Grow Your Own Way

Nick met Alex Eldridge, director of therapeutic gardening charity, Grow for Life to spotlight the great work they’re doing in breathing new life into a forgotten garden for one of his Bath Life magazine features over the summer. The charity champions gardening for all and welcomes gardeners from all walks of life, offering a safe place to those experiencing anxiety, isolation, depression or low confidence.

The abandoned paddock belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall, head-high with weeds when they arrived 18 months ago, is the charity’s first dedicated garden and restoration project. Nick finds it bursting with produce and promise, with the likes of leeks and borage interspersed with calendula and cornflower, sweet peas and Madeira Maroon rambling up canes. And on chatting to the team, learns more about their vision to create a vibrant community garden for the future, incorporating an unloved orchard across the lane. Grow for Life is a charity which prides itself on being accessible and possible to all – you can read more about the inspiring work they’re doing in Newton St Loe and the new free gardening sessions they’ve launched in Royal Victoria Park, here.