grow in the dark

Grow in the Dark is a community project that brought life (human and wild!) to this heavily-shaded ‘dark’ area. The project was organised by the Crossfields Residents Association, led by Megan McNamee and myself, and funded by Grow Wild, an outreach of Key Botanic Gardnes.

In agreement with Lewisham Homes an unused and shady space at the end of Crossfields Estate was left un-mowed, demarcated by donated fallen logs, in order to protect and encourage the growth of native plants and fungi that thrive in low-light conditions. The starting point was to understand the existing biodiversity within this area, and so an ecological survey was carried out with the help of the nearby Creekside Ecology Centre.

Then a lecture on fungi was organised for the residents, and an opening event which includes a log cake and papier mache mushroom hats that we made! The project also included efforts to encourage nocturnal creatures whose habitats are under threat from local construction and pollution, was a session to make and install bird boxes and a bug hotel.

Whilst living on Crossfields Estate / 2019 / community wildlife project / funded by Grow Wild