The Plot

The Plot is a community garden and project space located in Downham, on the border of Lewisham and Bromley. It is our first growing space, nestled in the council run Oldstead Road Allotment site. We wanted to create a dynamic space where we could develop our skills as a group and display examples of alternative growing methods to inspire people living in all kinds of urban spaces. It would be a space for workshops, gatherings and a base from which we might inspire people to share in the wider Grow Lewisham vision.

Bridgehouse Gardens

Bridgehouse Gardens started developing in Spring 2022 in collaboration with arts organisation Jupiter Woods, to bring new greening and food growing to areas across Rollins Street, Ilderton Road and Winslade Estate–currenly affected by rapid urbanisation and development. The project started with the vision of creating spaces for community connection and participation in the claiming of local spaces, through growing food, plants and improving biodiversity, and an engagement programme aimed at building skills and developing elements for the garden.
We are currently running programme of events and volunteering sessions, if you want to get involved or have ideas please get in touch: bridgehousegardens@gmail.com

The Journey

We were given the keys to this site in December 2020 after applying to Lewisham Council with our project proposal. Our intention is to use the principles of Permaculture - Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share as a base for our practice and methods. We began with a Permaculture Assessment of the site, recording the make-up of the soil, the moisture, the wind and the movements of the sun across the land in order to help us decide how to arrange growing beds and what compost to use. We noticed where birds were nesting and frogspawn thriving and decided to keep wild corridors and edges undisturbed for the local wildlife to continue to inhabit the land. We collected as many materials as we could second hand, using sites like FreeCycle or donated, including tools, wheelbarrows, pallets, compost, woodchip and more. We wanted to see what could be achieved with a tight budget and an ethos of Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle. We have repaired the existing facilites on site, an old tool shed, a wood fired clay pizza oven and installed a new greenhouse. We have designed and built a polytunnel to grow hot climate crops, experimented with vertical growing methods, dig and no-dig, hugelkultur and raised beds, testing what grows best in what conditions and how to arrange crops when companion planting. We have hosted an open day, a mushroom growing workshop and are excited for an upcoming Permaculture class. We have also opened our doors to the public every Sunday for people to drop in, meet us and get involved in the garden. We were thrilled with the success of our first growing year on site and cant wait to start planning for the next..

The Future

Our intention with this site was for an experimental space that could keep evolving. We are keen for the management of the site and the benefits of working and growing on this plot of land to enhance the lives of the local Downham community and so we are pleased to have made some exciting connections with local groups who are keen to take more of a lead role in the day to day running of the site. Some of our ideas for the future of the site are to experiment with wind and solar power, purchase rain water containers and occupy some more of the surrounding land to create a forest garden or fruit orchard..

Follow us on Instagram to keep up to date with the future of The Plot and contact us via dm or email to get involved!