St Sidwell’s Community Centre has a wonderful and varied garden, right in the middle of Exeter. The garden is maintained by a team of volunteers and includes our sunken vegetable garden. All the fruit and veg grown is used in our café. We use organic and nature friendly techniques in the garden, promoting wildlife and creating a space that can be enjoyed by all in the heart of Exeter.
Volunteering
If you enjoy gardening and might be interested in volunteering with us, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Our volunteers look after all aspects of gardening from general maintenance, to food growing and growing for wildlife.
We offer volunteering sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays , 10am-12pm. The sessions are led by our garden team and will include a range of gardening tasks from seed sowing to planting, watering, habitat creation and more. Sessions numbers are limited and need to be booked in advance. If you would like to volunteer in the garden please fill up our online form here.
Team days and corporate volunteering
If you are looking for a team day out, working outside and helping a local charity, contact us! We can offer groups of up to 10 people a range of gardening projects to be completed in St Sidwell’s grounds.
Facilitating team days does require extra staff time, and sometimes materials – so we ask for a contribution. Each project will have a slightly different cost based on tasks, staff needed and material. We can also include a nice lunch from our café (veggie and vegan options available). Groups will be led by a member of staff and we will offer refreshments throughout the day. Contact gardening@stsidwells.org.uk for more details.
What is growing
Since 2014 we have planted hundreds of shrubs, perennials and annuals and literally thousands of bulbs – including over 5000 crocuses. Our aim is to have something of interest, and colour, all year round. We use natural and chemical-free techniques whenever possible, as we aim to create a balanced ecosystem that wildlife and visitors can enjoy and use.
The garden hosts centenary yew trees on each side of the entrance, as well as old holly trees. In 2020 we planted a mini orchard along the path including three varieties of apple trees (Ashmead’s Kernel, Tom Putt and Lord Derby), two plum trees (Mirabelle de Nancy and Green Gage), two pear trees (Doyenne du Comice) and two quinces.
There are a lot of people who visit St Sid’s regularly, but still don’t know about our secret Vegetable and Herb garden. It’s not meant to be a secret but as it’s a sunken garden (down some steps on the Eastern side of the grounds) it’s not immediately visible! The veg garden is managed following organic guidelines. We grow a variety of herbs (including a lovely mint collection you are welcome to smell!), vegetables in a crop rotation and perennial fruit and veg like rhubarb and raspberries. You’ll also find our magnificent kiwi climbing on the pergola in between the beds – it produces small but delicious fruits every year.
If you are interested in the history of the centre, the garden and the grounds in general, visit our Heritage page.
