Growing a Community Crop Together
The 1000 Seeds Project was our first community crop — a simple but powerful idea to bring people together through food growing, starting with local primary school children.
This is a fully funded project started in April 2026, made possible through a successful grant application to the Coronation Living Heritage Fund via Tewkesbury Borough Council.
Each child began the journey by planting a single seed, contributing to a shared crop that became the very first harvest at Norton Growing Space.
Working with three local schools, we are provided seed-sowing kits and delivered tailored workshops, giving children the opportunity to plant seeds and observe germination in the classroom. Once the seedlings were established, they will be collected and carefully nurtured in our volunteers polytunnels and greenhouses until conditions were right for planting out.
The crop was grown across six no-dig beds using the traditional Three Sisters companion planting method, where sweetcorn, climbing beans, squashes and sunflowers grow together and naturally support one another. This approach reflects the wider values of the project — working in harmony with nature, building healthy soil and encouraging biodiversity.
