Growing Together Since 2009
Welcome to our Award-Winning Community Food Garden in Bethnal Green
The Cranbrook Community Cookbook is here!
On Saturday 27th September we celebrated the harvest and launched The Cranbrook Community Cookbook.
Two years in the making, the book captures the dishes we made together at community cooking sessions held between 2023-25. In each session, we discussed our favourite ways to cook with the food we grow, decided together what to make, and created feast after feast! And now they're yours to share in too, with our beautiful cookbook containing these recipes, along with photos and illustrations all also created by gardeners and other local residents. A true community cookbook.
Cranbrook Community Food Garden was established in 2009 by local residents, transforming a disused children's play area into a communal growing site for fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. 17 fabulous years later, the site now contains 18 raised beds, a mini food forest, a fungarium, a shed, greenhouse, compost bays, wormeries, a pergola with a green roof, a frog pond, bird spa, bee mound and hugel.
We have won multiple awards including a Level 5 - Outstanding rating at the London in Bloom Awards nine times between 2016-2025, category winners in 2024 for their special Environmental Challenge, and Best Garden for Wildlife - Group category at Tower Hamlets in Bloom 2022 and 2023.
It is free for anyone to take part. Just come to one of our group gardening sessions on Saturdays from 11am until at least 2pm (much later in the summer!) or Wednesday evenings between May to September 6-8pm. We will show you how everything works and give you a job to do straight away!
It is free for anyone to take part. Just come to one of our group gardening sessions on Saturdays from 11am until at least 2pm (much later in the summer!) or Wednesday evenings between May to September 6-8pm. We will show you how everything works and give you a job to do straight away!
History
Read about the history of the garden - how we started, how we've grown, the special events and projects we've run and awards won.
Coming soon!
How to Join
It is free for anyone to take part. Just come to one of our group gardening sessions to start!
Saturdays, all year: 11am until at least 2pm
Saturdays, all year: 11am until at least 2pm
Wednesdays, May to September: 6-8pm
Events
We run several free community events every year, including taking part in Capital Growth Good to Grow Day in April, London Open Gardens Weekend in June, and Capital Growth Urban Harvest Week in September. Our next event is Active Bystander Training with Protection Approaches on 12th October.
Projects
We do our best to support members' ideas for things they'd like to see happen in the garden, seeking funding or support in-kind from local partners. Recent projects include Winter Crafternoons and the Globe Town Community Cooking Club, supported by Tower Hamlets Council Small Grants Fund.
For People
We aim to make the garden a safe and welcoming space for everyone. We expect our members to behave in a way that is kind and cooperative, so that everyone feels able to be themselves whether just visiting or digging in.
For Place
Cranbrook Community Food Garden came from a dream to transform the green and open Cranbrook Estate into one large fruit orchard and vegetable garden for the benefit of the local community.
For Planet
Our growing methods are based on organic principles. Our environmental credentials include making our own compost and fertilisers, growing pollinator-friendly plants, and creating spaces for wildlife including birds and bees.