Soil and the Salt Wind

On this episode: stories from the food growers and edible gardeners of Hastings and St Leonards.

Town Grown is a Hastings-based food growers network and in June they organised an ‘Edible Open Gardens’ weekend, where food growing sites all over Hastings and St Leonards opened their gates to the public. 

I took my recorder along with me and spent some time getting to know what it’s like to get your hands dirty in the soil of this part of East Sussex. We have an heirloom county orchard, a former Victorian private garden finding a new lease of life in the community, a very special plot on the site of a former secondary school cricket enclosure, and we’re beginning on Helgi’s plot in Marina Allotments, in West St Leonards.

You can download a free one-page zine about each story on the Lecker website!

Marina Allotments is a sea-facing allotment site in West St Leonards. Locals interested can join the waiting list here.

St Matthews Gardens is a community garden with membership open to a catchment area in St Leonards. Find out more on Facebook.

Small Meadow Farm is a regenerative smallholding and orchard with wild camping and wwoofing opportunities. Read more on Anna’s website.

Future Growth is a food forest and regenerative allotment at Mulberry Academy St Leonards. You can find out more on Instagram and sign up to support the project on Patreon.

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Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other.

Looking for something else to read? Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link]

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Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Find the transcript on the Lecker website.