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Edible Gardens
As part of the Edible Landscape project, we would like to show you different ways of food production and food education in various corners of the world. We will show you different types of community gardens and prove that there is no wrong place to produce food! Travelling always inspires us and allows us to search for interesting places and initiatives related to food production in the landscape - this was also the case this time! Read on to see some of the interesting and diverse activities we encountered during our recent trip to Scotland.
Community plots (community beds) have been set aside at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. They are looked after by young people from different social groups, at risk of social exclusion and entering adult life. Under the guidance of garden staff, they learn how to grow vegetables here every week. This activity is implemented as part of the Teens+ (Transitional Education, Extra Needs Support) project.
Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a remarkable place not only for its botany but also for its horticultural education. Admission to the garden is free. The garden is guided by its staff, from whom we can learn many interesting things about horticulture and food production. A large part of the garden is occupied by an educational area where different groups can learn about horticulture. Numerous educational projects are carried out here, including:
🌿 Student Plots: first-year horticulture students design and look after their plots throughout the academic year, exploring practical knowledge. Each year they complete tasks in different departments, such as taste and colour or medicinal plants, for example. 😍
🌿 School Gardening Project: the garden has dedicated plots tended by children from local schools. Vegetables with the following characteristics are chosen to be grown here:
👉 small size and speed of harvest,
👉 adaptation to the local climate,
👉 taste,
👉 colour or shape, e.g. purple potatoes and round carrots.
In a big city, every piece of greenery is worth its weight in gold! Courtyards between multi-family buildings in Edinburgh are repeatedly used to create neighborhood gardens, where a large part of the space is devoted to growing vegetables. Take a look at one of these gardens made in one of the backyards. How do you like it? We were delighted!
Edinburgh - Neighborhood Garden Albion Rd
Sunshine on Leith Community Garden in Edinburgh is the place we liked the most in Scotland! It is a magically arranged courtyard space located in the city center. A secret garden to which you can get from the urban jungle through a narrow gate.
The garden is divided into private and public zones. Each community member has their own box for growing plants and decides what they will cultivate. Most, however, focus on growing vegetables. In the common part surrounding the chests, many fruit trees, shrubs, and herbs grow. There is a place for tools, picnic tables, a composter, and a small playground. Most of the cleaning work is carried out together during fixed days.
Edinburgh - Sunshine on Leith
community garden
Sunshine on Leith Community Garden in Edinburgh. The day after our departure from Edinburgh, the so-called fixing day was happening: the community responsible for this place collectively exchanged chests that needed repairs. The users of this garden contribute about £20 a year to a common pool, which is used for this type of activity.
People use places like these not only for food production. For many of them, gathering together is more important. This is a very good opportunity to meet neighbors and make friends. The number of users of the garden is limited, and the waiting time for your own chest is sometimes several years!😮
Photos: Katarzyna Grabowska.
Look at this garden! 🤩 Parking for an office building in the center of Edinburgh. Next to busy roads, a railway line, and ubiquitous asphalt. A large, social utility garden in crates has been set up here. The plants are growing great. Plant slurry is being made next to the crates.
Edinburgh Pallette Garden
Community gardens can take many forms. Another example we would like to share with you is Edinburgh Bridgend Farmhouse.
The community garden was established as one of the elements of the center of activity of local communities. There are many facilities on the site of the former farm, where numerous workshops and meetings take place. On a daily basis, you can use the cafe and bicycle workshop. Artistic, crocheting, culinary, carpentry, and choir lessons are organized during the week! The garden is open to all kinds of events. During #WellbeingDay, in addition to cyclical activities, you could try a Thai massage, meditate on a hammock in the nearby forest or calm down to the sounds of Tibetan bowls.
See the photo gallery of Kasia Grabowska, who visited this place in June. ❤️
Edinburgh Birdgend Farmhouse
Social gardens are most often created in large cities, but not only: similar initiatives can also be found in smaller towns. Scottish Iverness has about 50 thousand residents. A group of volunteers has been planting edible plants in various parts of the city for some time as part of the project Incredible Edible.
One of the community gardens they set up is a garden in large plastic boxes placed along the main riverside promenade. Many interesting species of edible plants have been planted here, which passers-by can help themselves to.
Maybe Incredible Edible will inspire you to take a similar initiative in the town where you live? 😍
Iverness Scotland
Another edible bed from the Incredible Edible project has been created at the local cultural center Eden Court Inverness.
Under the rehearsal room for theater groups, a beautiful and useful flower bed was set up, which was decorated only with edible plants, such as dill, onions, and tomatoes. 🍅 Good job! 💪
On our journey through edible community gardens, we move to another island. This time, we invite you to the social garden in Rabat, Malta.
The garden was established on a city square between residential buildings. It is not fenced. Each resident has a separate space for themselves. 💚
Flowerbed Malta
Edible community gardens are also quite popular in Poland. When visiting the Silesian Museum in Katowice, it is worth seeing the local small community garden. Many single and perennial edible plants have been planted in boxes here.
Katowice Silesian Museum
An attractive community edible garden with an educational character was created in Olsztyn. As part of the funding from one of the banks, a small Park of Future Medics was established here, along with a herb garden in chests. The garden is located near the Police School, the Marshal's Office, and the City Hospital. Did you know about this place?
Olsztyn Social Edible Garden
Create something special with us!
We are open to cooperation - we conduct a wide range of activities, from creating school gardens, through lectures, workshops, to educational campaigns. We encourage local government units, schools and educational institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations, private persons, companies and the business environment to contact us.
Check out all our projects and stay up to date by following our social media ❤
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