OmVed Gardens builds UK’s first food and ecology centre

But where better than one of North London’s villages to put up a vaulted rustic space to run courses on organic veg growing and fermenting?

Back in 2017 OmVed Gardens created an exhibition, events and learning space out of a vacant Highgate plant nursery.

OmVed Gardens includes a veg garden, wildflower meadow, glasshouses and pond. (Image: Will Hearle) Past courses have ranged from garden biodiversity to foraging, alongside a programme of hands-on schools visits to promote outdoor learning and food growing. 

Now the gardens with their wildflower meadow, permaculture veg garden, ponds, willow circle and orchard are temporarily closed to the public while they build the UK’s first centre for food, ecology and creativity.

In recent months the owners have been transforming a “hidden corner of the garden” to build a barn events space, kitchen with rooftop garden, seed library, greenhouse, and art gallery.

Courses at OmVed range from cooking with flowers to foraging, veg growing and fermentation. (Image: Will Hearle) The works are almost finished with the final touches, landscaping and tree planting taking place before the “big reveal” to the public on May 31.

The founders say the centre will be dedicated to “growing, sharing and community” and allow OmVed to open year round for the first time.

OmVed Gardens founder Karen Leason said adding permanent new buildings to OmVed Gardens reflected their commitment to community and sharing knowledge.

The gardens were created from a vacant plant nursery and greenhouses in 2017. (Image: Will Hearle)

“Architect Piers Smerin has designed a series of welcoming spaces that will allow us to host so many more visitors to the garden, support our work with global food and growing networks, and provide a richer experience for visitors of all ages and backgrounds keen to explore connections of food, creativity and ecology,” she added.

The sustainably designed timber buildings are clad in red cedar with vaulted exposed beams and natural ventilation, while the greenhouse will maximise passive solar gain, and there’s a bridge connecting the roof garden to the rest of OmVed.

Architect Piers Smerin said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity to design buildings that work in harmony with their landscape.”

OmVed has been running a seed swap scheme and the new centre will provide for a home for its seed project. (Image: Will Hearle) And landscape Architect Paul Gazerwitz said: “One of the joys of visiting OmVed is its ability to transport you to a more peaceful and tranquil place, almost forgetting you’re still within a city. The winding path that descends through the garden to the pond, gives the visitor the time and space to slowly put their everyday cares aside and immerse themselves in nature.

“The new area of the garden, set within a woodland will compliment this quiet contemplation by the creation of a more dynamic landscape that will facilitate interaction. It’s been immensely fulfilling watching it evolve from a simple idea of a mediative green sanctuary to the destination that it is today.

“This latest transformation is the last step in a long but satisfying journey which will allow the pleasures of this garden to be enjoyed and relished year-round.”

OmVed has often run exhibitions of art inspired by nature and a solo exhibition of new work by award-winning artist Vivienne Schadinsky will help launch new centre, combining films, sculptures and Japanese ink paintings to chart the journey of beans from seed to harvest.

OmVed Gardens is at Townsend Yard, Highgate. www.omvedgardens.com