Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 and B13
- Postcode Gardener: Carolyn Morton (aka Camo)
- Hosted by: Fruit and Nut village
Fruit and Nut Village is a Birmingham-based gardening group which works with local communities to develop a range of edible landscapes.
Camo is an artist-maker-grower who's keen to build relationships with the local community to establish forest gardens. As Postcode Gardener, she'll work with different organisations and individuals to create a diverse range of food-growing spaces, from planters and path edges to tree pits and street corners, filled with fruit bushes, herbs, vegetables and flowers.
Growing food, bringing people together
Fruit and Nut village (the charity hosting Camo) plants orchards, forest gardens and year-round food in 3 neighbourhoods in Birmingham.
Rob Tilling, who’s been involved in community gardening across Birmingham for over 20 years, is delighted that Camo will be working alongside him in one of the big forest gardens in Balsall Heath. She'll be planting edible plants and ground cover amongst the trees, while also seeking out new neglected green spaces to cultivate.
Camo will also be striking up new relationships with local people and finding ways for them to get involved. As Rob says, "Once you've got the people, you can do anything really [...] People want to be active in their local area. No-one knew each other 5 years ago. I didn’t know any of these people [volunteers at Fruit and Nut Village]. And now they’re friends. It really does make a community."
Camo, the Postcode Gardener
"I'm really excited to use my creativity in my new role as Postcode Gardener, and work with the community to improve health and wellbeing, share skills and build confidence.
"My semi-wild allotment inspires my art and perspective of the natural world. I hope I can encourage people to think about their relationship with nature too."
Protecting the natural world has been at the heart of The Co-operative Bank’s unique, customer-led Ethical Policy for over 30 years, driven by their customers’ concerns for biodiversity and the environment.
Postcode Gardeners are bringing communities together to help bring nature back. Through our partnership with The Co-operative Bank, we’re supporting Postcode Gardeners to restore wildlife and greenery in over 1,000 nature-deprived spaces across the country.
