About
About Cranbrook Community Food Garden
Cranbrook Community Food Garden is a community-run food growing site on Cranbrook Estate in Bethnal Green, east London. It’s free for anyone to come and take part.
Read more about how to join and how we run in the Frequently Asked Questions below:
You! Yes, you! If you are interested in growing food and community, and you live or work in Tower Hamlets, then the garden is for you.
Come and meet your neighbours, get some fresh air and exercise, learn some new skills or share your own, and take home some food in return at the end of the day.
Come and meet your neighbours, get some fresh air and exercise, learn some new skills or share your own, and take home some food in return at the end of the day.
The garden is open every Saturday from 11am until at least 2pm. We stay open much later in the summer, until 5, 6 or even 7pm, making the most of the sunshine!
Between May-September we are also open on Wednesday evenings 6-8pm.
Between May-September we are also open on Wednesday evenings 6-8pm.
Just come in when we are open and say hello. We will show you how everything works and give you a job to do straight away!
If you become a regular contributor, you can request the gate code to access at other times.
If you become a regular contributor, you can request the gate code to access at other times.
Yes! Life is complicated and busy. Come when you can.
If you stop contributing regularly for 6 months, your membership will be considered inactive. Just start coming to our group sessions again when you can to reactivate your membership and regain access outside of opening times.
If you stop contributing regularly for 6 months, your membership will be considered inactive. Just start coming to our group sessions again when you can to reactivate your membership and regain access outside of opening times.
Yes! We welcome people with all levels of knowledge and experience.
We grow food together in the garden. It isn’t separated into different plots for each person like allotments are - we share the work and the results. This makes it really easy to get involved even if you have never grown anything before.
There is a to-do list to work from, and more experienced members can show you how to do the tasks for the day. Once you’ve been coming regularly for a few months, you will be surprised at what you have learned!
We grow food together in the garden. It isn’t separated into different plots for each person like allotments are - we share the work and the results. This makes it really easy to get involved even if you have never grown anything before.
There is a to-do list to work from, and more experienced members can show you how to do the tasks for the day. Once you’ve been coming regularly for a few months, you will be surprised at what you have learned!
Yes! If you have accessibility needs, we will listen and tailor the tasks to suit you.
If your circumstances prevent you from being an active member, you are still welcome to come and enjoy the space when we are open. Come and sit under the pergola with us and enjoy a cup of tea, nature and human company!
If your circumstances prevent you from being an active member, you are still welcome to come and enjoy the space when we are open. Come and sit under the pergola with us and enjoy a cup of tea, nature and human company!
Nothing. It is completely free to join and we want to keep it that way so that it is truly available to everyone to take part.
Correct! It is completely and utterly free to join in. Just come in when we are open!
All it takes is your time, and in return you get to share in the food that we grow. We work on trust and ask members to only take what is in proportion to the time they have contributed.
If you haven’t helped grow the food but you’d like to buy some, we offer excess to passersby and visitors in return for a donation. Pop in when we are open and see what we have available!
All it takes is your time, and in return you get to share in the food that we grow. We work on trust and ask members to only take what is in proportion to the time they have contributed.
If you haven’t helped grow the food but you’d like to buy some, we offer excess to passersby and visitors in return for a donation. Pop in when we are open and see what we have available!
Our members work really hard making jams and chutneys out of excess produce, growing succulents and house plants in the greenhouse, and running stalls at events round the borough, where we sell these in return for a donation.
Everything we raise via these donations goes back into the core running costs of the garden, like insurance, seeds, tools, etc. We rely 100% on donations and volunteer time to keep running.
On top of that, when one of our members has an idea for a special event or a new project they want to run, we apply for funding for that project. See our Projects section for information on recent and current projects we have won funding for.
We do everything we can to support members’ ideas to become reality. There have been lots of smaller projects that we have managed to do for free - for example, creating a mobile market stall out of an old wheelbarrow and some palettes. This won “Best Innovation” at Tower Hamlets in Bloom 2023!
In 2023 we were lucky to have a few corporate volunteer teams come and help in the garden for their community days. Some of them come with a budget that we can spend on materials for the day, which helps with big maintenance and upgrade projects.
Everything we raise via these donations goes back into the core running costs of the garden, like insurance, seeds, tools, etc. We rely 100% on donations and volunteer time to keep running.
On top of that, when one of our members has an idea for a special event or a new project they want to run, we apply for funding for that project. See our Projects section for information on recent and current projects we have won funding for.
We do everything we can to support members’ ideas to become reality. There have been lots of smaller projects that we have managed to do for free - for example, creating a mobile market stall out of an old wheelbarrow and some palettes. This won “Best Innovation” at Tower Hamlets in Bloom 2023!
In 2023 we were lucky to have a few corporate volunteer teams come and help in the garden for their community days. Some of them come with a budget that we can spend on materials for the day, which helps with big maintenance and upgrade projects.
We are all volunteers who live locally. There is a committee of 4-8 members who are elected by the members at an AGM each year. The committee does all the behind-the-scenes admin work, like responding to email enquiries, applying for funding for special projects, making purchases, organising stalls and events, arranging members’ meetings, making this website, etc. There is a lot that goes on that you don’t see!
We aim to run on a co-operative basis, so when there are important decisions to be made, we invite all members to take part, so that all viewpoints are heard and taken into account.
We aim to run on a co-operative basis, so when there are important decisions to be made, we invite all members to take part, so that all viewpoints are heard and taken into account.
If you have any questions that are not answered on this website, please use the form on the Contact Us page and we will get back to you.
Please also send any comments, suggestions or feedback via the Contact Us form. We welcome feedback of all kinds, positive, negative and anything in between!
Please also send any comments, suggestions or feedback via the Contact Us form. We welcome feedback of all kinds, positive, negative and anything in between!