Time to Grow are a collective of food growers in North London helping turn unloved land into thriving food-growing spaces.

We focus on helping people turn disused private garden spaces into community food-growing sites. All of our produce is distributed to volunteers, garden owners and community food providers. This includes the Gleaners Workers Cooperative, the Holy Trinity Food Share, North London Action for the Homeless and Curry Club. We also work with schools and local authorities to run workshops and trainings on ecological food growing.

We currently help steward over 25 plots, with roughly the same number of volunteer coordinators.

What motivates us?

Some of us are committed to reviving a lost relationship with the land and the life that lives there. Some of us look for the joy of being in a garden with friends. Some of us want to build resilient communities to prepare for the disruption the climate crisis will cause as it gets worse. Some of us wish to contribute to a new economy built on mutual aid, care and solidarity, where we don’t depend on exploitative systems, and good quality, organic and regenerative food is available to all.

Many of us align with all of these things.

How do we work?

We organise ourselves as a cooperative where all of our coordinators help decide the direction of the project. We practice organic growing which supports wildlife while producing food. We prioritise working collaboratively with garden owners and dream of tight-knit streets where everyone can be involved in stewarding the land.

How do we support ourselves?

We have received funding from Friends of the Earth, the National Lottery, the London Borough of Waltham Forest. We want to live in a world where we all get paid for this work but we all volunteer large amounts of our time. We cherish donations, if you can contribute to the effort please do here.