & Hove Food Partnership
To get involved with Growing Hollingdean or learn about upcoming sessions, please go to the Growing Hollingdean website.
