MAXgarden
Our community garden was created in 2014, transforming an abandoned church yard.
We grow around 500 species of mostly edible plants which we use for learning, playing and eating! Our volunteers and visitors help shape and adapt the garden each season to make it a welcoming and creative space for people and nature to come together. Watch a short video from one of our volunteers here.
Get in touch to arrange a visit and find out how to get involved.
Use the buttons below to quickly navigate to each section:
We Are Building Community
We are building community at different levels - in our garden we give local people positive experiences in food growing, cooking and sharing. We provide skills and resources so everyone can do it across our city. We showcase how even a small shared garden can bring together people and ideas as well as the health benefits of good food and nature connection. We believe and are testing how to make better use of public green space for neighbourhood health and happiness. We share what we learn with other community groups, connecting those who can help each other and strengthening networks.
Garden Volunteering Sessions
We have two weekly gardening sessions, Tuesdays and Fridays 10am to 2pm where we grow food and make our garden space and local park diverse, beautiful and safe for all the people that use it in many different ways. Watch a short video of Mo and Aden talking about this. We provide a homemade lunch with garden produce where possible, and travel expenses. Volunteers really enjoy meeting people from different walks of life, diverse cultures and interests. Join our volunteers team here.
Harvest and Cooking Sessions
We have realised how important it is to make the connection between food growing, and learning how to cook with it. This is why we set up our popular Tuesday cooking sessions to make use of produce, weeds and wilds!
During growing season we offer free Harvest Boxes or Pick your Own sessions with recipes to test new ideas and flavours in your kitchen.
Each Friday we go on a journey around the world through our Intercultural Community Lunches where we cook (outdoors when possible) and feed up to 40 people in the park, garden or centre. See some of our delicious recipes here.
From pruning to herbal first aid, wildlife photography to edible flowers, yoga to potato parties...we love bringing people together to learn and celebrate everything green. Our Gigs in the Garden are also a very popular feature. We use our Community Garden and Hilltown Park to connect with other people and with nature through a broad range of topics to appeal to everyone! Checkout all upcoming workshops and events here.
We Help You Grow Food And Use It
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The Big Grow- Sign Up!
We are going to prove that food can be grown in any space and by anyone. Join our newest challenge...100 families and groups growing and cooking their own food.
Free resources, support, community, events and more. Contact us to find out more and join Grow Dundee online group to connect with other growers.
RESOURCES
Tool & Seed Library & Garden Partners
For £1/year join our library to borrow tools, books and get free seeds and seedlings with expert advice to grow your own food. See more
Do you have a garden you can't keep up with? Do you need a space to grow food? Get in touch and we can find you a partner!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
Learning Visits for Groups & Pilot Projects
Arrange a visit for your group to share insight and inspiration from our 10 year journey as a community garden. We enjoy trying out new ideas and learning from what we do. For example we are now looking at making our work more inclusive and creative and how to get local people's voices heard.
COMMUNITY
Connecting - Hilltown, Dundee and beyond
Dundee Network Of Community Growers & GROW DUNDEE
We set up and facilitate a network of 30+ community gardens. Please get in touch if you have a growing project in or around Dundee. Watch our video made through Scotland Social Action Inquiry to learn more about how it works.
to check out the map with all Dundee network community growing spaces, volunteering opportunities, events and resources.
See also this GoogleMap we made with all growing spaces including allotments, schools, foraging spots, etc.
RESOURCES
Hilltown Park Co-design & Edible Trail
During COVID we started the MAXhour project in the Hilltown Park, to make it a better place for people to meet, play, eat and grow food. After testing some co-design approaches we did a series of creative workshops and consultations to develop a community design brief. Now being implemented by the councli, UNESCO City of Design and us. See project blog here
As part of this work we are currently co-designing an interactive edible audiotrail in the park "Hilltown Roots & Recipes"
RESOURCES
Dundee Changemakers Hub & other partnerships
We learn, and can do better work through collaborative partnerships. As a core partner of Dundee Changemakers Hub we are facilitating neighbourhood climate action microgrants and a collaborative youth-led Coldside project to rewild green spaces and make small food forests for families.
We lead or are part of various local and regional partnerships, networks and projects. Read more here
RESOURCES
