Community Garden Outreach

Check out our latest calendar of activities and events in the Maxwell garden and Hilltown park.

At the end of 2012, the Maxwell Centre identified an opportunity to develop a community-led green space. We transformed the builders’ yard behind our building from a vacant and derelict lot into a community garden, with an array of raised beds, allotments, a polytunnel, orchard, seating areas, and a building used for education and garden therapy activities. A new greenhouse, a wooden gazebo, storage sheds, water butts and new composting facilities have been built and installed during 2020/21.

The garden provides access to growing facilities in an area of the city where access to  green spaces is limited. Our garden provides local children and adults with learning and leisure experiences relating to growing food, healthy living and our natural environment.

The development of the garden has led to a large increase in visitor numbers. Many centre users and groups which meet in the centre use the garden to produce fresh fruit and vegetables, and as a way to learn new skills, socialise and relax. Fresh produce from the garden is used to make regular free harvest boxes for free, for our cooking classes, for the Coldside Community Cupboard and to make healthy soup and smoothies for our events and activities.

As well as our youth programme we run a garden outreach programme to engage with all members of our community and have expanded our work to the Hilltown Park and city wide through our Grow Dundee blog, growing map and very active Facebook group with over 1000 members from accross our city. We run a garden tool, seed and book library and have set up or are involved in a number of projects to get people growing!

Check out the latest report about our garden by Keep Scotland Beautiful

Activities
Projects
News

ACTIVITES

Our outreach programme aims to include all members of our community and encourage active experiences in our garden and local park to learn, grow, share and create together.

We offer a broad range of weekly activities and events all year round to engage our community in different ways, from cooking to printmaking, helping wildlife to gigs in the garden.

  • Garden volunteer sessions/ Learn and Grow award
  • Adult cooking group
  • Family creative gardening workshops
  • Toddler and parent creative gardening group
  • Thematic workshops / Garden tour and tea
  • Individual and group gardening sessions for local individuals and organisations
  • One-to one advice and support for individuals and growing groups
  • Access to our garden tool, seed and book library
  • The MAXhour miniworkshops and litter picks in the park 
  • Harvest boxes and plant swaps whilst in growing season

PROJECTS

GROW DUNDEE: We have set up a very successful blog, Facebook group and a growing and foraging map to connect people in Dundee who grow fruit, veg and herbs and forage in and around the city. Have a look and join the movement!

 

CULTIVATE is a regional leadership programme for Creative Practitioners and Local Communities to collaboratively engage, create and produce locally relevant work, with a climate and social justice lens, across the Tay region. More project info here.

We are community partners of this project and are working with artist Finlay Hall

 

MAXWELL GARDEN TOOL & SEED LIBRARY was set up in 2021 to support people to grow in whatever space they have. For £1 a year anyone can join the library and borrow gardening tools and books and get free seeds and seedlings. Open for collecting and returns on a Thursday, anyone can browse the catalogue, join and reserve online 24/7 on this page.

 

 

BOTANICAL MIGRATIONS was a project curated by the Sharing not Hoarding open exhibition space. We collaborated with artist Elizabeth Kwant by collecting life stories and recipes from volunteers and team members who have come together through their passion for growing food in our garden. More project info here. All stories and recipes here.

 

 

HILLTOWN COMMUNITY PLAZA is a project that aims to transform the Hilltown Park into a place that local people love, and that makes them feel well and do well in their lives. More info about this award and project here. Report and proposed plan coming soon.

 

MAXHOUR - GET TOGETHER IN THE PARK is a project we started during COVID lockdown to be able to reach out to our community, enjoy some time together and take small actions to improve our park which have included painting the bollards with artists Cara Rooney, making birdhouses and weekly litterpicks. We also organise monthly events for the community, read more here.

Contact Manuela at mdmaxinfo@gmail.com for more information about our outreach projects.

NEWS

What's on in the garden and park here

Find news on our Grow Dundee blog

 

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