Thurso Grows throughout 2022
We managed to pry Sharon away from the gardens for a wee while, and she’s written up a lovely recap of what’s been going on up at Ormlie as we draw closer to the end of the growing season, alongside some fab stuff from closer to home, info on the Rotterdam Street gardens!
Its with a fairly heavy heart I popped my scarf on for the first time this year. It was a very short excursion – but I was off along the beach and I realised that the chill was just a bit too much... It left me pondering that the end of the main 2022 growing season is creeping up on us (arghh) and also gave me a moment to reflect on all the Thurso Grows team has achieved this year..…. Its been a huge year here at the gardens and for our epic volunteer team – I thought I would take a moment to recap (and rejoice!).
Thurso Grows started in 2019 – and since then we have grown year on year in both our experience and produce and volunteer community that surrounds the gardens – and it’s something we are very proud of.
We have been keeping a (loose track) of numbers here – but so far in 2022 we have had over 26 volunteer sessions (welcoming on average 10 – 15 people a time) and hosted 16 different events focused on food growing and eating up at the gardens. We got a small £500 grant from Tesco’s Bags for Life at the beginning of the year and over 166 local people have benefited from that grant – coming up and cooking with us at the gardens – we have been delighted to work with new (to us) groups such as Reay Beavers, Guides, Listening Ear, Ormlie Community Association and Thurso Youth Club to name but a few... Without our absolutely phenomenal team of volunteers none of that would have been possible!
We have also expanded our projects – have you seen the town planters? Thirteen different boxes up and down Thurso Precinct that have been planted with veg as an open invitation to all the community to eat local and help yourself – that project has been lots of fun (also a steep learning curve!) We are amazed at what plants have thrived and which have only just about survived in that space – it’s a fairly challenging growing condition; think wind tunnels and shade!
Another expansion this year has been the Rotterdam Street gardens – a new project with is really working on upcycling/recycling and creating a community space – it’s tucked behind the new Socially Growing shop and is really starting to take shape now…
Phew… maybe we need the winter to sit back and pop our feet up for a while! BUT before we do – an invitation: On the 24th September we are planning an open day here at the gardens to celebrate the season and share some of the harvest that we have produced. Its from 11am – 3pm and is a free event, with food, activities for kids, tours of the gardens and you can meet some of our wonderful volunteer team! We especially want to welcome new faces, young faces, old faces, and fun faces! So if you fit the bill in any of those – come along!