Connecting People To The Land
Growing Local is a community interest company that encourages and educates communities to grow, cook and eat local food.
In the summer of 2023 Growing Local took over a new 19-acre agricultural site, The Southside Farm, on the southern edge of Hereford to establish a veg box scheme, a children’s educational garden and heritage orchards. Our veg boxes are now for sale!
In early 2026 construction will start on a cook studio and indoor teaching space.
Connecting communities to local food
The Southside Farm supplies vegetables grown with regenerative, organic and agro-ecological principles for sale to the local community through a weekly all year round veg box scheme. Head over JOIN OUR VEG BOX SCHEME to find out more
We also work with schools and communities delivering educational programmes and events in sustainable food growing and cooking.
Growing Local was established in 2009 and operated originally from Court Farm in Tillington for twelve happy years. Our new Southside Farm project facilitates the expansion to our own growing and education site in south Hereford.
Our Growing Local Legacy
Pat Gordon and Heather Percy established Growing Local CIC in June 2009. With the support of local growers and potential school participants, and with little capital their energy and vision saw the development of a thriving community food growing and education project.
Their vision was to ‘connect people with the land’ to allow the local community, particularly children and their families to take control of their food through buying locally and ‘growing their own’.
Pat brought twenty-five years’ experience of working in FE including running Holme Lacy’s Foundation, Horticulture and Schools programmes. She established Growing Local’s first Veg Box scheme and built it up to 120 customers sourcing veg from local growers from 2009 until 2020. READ MORE HERE – Founding of Growing Local