If you are looking for a way to be healthier in 2026, eat well and get some exercise, then why not try growing your own food?
There are a number of community gardens in South Leeds, run by local volunteers who would love more people to get involved.
Season Well is a social enterprise inspiring people to eat more seasonal fruit, herbs and vegetables for our wellbeing and for the wellbeing of the planet. They are supporting community gardeners in Leeds to share skills, support each other and promote food growing via Food for Thought Networks. There’s one in South Leeds which brings together people from 9 community gardens.
The Network is holding a fun community event on Saturday (24 January 2026) at Belle Isle Community Orchard, which is looked after by Incredible Edible Belle Isle. The event is from 1-4pm at 58 Belle Isle Circus, LS10 3HW
Come from 1-2pm for free, delicious food cooked by Season Well and fun, family-friendly activities. Find out about all the community gardens in your area, how you can get involved. Do some hands-on activities like making a bird feeder or planting seeds.
From 2-4pm Caroline the Edible Gardener will be leading a workshop on getting started with growing food and showing you how you can work with nature, to grow more food with less work and more fun. She’ll also show you three ways to get new veg beds started in your garden.
So if you’ve ever dreamed about growing your own fresh healthy food, or just want to get fitter and have fun outdoors, then come along. Complete beginners or more experienced gardeners are all welcome and all the sessions will be child-friendly.
Becky Mears from Season Well says:
“It’s fantastic to see little pockets of food growing, springing up all over South Leeds. It’s great for people and nature.
“You don’t have to be an expert to grow a bit of food; anyone can have a go and its fantastic for children to learn where food comes from.
“We’d love to see new faces in January so why not come along to make friends, eat food, learn stuff, have fun! Let’s really get South Leeds Growing!”
Hayley McCarron from Belle Isle Incredible Edible says,
“Since setting up Incredible Edible earlier this year, we have already seen how it has the power to connect communities. We’re really excited about bringing even more people together within South Leeds”
Photo: Volunteers at the Incredible Edible garden in Belle Isle
While you’re here, can we ask a favour?
South Leeds Life is published by a not-for-profit social enterprise. We keep our costs as low as possible but we’ve been hit by increases in the print costs for our monthly newspaper which have doubled in the last two years.
Could you help support local community news by making a one off donation, or even better taking out a supporters subscription?
Donate here, or sign up for a subscription at bit.ly/SLLsubscribe
