Permablitz London Showcase Projects

Permablitz London has installed over 50 household, allotment and community gardens across London. In addition, we coordinate or provide consultancy for 9 showcase projects that connect people with each other and the land through growing food. They are part of our extended permablitz network of mutual support.

As well as growing food and other useful plants they all act as outdoor classrooms. They help people learn about organic gardening (perennial & annual), forest gardens, permaculture design, practical sustainability and how to provide food & habitat for wildlife.

These projects foster local connections and build community networks by bringing together people of all ages & cultures to design, instal and maintain regenerative edible, wildlife-friendly gardens.

Valuing diversity in this way creates beneficial and useful connections in which each contributes and all benefit.

For these showcase projects we:

  • Have contributed a garden design

  • Implemented the garden with permablitzes

  • Provide ongoing maintenance support through regular annual permablitzes & other practical educational events

  • Either coordinate the project or provide ongoing garden & social design consultancy

Cecil Sharp House Permaculture LAND project

Cecil Sharp House is a grade II listed building in Camden that is the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Cecil Sharp House is Britain’s premier folk music centre.

The Cecil Sharp House permaculture garden is managed by Permablitz London with Kayode Olafimihan as coordinator and Susannah Hall as maintenance gardener. It is a low maintenance permaculture design inspired by the folk adage: one for the birds, one for the bugs and one for me – which chimes very well with the permaculture ethos of earth care, people care, fair shares. This decorative, ecological and edible garden works with the soil-food-web, wildlife and plants as co-gardeners to maintain health and fertility. It supports Cecil Sharp House venue hire for weddings, parties and corporate events.

Following permaculture designs by Kayode Olafimihan, Permablitz London established the entrance bed in March 2014, the walled garden in March 2015 and the rest of the space in 2016. Since its inception in 2014 CSH permaculture garden has consistently won Camden in Bloom Best Business Garden. Click here to see judges comments.

In 2016 CSH garden became a Permaculture LAND project. LAND projects (Learning And Network Demonstration) are a network of permaculture sites set up to show permaculture in practice to visitors and volunteers in a safe, accessible and inspiring way.

The project is also our main education hub. The garden is maintained by a team of volunteers through a Gardening with Nature programme. Our design guild is based there and we run several Introduction to Permablitz Design courses for it each year.
Every summer the LAND project hosts the London Permaculture Festival which attracts around 600 people.

Josiah Braithwaite Community Garden

The Josiah Braithwaite Community Garden originated as a collaboration between Permablitz London, Living Medicine and the Nubian Life Resource Centre in White City, West London. Nubian Life provides Adult Day Care Services for older African and African Caribbean residents in Hammersmith and Fulham, and are experts in meeting the needs of elders with a range of issues such as Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes and physical and visual impairments.

Kayode Olafimihan, designed the garden with an emphasis on providing sensory stimulation, familiar foods, plants for natural remedies as well as food and habitat for wildlife. The garden was installed by Permablitz London in June 2018 and was filmed by BBC Gardeners’ World. We created a garden for the elders to enjoy with raised beds for sensory plants, vegetables, and edible climbers. We also planted a miniature forest garden.

Kentish Town City Farm Community Garden

In 2022 Permablitz London partnered with Kentish Town City Farm to establish a permaculture community garden after the Covid pandemic. Kentish Town City Farm was the first city farm and it is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. The farm is embedded in the local community providing a place for local people to come and help care for the animals, which include sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, a cow, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs.

The new permaculture community garden was installed through a series of permablitzes through spring and summer 2022. 

It now provides a growing space and outdoor classroom for local people as well as a newly established community gardening traineeship at the City Farm delivered by Permablitz London. That traineeship has generated a further 5 community garden designs for projects in Camden which will be installed in 2023.

Battersea Arts Centre Community Garden

Battersea Arts Centre is located in the former Battersea Town Hall, a Grade II* building in Wandsworth, South London. In 2015, Battersea Arts Centre’s Grand Hall was destroyed by fire. In the days and weeks following the devastating fire, there was an unprecedented outpouring of support from the local community. Now, after the reopening of the Grand Hall in 2018, BAC wants to make a generous offer to the community in return.

The permaculture community garden transforms a large section of an unadopted private highway with public access into a growing space with edible and wildlife-friendly herbaceous perennials such as fruit trees and shrubs to produce regular, low-maintenance harvests. Kayode Olafimihan & Susannah Hall from Permablitz London created the garden design that enabled BAC to win funding from the GLA, Heritage Lottery Fund and the local authority.

We are also leading the community engagement project, so that residents of all ages, local schools and community groups will have the opportunity to eat the products of their own garden; enjoy an attractive green space; and learn new skills. Permablitz London has been using its strong community network to target community groups that we are not presently engaged, and whose wellbeing and sense of belonging stand to increase the most from being involved.

Northwick Park Community Garden

Northwick Park Community Garden (NPCG) is in Northwick Park in Harrow, North West London. The objective of Northwick Park Community Garden Charity, who manage the project, is to create an organic permaculture food forest garden that brings people together from all walks of life and has a nurturing effect on the natural environment, its flora and fauna. The project strives to ensure the garden serves the broadest section of the community.

Permablitz London are the expert garden consultants for NPCG. Kayode Olafimihan & Susannah Hall created a garden design that won funding from Brent Council. We then held, in partnership with NPGC, a series of workshops between January and April 2019 to teach people about permaculture and food forest gardens, we potted up seedlings and bare-rooted fruit trees, and made mushroom logs (part of the soil-food web) all in preparation for the forest garden.

We held our first Permablitz in May 2019 and our second Permablitz on in June when we planted sections of the food forest garden area, with plants from the funding, and also plants received from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Further workshops, permablitzes and planting days have developed the garden further. The garden will offer direct unrestricted access for the public to freely stroll through the garden area and observe trees and plants maturing and evolving throughout the seasons.

London’s Community Kitchen

On 15th December 2022 King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla opened Permablitz London’s new model permaculture garden at London’s Community Kitchen’s headquarters in Harrow. After touring the newly installed Paddington Garden they unveiled a plaque opening the garden (see right).

The garden will be used for educational purposes to demonstrate sustainable and regenerative wildlife-friendly food growing, keeping chickens and integrating sensory and nature-connection wellbeing areas.

Each week the award-wining London’s Community Kitchen saves approximately 50 tonnes of surplus food that would otherwise go to landfill and uses it to feed up to 14,000 people. They run free cookery classes to teach people cooking skills on a budget, using surplus ingredients. They recently won the Outstanding Achievement award at the Observer Food Monthly Awards 2022.

Morley College Natural Dye Garden

The design created a mini-ecosystem based on reciprocal connections between the soil-food-web and a plant community organised as a permaculture mutual-support guild. It was installed through a series of permablitzes during 2017 to 2018 using plants and seeds gathered from a variety of community gardens in London. These included: Cordwainers, Brockwell Park Community Garden, South London Botanical Institute, Glengall Wharf Garden, Audacious Veg and Cecil Sharp House permaculture garden.

Since then it has become an outdoor classroom for students and staff to investigate natural dye techniques which avoid the need for unsustainable oil-based dyes. It is also a resource which enables students studying natural dyeing to experience the plants whose dye properties they are using. In particular, to learn how to grow, maintain and harvest a range of natural dye plants, including heritage dye plants. Plants in the garden include: Weld, Woad, Madder, Golden Rod, Calendula (Marigold), Hollyhock, Tagetes (French or African Marigold), Japanese Indigo, Blackcurrant, Yarrow, Calendula, Geranium and Comfrey.

The garden shares information with the wider college and visitors through signage.

The project led on to a natural dye stall at the London RHS Plant & Art Show July 2018 and subsequent natural dye workshops at Chelsea Flower Show.

Hackney Herbal

Hackney Herbal is a social enterprise founded by Nat Mady that started back in 2015 in a community garden on Mare Street. They promote wellbeing through herbs by running hands-on creative and educational projects, workshops and events. They work in partnership with Hackney organisations like Mind, The Centre for Better Health and The Recovery College to deliver free community courses showing people how to grow their own herbs and make simple remedies to support their mental health and wellbeing. They also sell herbal tea.

All profits are reinvested into free community activities like wellbeing gardening courses, social gatherings and volunteering opportunities where local people can come together, learn and be inspired. They are currently based at Trowbridge Gardens in Hackney Wick where they are creating a garden where plants, people and wildlife can thrive.

The site is made of two main garden spaces – one is a demonstration herb garden and the other a forest garden where they are planning to incorporate a mixture of edible, medicinal, fibre/dye, wildlife friendly plants as well as ornamentals that provide colour, scent and year-round interest.

The herb garden has been designed and implemented by Permablitz London in conjunction with Hackney Herbal. We are also involved with the further development of Trowbridge Gardens and the community space it provides. The gardens will host year-round volunteer sessions, education activities and public events.

London Permaculture Festival

Permablitz London hosts the annual London Permaculture Festival at Cecil Sharp House. Each year the festival attracts around 600 people who gather to hear workshops, browse a stalls market including the Unusual Edibles Plant stall provided by Permablitz London.

Families at the Festival is curated by the Permablitz London team at Cecil Sharp House.