It may be January and things can be looking a bit cold and grey, but lots has been happening in the community gardens and the group has been busy behind the scenes too … (writes TOM KIRBY)
Here are some updates, but first, some invitations!
Burns Night Community Ceilidh, Saturday 28th Jan. TIckets now on sale from Royston Wardieburn Community Centre (just £2!)
This will be the 4th year the ceilidh has run. It’s a joint event between ourselves, Living in Harmony (at Pilton Community Health Project), and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. There’ll be haggis neeps and tatties, performances from local musicians, poetry recitals from pupils from Granton Primary, a piper, and live music from a ceilidh band, with plenty of space to dance in the sports hall!
It always sells out, so get your tickets asap. There are still some volunteer jobs available (which come with a free ticket), if you’d like to help, there’s a meeting at PCHP on Weds 25th at 10.30am. (ask for Adam)
Gardeners Cafe, Every Monday 5.30-7.30
You may remember this from a couple of years ago, but thanks to some support from the Scottish Government’s Fair Food Transformation Fund, this has now relaunched!
All welcome every Monday 5.30-7.30 at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. The food is FREE but donations are welcome, and if you’re a regular you’re invited to join in with helping the cafe run, there are lots of volunteer roles and ways to get involved.
We’re seeing whether if we all do something to help, we can all enjoy a meal together, that is better (and much more sociable) than what we’d end up eating on our own in our separate flats!
Gardening drop ins, Every Tuesday and Saturday from 11am
Weather permitting! We meet at the community garden on the corner of Wardieburn Road and Boswall Parkway. We’re usually around for a couple of hours depending on weather and how much time/energy we’ve got that day! They’re a great way to meet new people, learn new skills, and work together on what are some very productive food gardens. All welcome, no prior gardening experience necessary! Fruit and veg is shared between the people who grow it! (or donated to the Gardeners Cafe).
Bonus Event: At the drop in on Tuesday 7th Feb, there will be a free breakfast provided by the Real Junk Food Project, who rescue and distribute food that would otherwise be wasted. They have a huge number of posh sausages left over from the Christmas Market on Princes Street, so are hosting free breakfasts around the city to use them up! (Weather permitting)
News updates:
We’ve just become a charity! Granton Community Gardeners is now a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) number: SC047087
This will hopefully mean we’re better able to support gardening, and growing, cooking and sharing food, in the area for the longer term, and able to secure more support for our work.
Who’d like to learn about baking bread?
You may remember that last year we did a crop trial of some heritage Scottish wheat, as part of a project called ‘Soil to Slice’ run by Scotland the Bread.
We had a very successful harvest, with 42kg of grain (from about 100sqm of garden). We used some of this to sow a crop for 2017, and the rest is being milled into flour. A couple of us have had some training in baking and the magical bread that is sourdough. We’re thinking of starting a bread club to practice and learn, and eat!. Anyone like to join us?
Growing wheat on street corners seems to have caught lots of people’s imagination, and we were featured on the BBC, Edinburgh Evening News, and Daily Mail.
If you’d like to get more involved in anything we do, please either reply to this email, or come and chat to us at the garden sometime. Everything we’ve achieved has just been based on someone showing up with an idea, and other people agreeing to help make it happen. It’s amazing how many skills and brilliant ideas people have round here, let’s see what we can do with 2017!
Best Wishes,
Tom
(One of the people who helps organise things)
