Courses

Community Wine

The Community Wine Making Scheme invites local grape growers to bring their harvest to our Hawkwood Winery to be made into wine for your domestic consumption. We make two batches of wine from all the grapes delivered – a red and a white, and return the finished wine in bottle to the participating growers. Now […]

Forest School

Forest School opportunities starting Thursday 22 September and Friday 23 September in Chingford An amazing opportunity for early-years learning and play, and the chance to try out den building, fire lighting and using tools. Thursday sessions at Organiclea’s market garden and woodland site. Friday sessions at the Hornbeam Learning Lodge (Pimp Hall Nature Reserve) in […]

Mushroom Cultivation

Mycology and Mushrooms Mushrooms have been growing wild since prehistoric times. Their therapeutic value has been prized in numerous cultures, for thousands of years. In the past few decades, mushrooms have become even more popular for their therapeutic qualities in the west as a result of an expanding body of scientific research supporting their numerous […]

Wind Turbine Course

Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October 2016, 9am-5pm We are excited once again to be hosting this practical fun course from V3 Power at our Hawkwood Nursery site. Learn how to build and install a Hugh Piggott wind turbine from scratch using basic materials. Learn about on-grid and off-grid electrical systems, and get hands-on experience […]

Cultivate Festival

It’s harvest time – and time for the Cultivate Festival’s Autumn Season. Lots of events and activities which Organiclea is taking part in, from 3-11 September.

Open Day Plant Sale

Open Day and Plant Sale Sunday 28 August, Hawkwood Nursery This month’s open day is celebrating the wonderful biodiversity of our Hawkwood growing site and the Lea valley more widely. We hope to get friendly with moths; there will be a tour of the site with wildlife experts Lea Valley Nature Photographers;  a pollinator plant […]

Seasonal Blitz

Seasonal Blitz and Open Day Sunday 31 July, Hawkwood Nursery New this month: we know some people are keen to volunteer but can only make weekends, so we’re happy to announce the launch of our Seasonal Blitz Morningz, and the first is from 10-1 on Sunday 31 July. Please arrive at 9.45 so all can start […]

Near Wild Haven

It’s July already! The season has seemed a muddled blur of weather and temperature. Yet the dandelion clock is never slow, and often the plants are less confused than we are. Here at Hawkwood, everything about us sings “Summertime”, from the swelling tree fruit to the blushing tomatoes, the stretching beans to the bolting rocket. […]

Learn about Bees

Sustainable Beekeeping course Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September 2016, 10 am-5.30 pm both days. This course is for anyone from beginners to experienced beekeepers who are interested in learning about more sustainable methods of beekeeping. The first day of the course will take a look at the fascinating world of the honeybee, introducing key […]

Flower Power

Sometimes nothing says it like flowers, but it’s also not easy sourcing bouquets that aren’t produced industrially with pesticides, grown on prime food growing land in the tropics, by people with poor working conditions, then flown long distance, with all the pollution and carbon release that entails. At Organiclea’s Hawkwood site, we grow flowers as […]

June Open Day

Open Day, Sunday 26 June, 12-4pm, Hawkwood Nursery This month’s open day features the launch of our special Barbed Wit rhubarb beer made by the East London Brewing Company. Ruaridh from the brewery joined our grower Ru to harvest the ru-barb… it’s also our annual tribute to the poet John Clare, and we are joined […]

Learn about fruit

Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 July 2016, 9.30am-5pm The essentials of pruning and growing fruit trees and bushes: a weekend course for beginner and experienced gardeners who have (or would like) fruit trees and bushes and would like to know how to properly establish and maintain them. This course seeks to build skills and knowledge […]

Compost Giveaway

Open Day, Sunday 29 May, 12-4pm, Hawkwood Nursery The open day comes round again with another opportunity to buy plants for your garden, get free compost, eat good cake and more! This month’s seasonal horticultural task is planting out, come along to a workshop to get tips and advice on giving your plants a good […]

Mushroom Cultivation

Mycology and Mushrooms Mushrooms have been growing wild since prehistoric times. Their therapeutic value has been prized in numerous cultures, for thousands of years. In the past few decades, mushrooms have become even more popular for their therapeutic qualities in the west as a result of an expanding body of scientific research supporting their numerous […]

The Asparagus Rush

“ The harvest team were assembling, as ever, on Tuesday morning. “So, are we mining?”, asks Vi. “Yes, we’re mining”. Alok, one of our Salad Starters, might be wondering if there’d been a terrible misunderstanding when he applied for the role. No one had mentioned anything about excavating the earth for mineral deposits, up until […]

Open Day Plant Sale

Open Day, Sunday 24 April, 12-4pm, Hawkwood Nursery This month’s Open Day sees our first plant sale of the season. We have popular favourites such as tomatoes, squash, courgettes – plants that are hard to get started without a greenhouse, and our growers can offer advice and aftercare tips. We have a whole range of […]

People’s Food Fair

The People’s Food Fair On Saturday 16 April join us at the Hornbeam Cafe and Community Centre in Walthamstow to sample great produce and find out more about why local food systems matter. From 11am til 3pm there’ll be food stalls, family-friendly activities and games, practical activities and workshops. Who makes the food that we […]

Job Opportunity

OrganicLea are recruiting for the role of Community Food Movement Builder! The role of community food movement builder involves maximising OrganicLea’s potential to inspire wider social change towards social and environmental justice! The focus of the role is on building skills, knowledge and passion for grass-roots change in the food system through awareness raising, movement […]

Buddy Scheme

Peoplecare in Community Gardening: Organiclea is looking for volunteer support gardeners at Hawkwood Community Plant Nursery to ‘buddy’ other volunteers who have higher support needs. In its fourth year, Organiclea’s Buddy Scheme trains volunteers to support others to participate in volunteering at Hawkwood Community Plant Nursery. Organiclea is growing people as well as plants and […]

Learn about fruit

Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 July 2016, 9.30am-5pm The essentials of pruning and growing fruit trees and bushes: a weekend course for beginner and experienced gardeners who have (or would like) fruit trees and bushes and would like to know how to properly establish and maintain them. This course seeks to build skills and knowledge […]

Seeds & Spuds

Open Day, Sunday 26 March, 12-4pm, Hawkwood Nursery This Open Day falls on Easter Sunday so we’re celebrating with (egg-shaped) potatoes, and the fertility of the seed. Bring your seeds to swap, pick up some potatoes ready to go in the ground (potato planting is traditionally a Good Friday activity but it can stretch over […]

Food Rebels on Film

We were very pleased to take part in a film series called Food Rebels, part of the Real Food Revolution strand which screened on the Community Channel. Funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and produced by the Media Trust, the six episodes highlight food projects which are shaking up the system, from new ways of growing […]

Family Herb Group

New Parent and Child Herb Group starting on 21 April Explore, harvest and learn about native herbs of the Lea Valley in a monthly session with local herbal enthusiasts, Susanna and Tree at OrganicLea’s Hawkwood site. Learn about medicinal herbs and their properties, harvest them for teas and make your own remedies to take home. […]

Plant Sale Season

The 2016 growing season is here! We can help you get growing with our food plants

Job Opportunity

OrganicLea is recruiting! Do you share a passion for developing and delivering a sustainable community food enterprise? Can you combine strategic development with day to day operational delivery? Are you excited by spreadsheets and strategy as well as produce and people? We are looking for someone to join our distribution team – working to grow […]

Cultivate 2016

Organiclea are happy once again to be part of Cultivate, Waltham Forest’s urban food growing festival. This year the programme kicks off from 5-13 March with resources and advice for growers, then culminates in an Autumn Season of events celebrating the harvest, 3-11 September. Some festival highlights this spring include: Network Event – Forming a […]

Learn about Bees

Sustainable Beekeeping courses We are running two weekend courses this season. Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May 2016, 10 am-5.30 pm both days. Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September 2016, 10 am-5.30 pm both days. This course is for anyone from beginners to experienced beekeepers who are interested in learning about more sustainable methods of […]