Its right on my doorstep, and I love this area. I’ve know all these people for a while now. And I’ve been growing food for the last ten years. I had my own allotment, but it can be hard work, so it’s nicer to be in a group. You learn more. It’s all the people in our community. It’s really good. Growing up in a city, you become aware of big supermarkets, and what we’re doing to the land. I think that’s why people don’t have to think about it so much here, being surrounded by farmland. In the future I hope we’ll be able to grow more on smaller plots, and have more people with knowledge. The other way is not sustainable.

We like getting the kids outside and want them to be aware of where their food is coming from. It’s great to be part of the community. This is Thomas Jeffries. Our tree.

We’re planting apple trees. For the world. I hope people will enjoy sitting under the trees, will enjoy working with the trees and will enjoy the harvest.

We’re planting a community orchard so as the children grow up they’ll be able to enjoy picking fruit. Hopefully still with us. I work in deforestation and conservation research, so this is close to my heart. I think a lot of the people who are here are quite engaged on these issues, so it would be good to see more different groups engaged with it.

Getting involved with community growing projects like Forres Friends of Woods and Fields has opened up so many opportunities for me. I hope the community garden and orchard flourish and become a place where people can come to learn about growing food and the environment, make new friends and connect with their community.

I enjoy this kind of work and I think its important to work for the environment and people. I enjoy it, but I think it’s important that we look after our ecosystem. Humans are a species much like any animal, and it needs to look after its habitat. It’s important for our future, and for our children.

Green Hive are a community environmental charity which focuses on giving meaningful volunteering opportunities to people in Nairn with a focus on environmental action.

Today we are planting forty fruit trees which were given to us through the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, which is administered by Highland Council, and also the Scotmid Community Orchard Fund. This is phase two of our community orchard development on the cemetery brae. The next phase will be some wildflower meadows. And then we’re going to put it out to the community to choose a name for the brae.

Community orchards are the perfect way to demonstrate and restore balance between the environment and people. Because you create this wonderful space with a free food resource that anyone can access, go and spend time in. But also you create this space for native wildlife, native wildflowers, pollinators, and all those different ecosystems. It’s incredibly inspiring because it’s really easy to do. Takes a couple of hours to put a tree in the ground and you get to watch it grow before your eyes.

I’ve been volunteering for Green Hive in Nairn for a few years. With the beach cleans and invasive species clearing events down by the riverside. I was a countryside ranger previously. Working with community is something that’s really important for me, and building something for future generations. Tree planting, and especially fruiting trees, is something I’m quite passionate about. Food forests. Permaculture. I’ve grown up here, studied away in Dundee, but I came back with that passion about how we should have respect for the area we live in and the wildlife in that area. This gives people the opportunity to come together, to build something for future generations. And what’s better than getting your hands dirty and planting an orchard?

I haven’t had much of a chance to work on community projects because I’ve been working shifts and its awkward. I’m retired now and have time. Prior to this I trained in arboriculture and horticulture, so I thought it would be nice to come along today and add a few skills. I’m very keen on environmentalism. This is a good project, planting trees. We have a nice walled garden in the centre of Nairn, which leads down to the river. We grow our own soft fruit, veggies. And we make our own wine.

This is a lovely way of getting to meet other people living in Nairn. To do something together, as a group, and something that is going to be here for many years to come. I like the physical activity element as well. Being out in the fresh air. Doing something physical. And I think trees are really important for the environment. We lose a lot of trees across the Highlands with them being cut down for timber. So it’s nice for us to plant something that we can watch grow. And it supports birds and insects and a whole ecosystem of creatures.

I have a big, long garden for growing, part of it by the riverside. It’s got more absorbed by fruit trees these days, especially apples. There’s less fruit and veg. A few raspberries left, and some strawberries. Maybe one day I’ll get back to planting a few tatties. But at the moment, I’ve got quite a healthy obsession with apple trees.

I think they’re quite remarkable because they have such a unique relationship with humanity. That everywhere mankind has gone, when it has been capable, it has taken apples. Apples were part of the colonisation of north America. It was once safer to drink cider than water. They helped people survive the winter because they could be preserved. Things were done with apples that are not done much today.

There used to be many more orchards in Nairn, especially in this area behind the high street. People had a closer relationship with them. And I think that’s coming back now, across Scotland, given all the plantings and community orchards that are popping up.

I’ve had this plot for quite a few years. I tend to grow things in the polytunnel. I’ve got the two vines here. I normally grow cucumbers, tomatoes, that kind of thing. Things that need a bit of heat. Outside its usually potatoes, onions, broccoli, sprouts – they’re quite successful here. I grow gooseberries and raspberries too.

Growing grapes in the north of Scotland is a bit challenging. But these two vines believe it or not produce a lot of grapes. I’m talking four or five big boxes. You can make dolmades with the vine leaves. And you can make wine with the grapes. There was a lady in her 90s who used to use my grapes to make wine, and it won prizes. She would give me a couple of bottles, and it was very drinkable.

Holm Grown is a community garden. It’s a collaboration between our community council and Incredible Edible Inverness. They’re involved, and so are a group of volunteers. Mainly from our community, some from further afield, but mostly from the Holm area.

When Tesco built – which was at least 12 years ago now – part of their planning condition was that they would give some land for community use. A couple of years ago at a community council meeting we realised that nothing was happening with the space – so we thought, ‘why don’t we do a community garden?’ And Holm Grown was born.

I love community growing. I used to work at a community plot down near Brighton. We grew food for food banks. I moved here to work as a private gardener. I was working on an organic veg farm before this. But I’ve always gardened, with my grandma. Helping her as her mobility decreased. I think I got my love of plants from her. That sounds predictable, but it’s true.

I think it’s important for people to get their hands in the soil. Everyone has an input. And you get a lot more done. Everyone’s got something different they bring, whether its ideas or knowledge. I really love things like seed saving. Grow projects like this are a really nice way of breaking down the accessibility barrier and sharing ideas.

I’ve been involved since the beginning and have known about this land since before Tesco’s built. I was on the community council when there was a public meeting at Holm Primary. Initially people were opposed to Tesco. But I supported it because at the time there was nothing here. We were given a piece of land and about three years ago we decided to get permission to use this land for a community garden.

We took possession of the land from the council for ten years. And it’s a great spot. People will see it when they go shopping. Hopefully that’ll help encourage people to see it as somewhere that they can use too. We’ve also had funding from the National Lottery, Scotmid, Margaret Douglas Trust and some money from the Highland Council’s ward discretionary grant.

I live across the road and can see this from my bedroom window. I took a stroke seven or eight years ago, and it restricts me in what I can do. This is ideal for me. I needed something to get me out of the house, meeting new people, and doing things at my own pace. I’m disabled so I can’t do everything at the same pace as everyone else. But you just do what you can. And we give each other growing tips. I have loads of strawberries at home, so I’ve put some into a bed here so people can help themselves.

We’ve got a dozen volunteers. There’s usually eight or nine on a Saturday. But not always the same eight or nine, which is good. You don’t have to feel like you need to come every time. Just come when you can.

I grew up growing veg. I grew up on a farm where we always grew our own. I suppose it’s in my blood.

I’m from Romania originally. My husband is Scottish. He doesn’t garden. I wish he would to help me with the hard work. The heavy stuff. This is a big plot. But I’m trying to make it simpler. And easier to weed. The last owner wasn’t sure if he was going to give it up or not, so it became overgrown.

I usually come down in the evenings. I’m self-employed as a gardener. I also grow my own flowers and sell them through my business, Flori by Mari. Flori is Romanian for flowers. I studied horticulture in Romania. This is my domain, my area of expertise. You don’t need horticultural knowledge, but you need a lot of passion, and you have to be prepared to work hard.

I’m self-taught. I used to be a boring youngster. My bedtime reading was gardening books.

I’ve got plums and cherries. These are eating apples. Braeburn. And redcurrants, black currants and white currants. I’m going to get rid of the redcurrants and white currants. They tend to be not as prolific as the black currants. And people don’t like the jams as much. The white currants have too delicate flavour. Most people prefer blackcurrant or strawberry or raspberry jam.

Everything’s in full bloom right now. With a bit of heat like this, everything’s growing rapidly. I have a system which is similar to what the professional growers do, in the polytunnel. I’ve got big pots up on a bench, which allows me to get strawberries a month earlier than anything grown outside. Strawberries like a coolish climate. Scottish and English strawberries are the best in the world. Same with raspberries. Scottish raspberries are best.

I grow grapes in the polytunnel. I have eight vines. And peaches, nectarines and apricots. They all do exceptionally well. And the strawberries. Peppers, courgettes, tomatoes to go in. I used to grow more than I do now, and I gave a lot away. Mainly to family. Sometimes to people in the street. The apricot tree spends the winter outside. The trees are hardy, but the blossom and fruit don’t grow fast enough.

The polytunnel gives you more of a season. What a lot of people don't realise is if you compare southern England to here, like Kent the fruit basket of England, they don't get as much daylight as us. We're not so warm but we've more daylight. I think it balances out.

Since moving to Forres in 2020 I have become interested in growing my own food. My son Freddy and I go to ‘Green Shoots’, a family gardening project at Transition Town Forres. There we learn new skills and get involved in all aspects of growing, from composting to planting and harvesting. We enjoy spending time with the families and the group leaders, Sarah and Barney. Its wonderful to be able to take home the salad, fruit and vegetables that we’ve helped to grow and try out new, tasty recipes. I’m looking forward to more sessions and to see what we will be growing this year.

Jennifer: Community gardens are about what everyone wants to do. They’re not just about one person’s vision. This was my friend Louise’s idea. But she said she needed someone to help. And I love gardening. You need a bit of knowledge and a lot of enthusiasm. We just got together and worked out what we could do. After that we went to the community association and engaged with the community. We got loads of encouragement and support from them. And here we are.

Around the perimeter we have our Queen’s Green Canopy - a mixed hedge to increase the biodiversity in the area. The gorse flowers are glorious, and attract lots of bees, but virtually nothing else can survive in it, because it’s so thick and grows so big. So we’ve got buckthorn and hawthorn and other saplings. The community association helped us with the funding. We also have a couple of pines donated to us. And there will be a shallow pond. It doesn’t need to be deep to increase flora and fauna in the area.

Louise: During Covid there was a problem with parking in this area. And it was highlighted that this could be an area to put extra parking. It made me aware that it was part of the community land. So I had an idea that we could keep it for the community rather than it become a car park. I approached the community council, and we were given permission.

We want to do some growing, but we also want it to be a really wild space too. We’ve got plans for a pond, we’ve got funding. In the past a year we’ve achieved a lot. We got funding from tsiMORAY for the garden from the Participatory Grantmaking Fund and through the National Lottery. There are so many resources out there. It just having the time and the awareness to find out about them.

Jamie: “We are making holes and planting tatties for tattie soup.”

Roddy: “And chips! And mince and tatties."

Jamie: “We’ve named them. This one’s Tattie Bob and this one’s Tattie Harold. Gardening is not my favourite. I prefer football.”

Roddy: “Me too. We’re both big football fans.”

Pauline:

We took it over last year and it was absolutely covered. You couldn’t even open the gate. There was no path, it was just covered in weeds and bushes. It just got too wild. But to our advantage it was covered with fruit. They were all big fruit bushes. Blackcurrants, raspberries, blueberries, red currants, gooseberries. So many.

I’ve grown in the garden, little bits, but things in pots mainly. I thought if we took one on together it’s not so daunting, because it’s something you’ve got to keep on top of. So I thought we’d help each other and see what we can do.

Belinda:

We’ve got potatoes and summer potatoes in grow bags. Under the milk bottles are cabbages and cauliflower. Strawberries. Beetroot, broccoli, spinach, courgettes. We’re growing butternut squash and peppers from seed.

The milk bottles are to stop the pigeons eating them. This is an old fence from my garden. The membrane for the raised bed has come from someone else.

Everything we’ve got extra we give it out to as many folk as we can. Our neighbours. Family.

I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself. Pauline has more knowledge than me.

"I grew up in Forres, travelled about a wee bit and came to Nairn last August. I’ve been in places in Moray, then I was in the West Coast and Black Isle for a while.

"I’ve had this plot since March. It was totally different. I wish I had a picture. The woman who had it before just had it as a garden. There was a pond. Didn’t grow any veg or anything like that. I was on the waiting list and I was told it would be a year or two. But six months after moving here I got an email asking if I was still interested. So I chose this one, thinking that because it was plants the soil would be good for growing. I’m still digging up the perennials. But I think it'll be alright.

"I’m going to go with root veggies. I’ll get some tatties in. They’re good for the ground. Then carrots, neeps, beetroots. Maybe some onions and leeks. Once I get some cloche I’ll get some cabbage and kale in. And rhubarb came with the garden.

"I’ve really got into gardening in the past few years. My granda had an allotment and he used to do a lot of growing and he would hand out his growings to us. After he passed, at his funeral as a joke I said, ‘We’ll have to do our own growing now’. But then I went away and thought, ‘Why not?’ When I was in a house with no garden I grew salad leaves in a box. When I moved to the Black Isle I had a plot this size, with a cage over it, and I just went for it. Didn't have any training or knowledge. Just grew from seed. Some things didn’t grow, some things grew and the slugs got, and other things were quite successful.

"The self-learning has been good. Being down here [on the allotment], you get lots of tips and advice. I quite like the community aspect of it. I quite like my own company and space. But you can still be down here and feel the community aspect. And everyone here is really helpful and friendly."

I’ve always liked gardening and getting into the dirt. Its very satisfying, doing something with your own hands.

I’ve got pet shop straw for my strawberries. And I’m growing a few potatoes. I wasn’t going to, but my wee granddaughter said, “Oh granny I love your tatties with butter on them”. So we’ll grow a few. My grandchildren live in Grantown, but they do like to come through. They used to be in the Middle East, and would come back for the summer, and they were quite amazed that you could dig potatoes out of the ground.

I’ve got cabbage, fennel, more tatties, cauliflower. I’ve got more stuff coming on in the polytunnel. Each plot has a bit of space in the shared polytunnel. I’ve got peas, sweetcorn, pumpkin, borlotti beans and cucumber. I will have tomatoes in there. All grown from seed.

I’m scared to sow them too early, because they’ll come away beautifully and then the frost comes and that’s them goners. The first year I planted seeds I was so pleased when they grew.

I’ve had this plot about 12 years. It worked out quite nicely because I retired just as the allotment site came into being. So I was quite lucky to get one. I knew absolutely nothing about growing. I’d grown a few tomatoes and a courgette in a grow bag, but that was about the dead strength of it. You get to know people and they help you out. And then there’s Google.

I’ve had this space four or five years now. I just liked the idea of growing my own food. For health reasons and environmental reasons. To have a supply of fresh, organic produce.

I’m growing potatoes, beetroot, broccoli, broad beans, mange tout. I’ve got a few raspberries coming through. I tend to grow the same things every year. Things that work, basically. I’m usually harvesting from now until the end of September. So, you suddenly get loads of produce. That’s the only downside. I’ve got an early variety and a later variety of potatoes to spread it out.

I find it therapeutic. Especially in lockdown. I came here every day because it was one of the few places you were allowed. It is calming when you when you come here.

There’s something about watching something start off from a seedling, planting it and watching it grow. That for me is very satisfying. Or it might be February, frosty outside, but you’re here getting things going. Its therapeutic and creative.

I got this plot in 2013, when I moved back to Nairn. It was a very affordable plot, amazing for this day and age, so we took the plot over. I’ve always grown. I grow in my garden but mainly wildflowers and apples. I’m retired now and I’m here most days. I worked for the NHS, and gardening was always time out from work.

My husband built the raised beds. And we’ve got a polytunnel. We just wanted an extra space to go to, because at that point in our lives there were various uncertainties. Illness, health. It was a nice space to come to. And no one’s intrusive here. They do inspect but they don’t tell you what to do.

And it’s really creative what people have done with their spaces. I’ve been to allotments elsewhere and they’ve been pretty run down. This is a big allotment for Highland. One of the biggest. There’s over a hundred growers. It’s a good space, and I enjoy it. It’s manageable.

I mainly grow the same things. Raspberries, peas, potatoes, cabbages. We have compost from the house. Free bark, from the tree cutting guys. We get rid of their waste, and it suppresses the weeds. In the polytunnel I’ve got tomatoes. And I sometimes grow on seeds for the house. My other garden.

We took this plot over in February this year. This was the one that nobody wanted because it was the most overgrown and still in a right state. And still is. We’re trying to keep on top of it. All the raised bed timber had rotted. It all had to be cleared out. We built new beds and sourced the timber. Some has come from pallets. These are from floorboards. We designed the plot how we thought we wanted it. We’re halfway there. We thought we ought to grow something now, so we’ll deal with the rest of it later in the year.

It wasn’t all bad. We inherited a huge pile of rhubarb at the back. Strawberries and raspberries down the side. Gooseberries as well. A cordon of apples too. So that’s good. This year we decided we’ll see what grows, what doesn’t. And next year we’ll have a better idea of what we’ll grow on the plot. But something to show for it at least.

Back in London where we lived before, we had a decent sized garden. We’d been growing there for about 10 years. It wasn’t huge but it was long, and it was good for growing. Some things that grew down there haven’t grown up here, and vice versa. Obviously because of the temperature. But what grows up here tends to be more abundant, more prolific, which I think is because in London it’s almost too hot at times. Unless you water two or three times a day it just perishes too quickly. The milder climate suits a lot of things that we grow.

We’ve got two young kids and we want to get them interested, and that’ll be something that’ll last a lifetime. And if not, at least they’ll have some awareness of where food comes from. For a financial sense we wanted to grow our own to save a bit of money. And it generally tastes better.

Most of the people down here [on the allotment] are of a like mind too. They’re often interested in similar things to you. And even if there’s no one here at all, its nice to have that solitude to do a bit of gardening and have some peace and quiet. We came here to be away from the stresses of being in London. And it’s been a good move for us.

My dad came through and built the shed. It’s modelled on a hide. He’s an amazing craftsperson and can do most things with his hands. He built it in parts in my family garden back in Grantown, and I helped him put it back together. It took four hours and that was it. It was amazing. I’ve got a drainpipe system to collect the rainwater, and that runs off into a barrel. He thought ‘What can I help you with because that’s a lot you’ve taken on’. That was his little contribution.

I had it for a year as it was, without the polytunnel. I just tended the beds, sussing out what was what. Because some of the plants that are here now were here when I took it over. All the fruit bushes. Everything else that is growing in the beds I’ve put in myself and decided what go where.

I got my polytunnel in 2021. And that brought me so much more of the growing season, and more options. I’d been growing tomatoes, but just in my flat. So with the polytunnel I’ve been able to do a lot more and the season’s been extended because of that. But there’s a bigger commitment there, in that you have to come and water it in the summer. The community of fellow plotters makes that easy because you can send a message to someone asking for help. And I’ve done it for my friend, who has a plot behind me. We all help each other out if we need to.

I’ve been introducing my niece, who is four, to the growing experience. She comes up with her little basket and picks all the fruit. It’s good to get her inspired and to make that connection between soil, plant and food.

I have an interest in living as sustainably as possible, I guess. Although I can’t produce enough food all year round to avoid going to the shops, I like to have as much as possible from my own work. It tastes better. I’m interested in learning. And if you want to learn about how food is grown, then just get stuck in and do it. And you learn so much just by playing around, experimenting, talking to other people that have plots who have done it for a long, long time and can guide you. I’ve got an interest in it, I’m keen to learn, and you’re always going to be learning something new. So that feeds that part of me.

I come up here and time just stops. I don’t really bring anything that keeps me to it. I don’t check my phone. I’m very much here just to get lost. And there aren’t as many opportunities for that to happen in our modern society. You’ve got to find them yourself and schedule them in. Even though you want to get lost, you still have to schedule it in. Being surrounded by green, being exposed to nature in an immersive way. I’m an artist and I take quite a lot of inspiration from natural forms. Nature is always a starting point for my pieces. So that filters through from being up here.

This is the biggest plot. This was trees and bushes when I got here. I cleared that. They said they couldn’t give it to anybody because of the mess it was in. Because of what I do as a living I said I could do it. You couldn’t see how big it was until you cleared it. And it ended up being bigger than the rest of the plots.

I’m self-employed. But I still do big gardens. They’re in acres. You’ve got the growing veg, fruit and veg, but also all the pruning of the tops. Shrubs and trees. Horticulture and arboriculture. Woodland management, stuff like that.

I look after a forty-acre site just behind Kingsteps. There a big ponds in the woodland. I’m creating space in the woods because the woods were all birch. With very little space. So I’ve created some space to put other species in, to increase the diversity of the species of trees. But by letting in light we get a ground level of wildflowers where it was too dark before. We’ve added beech and oak, which are better for butterflies and moths. So increasing the diversity of tree species increases wildlife diversity.

Its quite diverse what I do. Some gardeners just do weeding and cut grass. I do quite a range. You need projects that keep you enthusiastic.

The rhubarb we use for wine. I make cider from apples. I get a lot of apples free. A lot of people don’t use them. But I grow my own too. We have nursery beds for apples. I’ll get varieties that are rare and get them going. This is a variety of eating apple that is jet black. Arkansas Black. You can’t get them in the UK. But I found someone who had them. So now we’re growing them so other people can try them.

I’ve got garlic. When they flower you can take the tops off and eat them. Five hundred onions. Beetroot. Parsnips. Early potatoes. And a main crop. I give a lot away to my elderly neighbour and my daughter. I’ve got brassicas. One row has been eaten. I netted them but there’s a rip in the side and a pigeon has managed to get in and out again. Sprouts and cabbages. Lettuces. Lollo Rosso and Little Gem. Coriander. It bolts but you can cut it again. Strawberries. When the apple trees are growing there’s plenty of light to put strawberries and gooseberries in between. I use leaves from the beech trees instead of straw. Raspberry canes. Cooking apples. Bramley. Cider apples, Kingston Black. Horseradish which we’ll process into jars. And tomatoes and peppers in the polytunnel.

We had a badger here. They don’t do any damage, but they do come in and grub the plot. They like carrots though. Last year we planted carrots, and they came in and dug them up. They’ll dig under a hedge in no time if they want to. You can’t stop them.

We’ve always liked our fresh fruit. Healthy eating and healthy living. We’re avid hill walkers and backpackers so we have a healthy lifestyle. I used to do field sports – I don’t now – if you catch a fish and eat it yourself, or shoot a deer, the male primitive instinct of providing food. It’s the same with growing food. If you grow your own stuff, it’s got a superior taste. I like to cook, and I like good produce. If you’ve got friends coming round, you want to give them good food. And it all tastes better than supermarket stuff.

I just started last year. Last January. So last year was my first year of growing. I applied for it in lockdown. We don’t have a garden. My allotment is a bit wild. It reflects my personality. This is what my house is like as well. And my attire and personality. It reflects me quite well.

My hollyhocks took two years to blossom. They’re a dye plant. This is all flowers that you can use for natural dyes.

I studied textile design at university down in England at Leeds College of Art. And I became very aware how bad the textile industry and fashion industry was for the environment. And I was quite down about it. But then I found out about natural dyeing, which I started up when my little boy was born. Its spread from there.

Soil generation and soil restoration is very important. Making sure you’re not depleting it or putting anything bad into it. The whole point is I’m not ingesting anything unhealthy, I want everything to be as organic as possible.

I love food and I love cooking. And now it’s just has brought this other element to my life. I get to pick my own produce and take it home and make lovely meals. And that’s really important to me. It just makes me so happy. It makes me very chilled when I’m here. I would love to have a little allotment garden café. I’m not a chef, I’m a cook, I can’t cook for lots of people, but I would love to have people sit at this table and share with them a little meal that has come from the allotment.

The allotment society was formed to protect the existing site. To protect and acquire more ground for more plots. There are around 100 allotments across Mill Road and Sandown. At one time that was the highest number in Highland.

It’s not just about growing. It’s about meeting other people. The social aspect of it. The mental health aspect of it. You can come down here and just switch off. You can be here all day, potter about, wander around and speak to other growers.

There’s plenty of wildlife here. We’ve got red squirrels. Badgers. Occasionally rabbits, but not so much. Birds of prey. Woodpeckers.

I’ve had my plot for twenty years. At that point it looked like the council were running it down. To sell it. Because this is all Common Good Ground. It has high value for housing.

My plot is a mixture of fruit, veg and flowers. Soft fruit, apple trees. Eating apples. They’re not quite ready. Two rows of tatties. I got my polytunnel second hand for twenty quid. For the frame. It needs a new cover. I’ve been patching it but its getting beyond.

It’s something that’s I’ve always been interested in. I used to do the Gol View and the Newton grounds. Grass cutting, looking after flowers. Keeping the grounds tidy. And I moved on from there. Its more flowers because they’re good to see. The colours. I use it for cut flowers at the farming show. And for the house.

Again, you can come down here and just switch off. Its quiet. I can come down and spend most of the day here. Its relaxing. And it's something you can achieve. You’ve done it yourself. It gives you satisfaction.

We’ve been going about three years. We’re linked to the national network Incredible Edible. I guess we were inspired to start up during Covid. Because we were very conscious at that time that people were buying local produce. And this is what we need more of. Local produce.

Its grown arms and legs since then. There are now fourteen different sites in Inverness. We need more people to help to maintain them really. But it’s a good place to be.

I’m inspired by low food miles. Sustainability. Particularly resourcefulness against climate change because you are learning how to grow your own food. Which means you’re not so reliant on the supermarkets. I’ve always been passionate about using local food. Prior to Incredible Edible I was involved in Transition Black Isle and its local larder. So I’ve always been really keen on local food - growing it locally so we’re not vulnerable.