by Anne MacLennan
Over the summer, we have enjoyed visits to several growing spaces. These were arranged as a follow-up to the Feel Heal Real Food day at the end of April, to build on the momentum for local food production.
We started with Jo and Alistair’s croft in Lower Breakish at the end of June and since then have been to Kenneth and Anne’s croft along the road in Lower Breakish. Alec welcomed us to Portree Allotments, Jake and Kate showed us round Cosaig Growers in Glenelg and Hannah and Trevor were hosts for the Walled Garden on Raasay. Sadly, we had to cancel the trip to West Coast Organics at the last moment.
Each site was unique in layout and management. Hosts were generous with their time and sharing their challenges, triumphs, things that didn’t work out as hoped, and plans for the future. We saw lots of wonderful food being produced out of doors and lush crops under cover. There was a good range of vegetables, fruit and herbs. Flowers and hedging were also important.
In Portree and Raasay, community engagement was an ongoing challenge requiring considerable thought and effort, but with some very successful events and a small number coming along regularly as volunteer helpers. It was useful to hear of problems and how they were managed. Selling produce is another aspect. Cosaig Growers grow as a business and have a veg box scheme, Raasay harvests weekly for an honesty stall, and Jo and Alistair sell locally when they have an excess.
Raasay walled garden’s honesty stall
These visits were all very worthwhile for learning, making new connections, gaining inspiration and they were just really lovely places to look at and walk through – each with its own character. The main disappointment was the small numbers on visits. Many people had expressed interest in the visits, but were unable to come. Perhaps July-August is not a good time for Skye, with people on holiday, busy with summer work or occupied with other summer activities.