Growing your own food is a very rewarding experience. There’s nothing like planting a seed, watching it grow and then eating the results. It’s fresh as can be, and healthy – so why not give it a try? Whether you have an allotment, garden or just a balcony or windowsill there is still plenty you can do! Or find out more about how we are finding more land for growing food...

Check out our growing tips and advice:

• Download the 'Get Growing Starter Pack' (pdf, 773Kb)
• Growing tips for August
• How to make a 'cut-and-come-again' salad box
• Growing in a small space (pdf, 338Kb)
• Caring for tomato plants (pdf, 74Kb)

• Training and volunteering opportunities
• Materials and equipment
• Other local organisations that can help you get growing
• National websites with lots of growing advice
• Recommended books

Training and volunteering

Harvest is running training courses on a variety of topics where you can learn more about growing. You can also learn lots by volunteering at a local community food project. There are many great projects around the city that have volunteer work days where you can learn about growing and share the rewards.

Materials and equipment

If you are looking for free, cheap or recycled materials such as containers, compost bins, water butts, seedlings or even raised beds, you can check out these local resources:

• GreenCycle Sussex (formerly 'Freecycle Brighton/Hove')
• Gumtree Brighton garden supply listings
• Friday Ad listings
• Brighton & Hove Wood Recycling Project
• Magpie Recycling are selling their green boxes for use as growing containers, only £2.50 each. Contact Sibel, George or Jock on 01273 677577 for more details.
• Discounted compost bins and more are available from: www.brighton-hove.getcomposting.com
• VegetableSeeds.net is offering a 10% discount to Harvest contacts, just use the code 'AD842' when making a purchase.

Local organisations offering growing hints and tips:

• Brighton & Hove Allotment Federation
  for advice on working your plot
• Brighton & Hove Organic Gardening Group (BHOGG)
  for useful guides, 'how-to's and seasonal advice from the 'garden gnome'.
• Brighton Permaculture Trust
  for courses and events such as fruit-tree pruning, grafting and more
• The Garden House Brighton
  for events and training courses on growing your own and more, plus the 'lost the plot' blog
• The Argus gardening bloggers
  for stories from local allotment holders including top tips and recipes
• Weald Allotment's official blog and another blog from one of their allotment holders
• Seedbombs by Josie at Seedfreedom.net
• Green Up Your Act Education workshops by Phil Hunton
• Sussex Wildlife Trust
  has useful resources on plants to bring pollinating bees to your garden
• 'The Windowbox Allotment'
  everything you need to know to get growing in a small space

And a few national websites with resources on how to grow your own:

• Allotment.org.uk
• BBC Gardening website and their Dig In grow your own campaign
• Garden Organic's One Pot Pledge
• The National Trust
• Royal Horticultural Society
• Seed to Plate for a free plot designing tool and more...
• Allotment Life and Advice a sweet site offering allotment tips and advice all told through the perspective of Alice Scarecrow.

Recommended books:

• The Herb and Vegetable Expert and The Fruit Expert, D G Hessayon
• Grow Your Own Vegetables, Joy Larkcom
• Allotment Gardening: An Organic Guide for Beginners, Susan Berger
• Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, ed. Pauline Pears
• Organic Gardening, Geoff Hamilton
• The No Work Garden, Bob Flowerdew
• Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way, Charles Dowding
• The Edible Container Garden, Michael Guerra
• Patio Produce, Paul Peacock