Growing the Growing Collaborate
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Marta Lomza
The barn was drafty, which was a good thing: it meant we could use the breeze to help with our winnowing. That’s what I was learning from Tim from Asthall Manor Kitchen Garden, who was sharing his deep knowledge of seed saving with about two dozen of us - community growers from around the county, gathered for one of our quarterly get-togethers.
There was an excited energy in the semi-open barn. The November air was crisp. The sun was pouring in. Outside, the golden leaves shimmered against the deep-blue skies. Inside, several small groups were getting their hands and feet involved in the process of dry seed saving: shaking, sieving, and stomping on dried plants to get their precious seeds out. The adults seemed just as excited as the kids. The dust was dancing in the sun beams below the rafters, and despite the high energy, there was also a pervasive sense of peace that settled into me as I took the scene in.
This was our third in-person gathering, and it stood in stark contrast to the summer one, when we met in sweltering heat at the Bridge Street Community Garden in Banbury. Back then, the project’s coordinator, Tila, greeted us with home-baked pastries and refreshing elderflower fizz drinks, topped with lavender and red currants from the garden. We spent most of the time chatting and getting to know each other. There didn’t seem to be enough time; there was so much to talk about and learn from each other.
Homemade pastries and cooling elderflower drinks at the Bridge Street Community Garden in Banbury for the sweltering summer collaborate meet up
Last October, Tila and I worked together to organise a trip to Black Rootz for about a dozen Oxfordshire community growers from global majority backgrounds. The trip helped build new and deepen existing relationships, as much through learning from this successful project as from simply spending time together on the coach and having relaxed time for unstructured conversations. As someone commented, actually seeing edible plants from other countries grown here in England in a green house was “truly an eye opener”. We brought back with us the generous gifts of cuttings from the garden - thick-leaf thyme (Anisochilus) and several sweet potatoes, among others. People said they felt energised, inspired and more connected to others.
How did we get here?
When I first started organising these meet-ups, back in 2024, I held them online. A handful of people would show up and although the discussions were interesting, I never felt particularly energised in the silence of my office which followed each meeting. I wondered what I was missing. After reflecting on this, I decided what I actually wanted was to see people in the spaces where they do their community gardening work. So I organised the first in-person gathering in March 2025, at Barracks Lane Community Garden in Oxford. About 25 people came, and at the end, all said that they loved seeing each other in person and would like to do it again. The subsequent meetings were all well attended. Children started to join in and not only learn new skills but teach the adults. We’d talk, do some practical activities, tour the garden and have lunch together.
Sometimes, something would happen directly as a result of one of these gatherings. For example, after the seed saving workshop, Marston started their own Community Seed Library. But often, there isn’t a specific, visible outcome straight away. And that’s something I try to embrace. The current systems we live in have us think that we have to always be productive, account for every minute of our lives. Anecdotally, this seems to have become an even stronger element of the ‘new normal’ after the Covid-19 pandemic; traveling to in-person meetings started to seem like a “waste of time”.
Can time really be wasted? During the pandemic lockdowns, we all yearned for the time when we could gather freely again. Yet since the restrictions were lifted, we seem to have been deprioritising in-person meetings in favour of being ‘more productive’. Staring out the window onto the fields around us as we’re on a bus; talking with other people who do similar work without an agenda; stopping for a coffee with a colleague - those started to seem like luxuries rather than an essential part of our work, especially for those of us whose work is based on deep, meaningful relationships between people, and between people and the land.
I was caught up in this strongly productivist mindset until something shifted when I went to the Land Skills Fair in the summer 2025. I came back feeling invigorated and motivated in ways I had not experienced for a while. It wasn’t just the learning, the networking or attending the sessions. It was, I realised, the sheer act of simply being together in the same space. Something happened for me on a somatic level: sharing real, embodied space with people who are all doing land-related work, who believe in the kind of systemic transformation I want to see, was both energising and healing.
The work we do often feels like pushing against a system that’s stronger than us. But when you gather in a larger collective, it suddenly seems as though real transformation towards more just, equitable and caring systems is within grasp. All of us, engaged in practical work which follows our values and ideals, are shaping this transformation right now; we’re living our own utopias, replicated across different slices of land we have a connection to. It’s such a joyful thing to be able to witness this process and connect with others who are engaged in it.
So this was my learning from 2025: spending time together, in person, is not a luxury but an essential part of our work. As we are entering the next growing season, here’s to many in-person gatherings in the coming months. What a privilege to be able to do it. Looking forward to seeing you all throughout the year!
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