Grow your own... At Vetch Veg

In August 2011 the Vetch Veg project was born. Based on the historic site of the Vetch football field, an urban utopia has been created in the heart of Swansea.

Vetch Veg is an artwork and site specific project working in collaboration with the community of Sandfields, Swansea. The work is co-ordinated by Artist Owen Griffiths, commissioned by Adain Avion cultural Olympiad Wales.

This collaborative project with local residents has seen the pitch at Vetch, the iconic football stadium that, in 2012 would have celebrated its centenary, transformed into edible land. This has provided the residents and the surrounding community free space in which to work together, growing produce, keeping bees and chickens etc.

The grand finale of the project was the Vetch Veg Flower and Produce Show, which took place in June 2012 when the Adain Avion plane came to Swansea.

Sarah Bennett, Housing Services Manager and Chris McDonnell, Estates Co-Ordinator visited Vetch Veg recently to see how four of Coastal’s tenants, who had taken plots had done.

The tenants, Dawn and Tim Mitchell, Wayne Morgan and Liz MacNamara, all live in Coastal homes in the Sandfields. Living in flats, they have no gardens and could only grow plants in pots and tubs. They became involved after seeing posters inviting local residents to attend a meeting last August.

Our tenants told Sarah how their gardening skills have literally grown over the last 12 months.

For more information visit: www.vetchveg.co.uk