TGL: What is The Barefoot Planter all about? How did the idea come to life?
Chauntelle: Transitioning my hobby into a business began with a “chicken story”. Back in 2023, I caught up with my friend Richard Cummins and told him I wanted to launch The Barefoot Planter, but I wasn’t sure where to begin. He suggested I check out MAKE IT, a coworking space in Barking, and said I should connect with AJ (Ajibade) Haast — apparently, he used to look after chickens in the city.
I took a chance and pitched a herb repotting workshop with AJ, and the coworking members loved it! That’s also where I met Andy Murphy from Progress Project Dagenham, who later asked me to run gardening workshops for his autistic youth group. It turned out he was also friends with my café-owner friend, Dabby Ragasa, at RIAL Cafe in West Ham, where I co-created a community garden and hosted my first Sip & Plant event with RSPB.
Referrals from these connections helped me secure a 2-year community residency with Create London at their White House Dagenham site.
TGL: What drew you to plants, growing, and this work in the first place?
Chauntelle: Living in a built environment with restricted access to green spaces during lockdowns in the pandemic made me want to revive our outdoor spaces at home. Amongst two career shifts and burnout in 2020, I discovered the endless benefits of gardening. One day, a curious neighbour from a distance asked me, “Aren’t you embarrassed being barefoot in your garden?” I wasn’t — and it made me realise that this was the first time I’d felt grounded in a while (physically and mentally). I later realised that this is something others desired too.
TGL: Workshops & offerings — You run several types of workshops. Can you tell us more about them, who they’re for, and what people typically take away?
Chauntelle: The Barefoot Planter delivers sustainably-led gardening workshops, cooking classes, and dining experiences for intergenerational communities by partnering with businesses, councils, and institutions — nurturing care, connection, and curiosity through access to green spaces, skills, and jobs. Participants often leave with new friendships or a better understanding of the food they eat. Some are usually juggling seedlings in paper bags.
TGL: What kind of impact are you hoping to have (for individuals, communities, and/or urban nature)?
Chauntelle: We provide a journey from seed sowing to garden-to-fork and a celebration of farm-to-table. A former incubator facilitator recently reminded me that what makes The Barefoot Planter special is our ability to connect people to their food and each other. Edible gardening is a colourful, sensory and biodiversity-friendly experience.
TGL: You’ve just launched a new website. Can you walk our readers through it? What should they look out for?
Chauntelle: The first two years of running The Barefoot Planter included a lot of experimenting with event concepts like our non-alcoholic Sip & Plant and Pickles & Preserves Party. Viewers and readers can now get a better understanding of what we do and who we’ve worked with. Definitely watch this space — we’re launching virtual grow-alongs and drop-in sessions soon.
TGL: Three words to describe The Barefoot Planter?
Chauntelle: Connection. Care. Curiosity.
TGL: Your favourite green space in London?
Chauntelle: Regents Canal (specifically the route from Mile to Islington).
TGL: What’s missing in London?
Chauntelle: More intergenerational learning spaces — and I assume this may boil down to leaders prioritising over 18s due to liability insurance.
TGL: When it comes to food, what’s the one thing you’d love people to focus on more?
Chauntelle: It’s the year of the cabbage according to Pinterest and Vogue — so eat more of it when it’s in season.
TGL: One message you’d like to share with The Green Londoner community?
Chauntelle: Collectively try to curate more accessible, equitable, and age-friendly event.
