Delight in the village as sites flourish and produce is bountiful
Since its launch in March 2015, Incredible Edible Balfron has established three sites in the village growing vegetables, herbs and pollinator-friendly species for the community to enjoy for free.
One of the sites is now being looked after by the Cubs group from the scouts, who really engaged with the project and the idea behind it.
With the support of RSPB, Forth Environmental Link and now the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, IEB have organised and offered for free to the community five workshops: construction of bug hotels and hides, introduction to bee keeping, bread making, fruit tree pruning, and the fifth will happen tomorrow (Saturday) in Edinburgh on growing vegetables for beginners, for which IEB engaged some of the local school’s staff in order to install capacity within the school for the future use of their garden.
With the support of the school, the Parent Council, Stirling’s Low Carbon Future Trust, many volunteer parents, and the council, IEB achieved the establishment of the school’s garden.
Thanks to the support of Balfron Community Council, the project has managed to run two pop-up Harvest Festivals (2015 and 2016), where they have shared and offered part of the produce or samples of food produced with some of the harvest, and brought together different organisations and groups from the area.
For example, on both occasions the local nursery produced and provided soup as a result of their harvest.
Andrea Gabriel said:“We have had Forth Environmental Link joining us with an apple presser for the first festival and a smoothie bike the last time.
“Last year we had some food goodies prepared for us and donated by a local food enterprise called the Alchemist Kitchen.
“This year we had a local artist offering (free of cost, as everything in these two festivals) a puppet making workshop, and another artist doing lovely face painting.
“We were also joined by another local environmental initiative called Wild Aye.
“One of the main aims we hope for is to bring people together in the building of community, and we have been very lucky in this.
“For example, last summer we now feature a wonderful centre piece (a metal frame) in the main bed in the village, designed and donated by Elspeth Bennie, the local blacksmith artist.
“We were also donated a long trough that now inhabits our main ground of action (Tontine Corner), and the local children’s art school group called Art Works engaged with designing the decoration and painting it.
“Last winter we even engaged the Safari Park, who kindly donated elephant dung as fertiliser for the beds.”