By Sam S

The Wolves Lane Centre is a thriving community food hub in Wood Green, promoting sustainable growing, volunteering, education, and social enterprise. On Fridays and Sundays, members of the public can freely visit the Palm and Cactus Houses, before having a delicious hearty meal in the Love Food café.

Previously run by Haringey Council, the rare urban glasshouses were at risk of demolition due to Government budget cuts. In order to preserve this impressive infrastructure and develop a shared community vision for the site, the Wolves Lane Consortium was formed in 2019, bringing together groups including Organic Lea, The Ubele Initiative, Crop Drop, The Wolves Lane Flower Company, Ottolenghi, Black Rootz, and Edible London.

This week, Jamie and I had the pleasure of a guided tour by Chris Gorgay, director of farming at Edible London. He told us about their grey to green initiatives, turning derelict urban plots into abundant food growing spaces, as well as the heritage vegetables they cultivate, and their partnership with Felix Project to redistribute surplus food. We joined staff and volunteers for their Christmas lunch, decorated wreaths with foraged plants and berries, and met some of the resident foxes in the woodland garden. It was a joyful day and we look forward to reciprocating their hospitality when the Wolves Lane team visit us at the farm in the new year.