Worcester Community Garden

For the first time this year, we are dedicating training sessions to our volunteers, and where better to start than at the beginning of the growing process – sowing seeds?

In the last week of March 2026, two cohorts of enthusiastic volunteers received expert tuition from our Trustee Sharon Ross in the mysteries of seed sowing, concentrating on purple podded peas, sweet peas, basil, sunflowers and cosmos. They were also shown our new compost bins, and Chair of Trustees Steve Dent talked the attendees through how they would work, what could be composted, etc.

Further sessions will take place every month, in parallel with the development of the seedlings, so that volunteers are able to practise all the necessary techniques, from pricking out to potting on and eventually planting the young plants out into the garden, both under cover and in the open.

The sessions were very well received, and we look forward to seeing the fruits of the attendees’ labour later in the season!

This season, our Community Garden has chosen to grow heritage (heirloom) seeds and we’re excited to share why.

Heritage seeds are open-pollinated varieties passed down through generations. Unlike many commercial hybrids bred for uniformity, these plants are valued for their flavour, resilience, and rich diversity. By growing them, we help preserve biodiversity and strengthen our local food system.

Because they’re open-pollinated, we can also save seeds from year to year, building greater self-sufficiency and sharing with others. Most importantly of all, heritage seeds connect us to gardening traditions of the past while helping us grow sustainably for the future.

The Heritage Seed Library has long supported this important work of protecting rare and culturally significant varieties.  In October 2025, the Garden became a member of Garden Organic and also the Heritage Seed Library. For 2026, we have chosen over 20 heritage seeds to grow. Each month we will share news about the heritage seeds we are growing and our partnership with the Heritage Seed Library.

We were delighted to welcome around 35 attendees to our AGM on February 7^th, despite the very wet weather! Broadly speaking, the agenda was split neatly into a look back at 2025, including the various small garden projects, events and workshops, construction projects, volunteers and finances, and a look ahead to 2026, based around the trustees’ key objectives for the year and how they would be realised.

The past year has been a very busy one; both volunteer and visitor numbers were up on 2024, and it was gratifying to see that a high percentage of volunteers return after their first visit. The finances are in a healthy state, despite having made a small loss on the year; one highlight was that we raised a remarkable £5,088 from produce sales!

Looking ahead, the trustees’ objectives include the creation of two new gardens – a wildlife garden and a flood garden – better water management, a focus on growing heritage varieties of edible plants, and improvements to the volunteer journey. Keep an eye on the Small Gardens area of the website for developments in the new gardens. We also have a busy programme of events planned, including paid workshops, community events on and off-site and training events for volunteers. The construction team will have its hands full with a broad range of projects in the pipeline.

The Garden is all about community involvement, and we always welcome ideas and feedback from volunteers and visitors. AGM attendees had an opportunity at the meeting to put forward their ideas for future projects and improvements, and as always, this generated some really interesting input, which the trustees will take away and ponder. We also announced a number of new volunteer roles for people to consider – find out more on the Volunteer with Us page.

All in all, a very successful meeting with excellent cake too! Thank you to everyone who helped on the day or in preparing for the meeting.