Post by Sarah Brown from Dunmore Farm Estate Community Garden on behalf of Replenish
I have lived in Abingdon for fifteen years with my husband and young daughter. The story of our community garden goes back to Victory in Europe (VE) Day 2020. Having family who were at high risk from COVID-19, I wanted to help others in the same position, becoming a volunteer for the Abingdon Community Response Group. I delivered prescriptions and shopping, even helping a neighbour with an injured hedgehog! It made me realise how little we knew each other. The night before VE day, I posted some notes to my neighbours inviting them to celebrate on our driveways. I was overwhelmed when 18 other households joined in, all decorating, eating and drinking. We had water fights with the children from each side of the street. It was a fantastic day – and this is when our community spirit began.
Building Community Spirit
Roll on two years to the Platinum Jubilee and I suggested a street party by posting leaflets to all 100+ houses in Austin Place. Many were excited, so I began organising – we had tombola’s, a raffle, games, a bouncy castle and plenty of food and drink. The Deputy Mayor of Abingdon attended, announcing the winners of our ‘best cake’ and ‘best dressed table’ competitions. One of my neighbours arranged all the bunting and became known as ‘our bunting man’. Sadly, he passed away at the end of 2023. He was a kind and generous person, well-loved by his neighbours. I suggested planting a rose in his memory, then a community garden to grow it in. A month later and the story of our community garden began.
Our Garden Story Begins
In January 2024 I asked the neighbourhood for their thoughts on creating a community garden – many loved the idea. We had the interest, so I offered to look into what, where and how! Three areas were considered, but two were quickly ruled out. The third was a large, unused area of grass (pictured left) that I found out was owned by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council. I contacted the office who asked me to email our “vision” for discussion at the next Environment & Amenities Committee meeting in February!
A few of us rapidly put together ideas based on examples of existing community gardens and from websites like the RHS. Jo from Community Action Groups (CAG) Oxfordshire offered advice and connected me with local CAGs. As well as finding a site to build a community garden, we needed approval from the council and to have insurance and finances in place. In February, I emailed the council with our ‘vision’ and we waited in anticipation. We were fortunate that one of the contacts Jo provided was for Abingdon Carbon Cutters (ACC). We are now a sub-group of ACC and they have provided invaluable support throughout our journey.
The council replied in June and asked if we could arrange a meeting on site to discuss the project. This was so positive to hear and made it feel real and possible. We posted leaflets in Austin Place and quickly decided to expand our leaflet drop to neighbouring streets, with the goal of bringing a larger community together. So then our name was born: ‘Dunmore Farm Estate Community Garden’.
Residents met with the council and the Mayor on site to discuss the ideas and the feedback was positive. Fast forward nearly 12 months from the submission of a formal proposal and following a number of council and community meetings to take into consideration some concerns from local residents, we finally signed an agreement for an 18-month trial and were given a start-date of 21st March 2025. We began working on the garden the very next day!
Bringing the Vision to Life
We started by building three raised beds, a flower bed and planting two apple trees – ‘Bramley’ and ‘Beauty of Bath’ – that were integral to the vision we had presented to the council (below image) nearly one year earlier.
The raised beds and flower areas were rapidly filled with plants and seeds of all kinds, many donated by community members and companies. One was filled with herbs; curry plants, borage, sage and rosemary planted alongside nasturtiums. Flowers, vegetables and currant bushes were added and over the summer we had superb harvests of potatoes, cabbage, kale, beans, carrots, beetroot and more to enjoy and share as a community.
To make the garden functional as well as beautiful, water butts were installed and a composting area developed, screened off with trellis, ready for a honeysuckle to be planted. One of our volunteers uses their solar energy generator to power the lawn mower and strimmer that helps keep us mow paths around the beds. It’s the perfect green solution to help us maintain the garden. Informative signs were made for the apple trees by fellow CAG network member Oxford Wood Recycling. Our hope is for the garden to be a place of knowledge sharing and learning.
Creating a Haven for All
In April and May the bird boxes were put up and more homes for wildlife were added in June with the creation of a huge bug hotel and a hedgehog house. The garden has come alive with the hum of insects and the melodic sound of bird song.
As part of the agreement with the council, I produce quarterly newsletters about the journey of the garden. The images (right) are from the summer 2025 edition showing our raised beds, bug hotel and first plants and harvests. The autumn 2025 newsletter celebrated the people and the wildlife that had visited the garden in the first six months.
To learn more about how we manage the garden, the feedback from the local community and our plans for the future, look out for part two of this mini blog series.
Thank you for reading our story so far. We hope it has inspired you to get involved in your community and maybe even start a garden. Find your local Community Action Group here or join the Oxfordshire Community Growers Network to share events and resources, ask questions or gain advice.
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