Celebrate the abundance in London this September with Urban Harvest
London’s annual celebration, Urban Harvest, is here with a heart-warming and belly-filling array of events and activities in food growing spaces across the capital city.
Discover a community garden, city farm, orchard or even a working windmill near you this September. The Capital Growth network is celebrating the abundance within London through apple days, harvest feasts, festivals, seed saving and swapping and they invite you to join in the fun.
Urban Harvest is our annual round-up of autumn events where you'll find so many ways to get involved and enjoy the best of the harvest season without even leaving London.
Keep scrolling or visit the map to find an event near you and get involved in pond dipping, pumpkin weighing, apple juicing, goat hugging, craft making, wild foraging, crafting, dancing and much more.
Thursday 26 September
OmVed Gardens Harvest Community Feast
Celebrate the end of the growing season with an informal community feast celebrating good food, diversity, creativity and connection in a serene green space and learnin ghub hidden away in Highgate
Saturday 28 September
Seed Swap and social at Core Arts Community Garden
Head to Homerton for a seed swap, plant sale, teas and coffees, and chats! Bring seeds to share. All welcome!
Firhill South Allotments Weed & Reap Day
Visit this thriving Lewisham community allotment and join in a fun and productive day. They invite parents and children to come together for their Weed and Reap Day, where they'll be working side by side to weed and harvest the fresh produce they've grown together
Meadow Orchard Project Open day
Visit the Meadow Orchard in Crouch End and see how our volunteers have created an amazing new food growing space. Share a beautiful salad in our new outdoor kitchen social space or fire up our rocket stove for a relaxing cup of herbal tea. Learn some bushcraft fire-lighting skills, tour our amazing apiary and sample honey or join us around our firepit for a fun ukulele session!
Annual Harvest Picnic at Tufnell Park Plant Nursery
Octopus Community are holding our annual Harvest event at their Tufnell Park plant nursery. There will be live music, somatic movement session, harvesting produc,. weighing in of the heaviest squash, seed sowing and hot soup made from their vegetables. The event is free and open to local people.
Calthorpe Community Garden 40th Anniversary Festival
Help this bustling community hub in the heart of Kings Cross celebrate 40 years of community resilience! A whole day of events and activites; Food, Drinks, Stalls, Raffle, Costume Parade, Workshops, Performances, Live Music & DJs.
Skip to Brick festival at The Story Garden
While you’re in Kings Cross, pop over to the Story Garden nestled behind the British Library, for Global Generations 20th birthday celebration. With live music, botanical cocktails, beer, wood fired pizzas, crafting workshops and more, you can join the party for one last big hurrah at the Story Garden before they move to the #TriangleSite, their first permanent site in 2025.
Autumn seed swap at OmVed Gardens
Enjoy a day of community, learning, and autumnal beauty at OmVed Gardens in Highgate. A wonderful opportunity for gardeners of all levels to come together, share seeds, exchange gardening tips, and celebrate the beauty of autumn.
Harlesden Town Autumn Festival
Join in for an afternoon of pumpkin painting, lucky dip, raffle, plant sale, cakes, face painting & flower arranging workshop. All welcome!
Sunday 29 September
Windmill Gardens Harvest Festival
Visit a working mill in Brixton, surrounded by beautiful gardens and food growing plots. Windmill Gardens are hosting a family event with bread making, craft workshops, live music, Morris dancing, shop and café.
Apple Day at De Frene Market Garden
Swing by sydenham for some orchard fun. Help out with harvesting their many apple trees and enjoy a day of apple picking, pressing, making preserves and other activities for all ages! ! Bring a bottle to take home your freshly pressed apple juice.
Ital Community Garden Open day
Join Coco Collective in Bellingham for a day of greenery and fun for all plant enthusiasts, whether you're a seasoned gardener or just getting started. Get your hands dirty, learn some new tips, and connect with fellow edible plant lovers. Don't miss out on this opportunity to explore the beauty of nature right in the heart of the Lewisham community. All welcome
Paradise Together: Harvest Celebration & Community Mural
Join the Paradise Co-op for a special event celebrating the harvest season! Volunteer in their garden, learn to make cordials and create a community mural celebrating urban food production. Free and open to all. Sign up now!
----------- Past events -------------
Saturday 14 September
Surrey Docks City Farm Annual Harvest Festival
Annual Harvest Festival will be a food-themed free to enter extravaganza! Expect vegetable-themed fair games, animal handling area, plant sales, freshly harvested vegetables & more! Full details about visiting and transport links available here: www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk/visit
Maryon Park Community Garden Open day
Visit Greenwich’s finest food growing site. The Garden, Forest School and stalls will be open with plant, craft and book sales. Guided tours and children's activities. Teas and coffees will be available. The Garden is in Maryon Park, 40m from the main gates by the Lodge at 126 Maryon Road, Charlton, SE7 8DH. Look out for the bunting!
Sutton Community Farm's Harvest Festival
Celebrate the veg harvest, eat lovely food, take part in activities, and enjoy being on this lovely community fruit and veg farm in Wallington, Sutton. There will be farm tours, seasonal veg cooking demos, food growing workshops, and biodiversity walks for nature-lovers.
Meadow Orchard Project Open day (Weds & Saturdays through September)
Visit the Meadow Orchard in Crouch End and see how their volunteers have created an amazing new food growing space. Share a beautiful salad in the new outdoor kitchen social space or fire up the rocket stove for a relaxing cup of herbal tea. Learn some bushcraft fire-lighting skills, tour the amazing apiary and learn about beekeeping or sit around the firepit for a fun ukulele session!
Castle Climbing Centre Annual Apple pressing day
Visit this iconic building in Hackney which is probably the only climbing centre to have its own organic garden, producing food for their café and the local community. Pop along to the apple day and help with chopping, scratting and juicing apples and pears gleaned from our own orchard and local private houses.
Natural plant prinitng workshop at Copeland Park
As part of the Peckham Festival join community gardener and artist Ellie Pritchard from Arbor Projects, in creating a large tapestry of portraits made from plants, using the process of cyanotypes.
Sunday 15 September
Firhill South Allotments Weed & Reap Day
Visit this thriving Lewisham community allotment and join in a fun and productive day. They invite parents and children to come together for their Weed and Reap Day, where they'll be working side by side to weed and harvest the fresh produce they've grown together
Growing Communities Clissold Park Market Garden Open Day
Don’t miss this opportunity to explore this productive Hackney growing site, check out the insect life and ask the growers for top tips on how to attract pollinators and help your plants thrive using organic, nature-friendly techniques. Join a garden tour, get growing tips, eat cake and enjoy family-friendly games.
Natural plant prinitng workshop at Copeland Park
As part of the Peckham Festival join community gardener and artist Ellie Pritchard from Arbor Projects, in creating a large tapestry of portraits made from plants, using the process of cyanotypes.
Friday 20 September
Nature Recording day at Cody Dock
Cody Dock will be hosting a day of talks and workshops on biological recording for both new and existing naturalists. We will be bringing together case studies, interested individuals and active recorders to explore best ways of recording wildlife and then find out what happens to all of our data. Tea, coffee & a vegan lunch will be provided.
Padpoles Nursery Secret Garden open morning
Bring your little ones along to Discover the food in the school garden and do some pond dipping - suitable for under 5’s
Saturday 21 September
Christchurch School Community Garden Open Day
Visit this inspiring community garden in Greenwich. There will be lots of activities, plants and seeds stall plus, as always, home grown refreshments and chat. Plenty for all ages.
Cranbrook Community Gardens 15th birthday celebration and harvest feast!
Celebrate with Tower Hamlets' much-loved community garden and enjoy a day of gardening, arts, crafts, children's activities and community meal.
Meadow Orchard Project Open day
Visit the Meadow Orchard in Crouch End and see how our volunteers have created an amazing new food growing space. Share a beautiful salad in our new outdoor kitchen social space or fire up our rocket stove for a relaxing cup of herbal tea. Learn some bushcraft fire-lighting skills, tour our amazing apiary and sample honey or join us around our firepit for a fun ukulele session!
Seed Saving workshop at Vine Road Community Growing Project
Head to Barnes Common for a free training session on seed saving. Saving seeds opens up a whole new dimension of engagement with plants. Saving seeds is a way to save money, and can contribute to biodiversity in the garden, maintaining access to seed stocks for communities and widening crop diversity.
Feastilicious food and fun on Clapham Common
Visit Bandstand Beds and join in an afternoon of activities including scarecrow building, storytelling and guess the weight of Penelope Pumpkin for children. There'll be stalls with scrumptious jams, chutneys and pickles made from their garden produce. Learn about amphibians with Froglife, and Dr Bike will be there to check out your trusty two-wheeled steed.
Autumn Equinox at Garden of Earthly Delights
Gather in the heart of Hackney for some seasonal celebration, enjoying garden harvest, communally cooked and shared food, and appreciating nature’s gifts with apple pressing and bonfire.
Sunday 22 September
Abundance Day at Forest Farm Peace Garden
Join a celebration of the harvest way out East in Hainault. There will be apple juicing, a children's activity, plant sales, seed swap, tea and cakes and a chance to by some of the produce from our 2 acre garden. There will also be a foraging walk from our resident ethnobotanist Aaron.
Just a few stops away on the Central Line you’ll find South Woodford Urban Orchard is having an orchard gardening session. Find out more about how to care for fruit trees and the unique habitat that orchards provide.
Organiclea Open Day & plant sale
Discover Hawkwood Plant Nursery - a 12-acres of food growing heaven, near Chingford in north east London. A productive food growing site with woodland, orchards, glasshouses and fields that also trains organic growers. Site tours, apple pressing, compost and plant sale.
10/09/2024
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Capital Growth is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
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