Seeds are planted for community garden plans
PLANS are under way to establish a community garden on land at Yr Egin, Carmarthen, with a view to combining the work of creative practitioners with community groups.
The community groups at the heart of the project are youth group Drm’z Carmarthen, Gwneud Bywyd yn Haws (Making Life Easier), Carmarthenshire 50+, Greenspace, Ty Hapus, and students on the BA Applied Drama: Education, Wellbeing, Community course at the neighbouring University of Wales Trinity Saint
David.
There will be a further opportunity for others to join the project, known as Blaguro, through public activities such as one held recently.
One element of the project involves growing vegetables and flowers in the community garden in conjunction with the café at Yr Egin.
Free planting workshops were held with local children to start this exciting initiative.
The children worked hard helping to plant vegetable seeds in pots for later cultivation on land at Yr Egin, as well as learning gardening skills.
Yr Egin’s role is to stimulate creativity both regionally and nationally and the local community is an essential part of the development on the university campus.
The seeds for the Blaguro project were donated by Tyfu’r Dyfodol – Growing the Future which is a National Botanic Garden of Wales project, and the compost by Merlin’s Magic.
Carys Ifan, director of Yr Egin, said: “The Blaguro project was designed as a way of reconnecting with the communities of Carmarthen town and trying to be as inclusive as possible.
“The lockdown periods have demonstrated the importance of our green spaces for wellbeing and mental health and have revived people’s interest in nature.
“We at Yr Egin are keen to share our green spaces with the community, especially those who do not have a garden to escape to or who want some advice on how to grow vegetables.
“Blaguro will also provide an opportunity for creativity to literally take root and blossom, an opportunity to bring people together to work together, as well as creating a space that offers comfort, sanctuary, and a creative experience to an outdoor audience.”
Lisa Fearn led the planting workshop for the community garden last Saturday, and she is looking forward to seeing the project develop.
She said: “Blaguro is a project that brings together different groups of the community to learn new skills.
“It is an opportunity to grow vegetables, fruit, and flowers on site which will be used in the Cegin Y Sied kitchen over the next few months.”
In addition, the opportunity was taken to reopen the café at Yr Egin under a new tenancy. Lisa and her crew will be in charge of Y Sied @ Yr Egin café, with Josh Fearn and Llew Charles responsible for the day-to-day running of the café.