What could I grow in a food co-op?
Most growing groups grow vegetables, but some also grow or produce fruit, herbs, mushrooms, eggs or meat. It’s up to your group and the landowner to chat about and decide what you can grow or produce.
I’m offering to share my garden or land. What size does it need to be?
The minimum sized plot for a group of 3 to grow on and get enough for a weekly vegbox all year round each, is 45m squared. Some garden owners have their plot split into beds that are dotted around the garden, or along fence lines. So it doesn’t need to be one whole plot – you can get creative!
What do I need to provide for people to grow on my land?
Your land needs to be outdoor accessible – access through a garden gate is fine, but through a house or building is not suitable.
The growing plot needs to have water available, for watering of crops. If you want the growing group to contribute to water costs, you would need to chat about this before the growing group starts.
The growing space needs to get at least 4 hours direct sunlight per day for growing vegetables. If you are offering land for growing mushrooms, herbs, or keeping chickens for eggs or animals for meat, the requirements are different, so please get in touch with us at wegrowcic@proton.me
Would I need to have gardening experience to join a growing group?
You don’t have to have any gardening experience to join a growing group – being up for working with other people and learning together is enough. If you’ve grown before, it’s really useful for our team to know so that we can bring people together with a mix of experience. You will be asked this when you fill in our joining form and request to view land.
How much veg would I get from my growing group every week?
With good planning and planting out regularly, groups can grow enough for a vegbox for each member or family, every week. This can be all year round! It’s all about planning well. We Grow recommends good resources to help your group plan, when your growing group forms.
How will I know how and what to grow?
We Grow offers resources and links to some great organisations teaching and sharing online and in books, that can guide you to grow and plan. We Grow also connects you within the community to other groups but we don’t teach you how to grow – learning about growing is part of the journey of your group together.
How much time would I need to spend working in a growing group?
Members or families usually work together for 2-3 hours per week, plus take a turn on the watering rota to water seedlings and for the dry weeks in Spring and Summer. This amount of time is enough to produce a vegbox for each member or family, every week. If your group decides to grow or produce other things such as eggs or meat, the time needed changes depending on how much you’re producing and how many are in your group. We Grow offers suggested ways of working this out in your group.
How much money does it cost to join We Grow?
We Grow membership, which connects you with people or land, costs £30. This can be paid upfront in one payment, or spread as £10 per month over 3 months. We Grow also offers a Lifetime membership for £60, which connects you with people or land, as well as lifetime access to the members’ area of the We Grow website.
The membership you pay covers the money we need for the time it takes our team to connect you with others to form a growing group, supporting your group at the start, and connecting the local network of growing groups for their regular community swap and share events. For the Lifetime membership, it also covers the time it takes our team to regularly find, create, update and administer content on the members’ area of the website.
We Grow is a CIC (Community Interest Company), which means all of our team are paid fairly and the CIC cannot legally keep any profit. Any residual money goes back into the pot to fund community projects.
If you can’t afford to join as a member right now, but would like to be part of a growing group, you can apply to join one of the We Grow large land projects. These are fully funded with growing materials and gardening workshops for beginners and there is no charge for people who join. See the We Grow map for more details.
How much money would I need to put in to a growing group if I joined one?
You may also need to put in money regularly to your growing group to buy things like seeds, compost, fencing, and to contribute to local network group meet-ups. The exact amount depends on what’s needed for the garden or land you’re working on.
Most groups contribute around £5 per week each for the first few months and then much less long-term (once the plot is established). It’s up to your group to chat and decide on this. When you visit land, it’s a good idea to chat with the landowner, to see if there are things like fencing or compost already on the plot or if they will be needed to be bought by the group. We Grow will send you a list of suggested questions to ask garden owners when you sign up to visit land.
What if I can’t afford to contribute to a growing group?
Please chat with the We Grow team member when they contact you. We try to help everyone who wants to be part of a growing group and we may have ways to support your individual contribution.
What would I get out of a growing group if I join one?
If your group plans well, once the plot is established and veg is growing (which usually takes 3-4 months), you could take home a vegbox every week, year-round. For groups producing herbs, eggs, mushrooms or meat, how much you get depends on how much your group plans to produce. We Grow advises on this when your group starts growing together.
In addition to getting food, there are also wonderful benefits for your physical, mental and social health, for learning about growing and better connection to nature. Your food bills will inevitably go down, you’ll use less packaging, and you’ll need to do less supermarket buying. Plus you’ll have loads of fun and make new friends.. which is always a great thing!
What about being part of the network meet-ups? What does that mean?
Your group would be part of a wider community of other local groups. You’ll be connected with each other and invited to join regular meet-ups to swap and share seeds, seedlings, tools and growing tips. This is optional! But most groups love being part of a wider network as it’s very useful and fun to meet other local people who are doing what you’re doing.
What benefits are there apart from food, being in a growing group?
The benefits of being part of a growing group: new friendships for both adults and kids, getting out in the fresh air every week, not needing to do all the work yourself, being part of a wider community of growing groups, shared seeds and seedlings, saving money on food bills, less need for supermarket food, producing your own organic food, working together in a group, and the satisfaction of creating something beautiful.
If I joined We Grow and went to view some gardens on land what would happen if I didn’t like any of the ones I viewed?
You would go back to the map and see if any more landowners have listings for land you’d like to view. If you can’t find land to join after several months, we would try to help you find a local community garden that you might like to join. Our team keep in contact with you through the process of finding somewhere to grow that you like (or finding the right people for your land if you’re a landowner), so you are well supported the whole way.
What would happen if I started in a growing group and then I didn’t like it?
Most people so far that We Grow have helped connect have liked and stayed with the growing group that they initially joined. If for any reason you need to change groups, we would work with you and support you to find another group or a community garden or growing project that you like.
What about if I wanted to go on a holiday or take a few breaks whilst being part of a growing group?
That is one of the great things about being in a growing group.. unlike an allotment where you’re growing on your own, you can arrange to cover for each other in a group. It’s up to your group to chat and decide on how you want to do this when you first start growing together.
What if I couldn’t manage the 2-3 hours per week every week?
Each group has their own way of doing things. Some groups work every single week for 3 hours, some for 2 hours.. some do every week all year round, others do every week in Spring, Summer and Autumn and then alternate weeks in Winter (when less needs doing on the plot).. it depends how much and what you want to grow, so it’s a chat you need to have and negotiate together when you form your group.
Can my kids join in with me in a growing group?
Absolutely! Most kids love being part of a growing group and have lots of fun and learn loads too. We Grow connects families with other families and we try to connect you with other kids of a similar age. If you’re an adult or a couple, you’ll be connected with adult only growing groups.
Does everyone need to garden all year round even in the coldest parts of winter or in the rain?
Most people in a growing group garden all year round. As gardeners would say “there is no such thing as bad weather – just the wrong clothing!” Getting some thermal layers on in the cold or waterproofs in the rain for gardening can be part of the fun! However, it’s not great for everyone. It’s up to your group whether you decide to take certain weeks off in the very coldest months or change a rainy day to a dry day some weeks.
I don‘t have kids or I’m joining without my kids. Can I specifically ask to join a growing group with no kids in it?
If you’d prefer to join a group with just adults, all good! We only connect families with other families, so if you’re an adult or a couple, you would naturally be connected by We Grow with adult only groups.
How much does We Grow get involved in our growing group?
We Grow is here to connect you with others who want to grow together, to connect all local groups together for the swap and share meet-ups and to support your growing group to get started. We Grow is not here to tell you how to grow, what to grow, or what to do. We offer a starting pack document when you get going with your group, with useful resources and links and based on what has tended to work for other groups and what hasn’t.. but whether your group goes with these or does things a different way, is entirely up to you all to chat about and decide together.
I have accessibility needs. How can We Grow help me to find the right land and group?
We ask everyone on our Joining Form if there are any needs we can help with. Our team will chat with you more about this and they would then connect you with gardens for viewings that suit what you need.
Why is We Grow doing this work?
We Grow came to be because a small group of women who been members of growing groups on other peoples’ land loved it so much we wanted to help other people to do the same! The team we have selected and trained also have the best skill sets for expanding the CIC.
We Grow is a non-profit CIC and it exists for community benefit. Some of our team get paid for their work with We Grow and some of our time is voluntary.
We hope this has answered all your questions. If you want to know more, please email us at wegrowcic@proton.me
And get inspired as to what you could create in a growing group by checking out the fun that groups so far have had at our Instagram page @wegrow.cic, or our Facebook page We Grow.
