Community growing spaces across Oxford are signing up to be part of next year's Big Dig, a national project all about making urban food growing a part of every urban landscape. Community Action Groups Cultivate, OxGrow and Barracks Lane Community Garden have already signed up to running events during March 2013, with many other groups ready to follow.

The aim is to increase awareness and engage new people in growing food in community gardens, allotments and other projects. In 2012 a hundred projects across six cities opened their gates to the public, and this time around even more are planning to take part.

If you are part of a community growing space then you too can join in by hosting an event. Example events from last year include walking/cycling tours of edible gardens, community picnics, cooking and sharing food grown on the sites and work parties. What The Big Dig can then offer is national publicity, and also the following materials:

• Big Dig bits and bobs (stickers, bunting, leaflets etc. if you want them)
• 1 visit from a growing advisor (or 5 x 30mins telephone advice)
• Discounts of over 30pct on the rrp for all products from Compost Direct
• 1 prize per town/city for an outstanding contribution to The Big Dig
• A selection of seeds
• Access to the national volunteer matching website
• Training sessions around land issues, growing, and managing volunteers
• Media and press support

If you would like to sign up as a growing space, or to find out more about the events taking place, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  for more information.

For more on The Big Dig visit their website.