PRODUCING FOOD
Bridport’s community projects bring people together through food growing, seed and plant sharing, education, and inclusive gardening initiatives that support wellbeing, sustainability, and local resilience. Alongside this, a wide network of growers, farms, markets, and food suppliers offers opportunities to access and support fresh, locally produced food while encouraging a thriving, self-sufficient food culture.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
A BFM project supporting the development of veg growing sites around town. Growing vegetables that are freely available to everyone is a way to build community resilience in the face of economic and environmental challenges.
Edible Bridport
Takes place on National Seed Swap Day, the last Saturday in January. Contact Eileen Haste. Telephone: 07879 280334
Bridport Seed Swap
Bridport Plant Swap
Organised by Bridport Food Matters. Generally held at the Bridport Charter Fair in May.
Edible Gardens Project
St Mary’s Primary School and Bridport Primary School
HOME in Bridport partners with Sustainable Bridport and Opera Circus to sustain and develop the Edible Garden to help the children and school, with their families to develop new skills around food shopping, cooking and growing. The project employs part time gardeners, with volunteers, to develop and oversee the garden, events, projects with the National Curriculum and other learning around horticulture, biodiversity and the importance of caring for health and well-being through local organic food. Contact: Sarah Wilberforce@gmail.com
The Garden Retreat
Fridays 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
The Bridport Health and Wellbeing Group meet at the Garden Retreat allotment (to the east of Bridport Medical Centre), no gardening experience necessary, just come along, hang out, help out, make new friends. There is seating and shelter for those who have health or mobility issues. Come and join us. For more information text Annalisa 07761 721357.
Bridport Community Orchard and Allotment
St. Mary’s Church Field Orchard acts as a repository for rare and locally successful tree varieties. It includes community allotments, a meadow area that contains a wide variety of wild flowers, beehives, and a wildlife area with a pond. The allotment is an inclusive group for people of all ages, skill levels and ability, who simply enjoy gardening. ‘Grow Your Own’ skills sessions take place regularly at the allotment.
Bridport Garden Glut
Facebook Group - A place to offer to swap or exchange excess garden produce.
Bridport Grow Your Own
Facebook Group for people to ask questions, help each other out; helping each other to create a self-sustainable food growing culture in Bridport.
Bridport & District Allotment Society (BADAS)
BADAS protects the interests of existing and future allotment holders in and around Bridport. It is open to all for an annual subscription of £2. BADAS produces a quarterly newsletter, arranges events, and has secured members discounts at various suppliers.
Contact: email, telephone: 01308 250260
To get on the waiting list for an allotment contact Bridport Town Council. Telephone: 01308 456722.
Bridport and District Gardening Club
Active since the 1850’s the Club has over 600 members in Bridport and the surrounding district. Contact M. Postle: 07962 962083. Email: bridportgardeningclub@gmail.com
Based at the Library in South Street. Seeking to expand and need more seeds. Anyone growing at home could grow seeds. Get involved by helping out at the Seed Library, community allotment or get in touch with Steve Meek bridportseedlibrary@gmail.com
Bridport Seed Library
Lucy Sommers and Chit Chong have created an experimental farm, which includes an orchard and wildflower meadow. The climate resistant multi crop orchard, building on principles for sustainable forests of the future and incorporating the principles of agro-ecology contains a wide variety of species adapted to different climates. email Lucy: lucysommers@icloud.com or Chit: chit.chong@me.com
Cock Crowing Farm
South West Seed Savers Co-operative
A group of small scale, agroecological vegetable growers who have come together to exchange seed and share their knowledge and experience of seed production. Email: southwestseedsavers@gmail.com
Tumbledown Community Farm, Weymouth
Underlanche Community Farm
Transition Town Dorchester has farm work days, a polytunnel, fruit trees, a pond, geese etc. Their main aim is to get together to explore ways of living more sustainably and building a community, through sharing growing space, tools, knowledge, ideas and work, and harvesting produce.
A small seed farm and seed company based in Dorset. Winnow Farm is the culmination of a decade spent growing plants, picking flowers and cooking dinner. They only offer varieties that they love - varieties proven to be robust, flavourful and beautiful. They clearly explain why each of their varieties has a place in their catalogue and offer straightforward growing advice.
Winnow Farm Seeds
YOUNG GROWERS
Bridport Youth and Community Centre
The Centre has created raised beds, and the Youth Clubs grow their own vegetables which they could make into pizza toppings on site. The Centre also runs holiday projects to provide lunches and activities for young people who could be in food deprivation. Email bridport.youth@gmail.com or telephone 01308 422 500
An education programme by the Melplash Agricultural society to help young people to find out more about farming and to enthuse and inspire them to take up careers in agriculture. They have a dedicated classroom for children at Washingpool Farm. Telephone 01308 423337.
Discover Farming
FLAME (LWA)
The Landworkers’ Alliance youth wing a new is dynamic grassroots movement for food justice, orchestrated by young people. Email: youth.flame@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The HOME in BRIDPORT PROJECT aims to help provide cultural, educational pathways for people to begin to develop self-sufficiency and a better life. Working in partnerships and in particular looking to support the Food Security and Local Town Plans. Runs a community allotment in Skilling as well as Edible Gardens project in primary schools.
HOME in Bridport
Kingston Maurward College Runs various rural skills courses including Introduction to Agriculture and the Environment and Applied Agricultural Science.
Kingston Maurward College
FOOD PRODUCERS & SUPPLIERS
There are many opportunities to directly support food producers via farm shops and the farm gate. With a mix of fresh and cooked food, there is a regular Saturday and Wednesday market.
Produce is available directly from us at the farm gate on a Friday morning until noon. Alternatively, they can make up an order for collection on either Friday or Saturday. Email bothenhill@hotmail.co.uk or phone 01308 424271 by Wednesday 12.00 noon for collection on Friday.
Bothen Hill
Regenerative Market garden growing veg in Symondsbury and Dorchester using sustainable and agroecological practices. Have a stall at Bridport market on Saturdays. Instagram @the_edible_acre.
Edible Acre
Open Monday – Saturday 9am – 5pm. Supply a range of high-quality, free range meats, including pork from their own pig farm.
Felicity’s Farm Shop
Wholefoods Shop. Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm. Just round the corner from the Post Office, off West Street, in Victoria Grove.
Fruits of the Earth
An introduction to mushroom growing, planting, foraging and cooking. Run by Nick Phillips, founder of Grown Up Mushrooms, these courses are fun, fact-filled and full of fungi know-how.
Grown Up Mushrooms
A 45-acre, certified organic small-holding located on the borders of Dorset, Devon and Somerset, producing meat, vegetables and preserves for sale locally. They run a programme of arts-related events and projects in parallel with the everyday functioning of the farm. Contact alexa@lowerhewoodfarm.org
Lower Hewood Farm
Open Monday – Saturday 7am – 7pm. Actively promote local produce made or grown in Dorset & make every effort to keep ‘Food Miles’ to a minimum. Many of their producers are local to the farm. Their milk is untreated (raw) milk, meaning that it has not been physically altered or heat treated, thereby protecting its natural goodness.
Modbury Farm Shop
Open seven days a week with an ever-changing roster of ethical, local and passionate suppliers, our shelves are brimming with deliciousness from some of the best small businesses across the South West and Britain. And that’s all before you find their own baked goods with the most scrumptious sourdoughs and pastries in the West.
Rise Market & Bakery
A small market garden in West Dorset focused on growing the most delicious and nutritious vegetables. At Bridport’s street market every Saturday.
Springtail Farm
Tuesdays 4:00-6:30 pm, Fridays 8:30-11:00 am. Any other time by appointment. Just call 01308 897781 to arrange a time. Vegetables are picked fresh for the shop, so are not normally available outside shop hours.
Tamarisk Farm
Using pigs and poultry, they aim to make significant ecological improvements to our land as well as producing free range eggs, Christmas turkeys and traditional dry cured bacon and sausages of the tastiest degree!
The Old Ways
Open Monday – Saturday 8am – 5pm. With a huge range of products sourced from Dorset and SW, with a reputation for providing really good quality food at really great prices.
Washingpool Farm Shop
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