Welcome to The Green Backyard!
The Green Backyard is a community growing project located in central Peterborough run by volunteers and the local social enterprise Seeding Futures. From this urban base we are working to promote sustainable lifestyles and raise awareness of environmental issues through practical demonstration and community involvement. With regular workdays, events and activities we aim to bring people and communities across Peterborough together to be a bit greener, healthier and happier.
We run two workdays per week(Sunday: 11.00 – 16.00 and Wednesday: 11.00 – 16.00.) for members of the public to drop in and get involved. These are friendly, informal and you don’t need any gardening experience so just turn up. You can find out exactly where we are by checking out our Directions section.
For more details of what’s going on at The Green Backyard right now check out our News and Courses pages.
On the grapevine:
Peterborough Conker Championship at the Green Backyard!
Saturday October 3rd,
Click here for more information
Help us grow, join us on:
What People Think:
"I want to learn how to grow my own food and live more sustainably and that's why I come to the Green Backyard" - Jane Fletcher
"The Green Backyard gives me the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and fresh air, as well as meeting lots of new people" - Nigel Burrows
"I like the Green Backyard because it gives me something fun to do and it's better than staying inside" - James Humphries, age 11
"For me the Green Backyard is a really satisfying and therapeutic family environment" - Jo Schofield
"There's loads of good people here and I really enjoy being outdoors" - Molly Chambers, age 15
"It's good to get outside at the Green Backyard and there's always a really nice atmosphere" - Hannah Dines, age 15
Did you know?
The UK imports about 350,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, including during the English season. Many of these imported varieties may have been in storage for up to six months!
Half the vegetables and 95 per cent of the fruit eaten in the UK comes from overseas
Farming & Food production together make up about 1/5th of UK & World Greenhouse Gases
In the UK the total food chain, from farm to fork, emits 22% of greenhouse gases - similar to the total for road traffic.
Of all fruit and veg grown globally approx 25% is wasted, with most of this going into domestic waste bins
Kenyan green beans are 20-26 times more Green House Gas intensive than seasonal UK beans
Apples can and are kept for up to 10 months in cold storage before being sold as ‘fresh’
40% of conventionally grown fruit and vegetables contain residual agrichemicals
Seventy-six per cent of apples consumed in the UK come from overseas
The UK imports about 350,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, including during the English season. Many of these imported varieties may have been in storage for up to six months
Two thirds of the tomatoes eaten in the UK are imported, with a typical Saudi Arabian variety travelling an average of 3,100 miles
In the UK, we get most of our carrots from South Africa (approximately 6,000 food miles), despite the fact that the Western carrot emerged in Europe in the 15th or 16th century.
Agriculture and food account for nearly 30 per cent of goods trucked around Britain's roads and, according to a Government report in 2005, the resulting road congestion, accidents and pollution cost the country £9bn a year.
Each year an estimated 6.3 million tonnes of packaging comes into British homes, at a cost of £450 to the average family
Since 1978, the annual amount of food moved by HGVs in the UK has increased by 23 percent with the average distance for each trip also up by 50 percent
In 2008 the global cost of bread, butter, eggs and potatoes increased by as much as 60 per cent in 12 months.
A standard allotment can yield around a ton of vegetables. If you bought the same amount of organic potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips in a year, it would cost you around £1,700 from Sainsbury's or a minimum of £1,227 from Asda – even more if you have spent £30 a week on organic vegetables delivered in an attractive crate.
All local authorities in England and Wales are legally obliged to provide any group of adults (aged 18 and over) with allotments of 250sq m. Get yours!
Every £10 spent at a local food business is worth £25 for the local area’s economy, compared with just £14 when the same amount is spent in a supermarket
A Californian grown lettuce that is consumed in London has an energy consumption – calorie ratio of 127:1
Today, some 817 million tons of food are shipped around the planet each year, up fourfold from 200 million tons in 1961.
