“Last summer, I started running a project on the Beaufort Road estate in Dorset, bringing together the community to grow organic fruit, vegetables and trees in a project known as Grow Your Own Rainbow Gardens. We plan to become sustainable and self-sufficient, which means growing enough not only to enjoy ourselves, but to feed others as well. Residents, local schools, churches, community centres and children’s’ nurseries are all involved and I’m hoping the success of the scheme can serve as a template to roll out across the country.

In the spring of 2022, the local schools started their own ‘grow your own rainbow gardens’ project and the doctor’s surgeries are starting to prescribe food growing to help patients with their wellbeing. In many cases, time in nature can be a more appropriate and successful resolution than medication. I’ve teamed up with a local charity, Friendly Food Club, to teach residents how to cook with the food we grow. We now have 30 raised beds, we’re building greenhouses and the council are offering us more land so we can expand. There are five steps to wellbeing; connecting, sharing and caring with others, learning, exercising and fresh air, and mindfulness. Tending plants you’ve learned to grow from seed, alongside your community, ticks every box.

When a community grows their own food, so much can happen. We don’t need to rely on supermarkets and supply chains. From children to the elderly, everyone flourishes when we work together to grow. It’s of mutual benefit and reward to us all and to our environment. 

yourplanetdoctors.org