As part of our Summer Fun programme we’re offering a series of workshops exploring herbs, how to grow them, prepare food with them, and use them to relax. The sessions are free, however you will need to book, to secure a place.

We are offering our popular vegetable growing kits again this year for residents living in the Big Local Gateshead area. We want to support as many of you as possible to grow vegetables at home, so you can enjoy all the benefits of growing some of your own food!

Would you like a free tree to plant in your garden? Big Local have trees to give away… Please help us plant more trees in our community. Big Local Gateshead have teamed up with #IDigTrees - Over 1 million trees, and growing! We have trees to give away to residents. Most are suitable for small gardens and for creating hedging or screens.

Why not have a go at making your own Christmas Wreath this year? If you are struggling to get outdoors to enjoy some fresh air and make the most of the remaining sunny, blue skies, this could give you the perfect excuse!

As autumn begins to surround us and the growing season is coming to an end, work in our allotments, gardens and yards begins to slow down. Once you’ve harvested your last vegetables and fruit, cleared and fed the soil, the temptation may be to stay indoors more and hibernate, but there are still jobs to be done in the great outdoors!

Finally it’s here! Our sunflower competition is launched and you have the chance to win prizes worth £30!

It’s good to remind ourselves of just how far we have come! It’s easy to forget sometimes, the work we put in to our plants and gardens early on in the season in order to end up with a wonderful display or harvest. I’ve been looking back through some photographs of our community allotment over the past few months and wow…it’s changed so much!

Our new family volunteer plots are up and running and looking great! We have allocated the plots to residents living in the Big Local Gateshead area, who have little or no outdoor growing space at home. The families have a small plot of their own to grow whatever they choose and in return they have been helping with weeding and watering the main site to ensure all our wonderful veggies make it to harvest!

After putting in so much work to get your plants established, it is important to inspect them regularly for signs of pests and diseases.  When diagnosing plant damage, first you need to gather information and clues.

If you have been growing anything from seed or have been clearing and dividing plants in your garden, you may have extra plants and nowhere to put them or a glut of produce you don’t know what to do with.

I’ve been busy these last couple of weeks, working at the allotment and delivering vegetable growing kits out to families in the area. We are getting some lovely feedback on the kits and many people are sharing their growing experiences on our Facebook group ‘BLG Growing Together’.

This week I’ve been busy delivering vegetable growing kits and planting at the community allotment to get it ready for the summer.

With the focus this week being on mental health and wellbeing, I wanted to share a little about my journey and love of gardening and why I feel gardening can benefit the mental wellbeing of us all.

We’ve had some really fantastic entries into the garden art challenge over the last couple of weeks, well done to all you creative green-fingered lot!

Our plant deliveries to local people have been a huge success so we’re moving on to vegetable grow kits so everyone can have a go at growing something at home.

What is it and why you need to do it, and your gardening questions answered!

Suzanne walks us through the simple steps to growing your own fruit and vegetables from seeds.

Have you received a delivery of plants? Here’s some information about them, and how to look after them.

This week we’re making a simple home for everyone’s favourite fuzzy garden friend, and Suzanne has some answers for your gardening questions.