Barbican Beds

Location: Paragon Street, York, YO10 4AG

This was our first city centre bed! City of York Council, who loved the Edible York vision, offered us the bed to plant up in 2009. In 2013, CYC were making improvements to the whole of Fishergate Bar, and built us four new beautiful beds, including a stone plaque.

This bed is overseen by a local group of volunteers, who usually meet from 11am to 12 noon on Sundays. Do come and join us! No prior gardening experience is needed.

In recent years we’ve grown lots of edible flowers, rainbow chard and herbs. Californian poppy and marigold are particular favourites; we also have bronze fennel, courgettes, sorrel, and raspberries. The currant bushes – black, red and white – donated by R.V. Rogers have flourished over the years and there is plenty of mint (please help yourself!)

In 2022 we added a medieval garden, just on the left if you are facing the beds from Paragon Street. This was inspired by the medieval St Andrews Priory, a small monastery that from the thirteenth century until 1538 stood roughly between where the Blue Bridge and the Novotel are today, very close to the Barbican Beds. Medieval monasteries (of which York had many) grew their own fruit, vegetables, and herb, and we have replicated this in miniature, planting only things which would have been known in medieval York. Currently the medieval bed is planted with onions, parsley, sage, lavender, and gooseberries, edged with woven willow branches. The wild strawberries that have taken over a corner of the bed are also in keeping with the era.

Peasholme Green

Location: Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PJ

This is our bed in Peaseholme Green opposite the Black Swan pub. We’ve been growing edible flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables there since 2011 and the soil is getting better and better as the seasons go by! Everyone is invited to taste a leaf or pick something to take away when it is ripe and ready to go. The bed is well harvested and we are delighted that people just take a little, leaving food for others to enjoy later.

Volunteers meet at the bed Wednesdays, times from April 2022 announced soon. Everyone is welcome regardless of gardening knowledge, and support, gloves, and tools will be on hand – enthusiasm is the key ingredient!

This larger triangular bed converted to growing vegetables by Edible York in March 2011, having previously been a shrubbery it was taken on following the success of the first Barbican Beds in 2010.  In 2011 other beds were created.

You can read about the early days at Peasholme Green in this article in the York Press

This Edible bed can be found outside the building that used to be the Quilt Museum, and opposite the Black Swan. Gardening sessions are on Wednesdays, 12noon to 1pm.

Anything growing is there for picking – wait until ripe and take small amounts from several plants.