Food
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Community food-growing projects open to public access in The Living Coast include:
Preston Park Demo Garden, Brighton – a welcoming productive space at the southern end
Brighthelm Community Garden, Brighton – in the heart of the city lies a bountiful garden
Saunders Park, Brighton – an award-winning space that has transformed this park
Wish Park, Portslade – orchard, pond and raised veg beds run by volunteers
London Road Station Garden, Brighton – a unique urban location that has won awards
Stanford Avenue Garden, Brighton – wonderful award-winning use of a residential street
Landport Community Garden, Lewes – a beautiful walled garden with a pond and seating
Newhaven Community Garden – a space for all that has been growing strong since 2010Peacehaven Community Garden – growing plants and vegetables at the Oval
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Harvest your own free food by looking out for the following fruits available during the autumn in The Living Coast:
Blackberries – growing along footpaths and road verges
Sloes - plump berries in scrubby patches for gin
Elderberries - for wine/sauce
Apples - 'wilding' trees growing where a fruit's been tossed away
Remember - only pick fruits you are sure are safe to eat and leave some over for wildlife!
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Almost 50 orchards have been established in publicly accessible community spaces and schools over the last decade by the Brighton Permaculture Trust and others:
Stanmer – host to National Collection of Sussex apples (above)
Racehill, Whitehawk - a large-scale community growing project
Ditchling - a young but popular community project
Big Park, Peacehaven - a new planting project by local people
Buckingham Park, Shoreham - a school grounds initiative -
Sussex Gleaning Network organises volunteers to visit farms and harvest surplus produce for charity. Breathe some country air, see how food is produced, prevent food waste and meet wonderful people.
Surplus Food Network intercepts surplus food and redistributes it to people in need across Sussex. You can get involved by volunteering - watch this film to find out more.
Smartphone…Get Smart with these Apps Too Good to Go allows you to buy from restaurants, bakeries and cafes at the end of the day; Olio connects neighbours with each other and with local shops so surplus food can get shared; Refill App is handy for knowing where to fill your water bottle.
Scrumping and Brewing The Scrumping Project run by the Brighton Permaculture Trust collects unwanted fruit from across Sussex and turns it into juice; Old Tree Brewery uses foraged ingredients to make forest garden drinks including fermented Kefirs and Kombucha; Franklin Brewery’s Optimist Beer is made from leftover bread from the Bagelman restaurants.
Skills and Seaweed - Get involved in a cookery course, it will increase your confidence in making interesting meals out of anything. Brighton’s Community Kitchen; Community Chef in Lewes; Food Pioneers in Worthing – if you want to get cooking with Seaweed check out their Neptune’s Larder Project!