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Hello from Lauriston Farm,
Welcome to the May newsletter, and the start of summer(!). The Gaia Foundation's We Feed the UK photo exhibition is now open in Glasgow, featuring Lauriston Farm, and Nikki Yoxhall from Grampian Grazers, with photos by Sophie Gerrard. Our Lisa will be part of the event and exhibition tour on Saturday 11th May, and the exhibition is open until 31st May. Click here to see the exhibition and event details
Here at the farm, there's plenty for you to get involved with this month, and, excitingly, we're recruiting for a new role...
In this newsletter:- Agroforestry Open Day (Saturday 18th May)
- Market Garden Volunteering - the Big Spring Forward continues
- Wildflower Hill Volunteering (16th May)
- Tree Care Volunteering (29th May)
- Bird Survey Walk (1st June)
- Drop-in Volunteering (times change on 14th May)
- Introduction to Growing Your Own Vegetables - spaces still available
- Community Navigator Vacancy (new role - apply by 9th June)
- News updates about the CSA Scheme, pollinators, trees, the Community Orchard, and a look back at W.O.R.M.S Appreciation Day
And from our Land Partners:
- Willow Patch Volunteering with Anna Leibmann (8th May)
- Grass Roots Remedies developing their educational programme at the farm
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Agroforestry Farm Open Day
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Saturday 18th May 10am-3:30pm
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Come and see how we are integrating trees across the farm on our Agroforestry Open day - including our alley cropping system, orchard and extensive tree planting across the site. There’ll also be Market Garden tours, grain activities and a fun pollinator picnic on the day too. Plus Grass Roots Remedies, and members of our Community Orchard group and wildflower group will be present to enthuse about fruity and flowery things! Refreshments provided throughout the day.
Click here for the full programme and tour times
This event is part of the annual Agroforestry Open Weekend - where farmers across the UK, Ireland and beyond, share lessons from the field and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of integrating trees into the farmed landscape. We look forward to sharing with you - please join us if you can.
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Big Spring Forward Continues!
Market Garden Volunteering
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every Tuesday & Thursday morning in May
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May will surely bring sunshine and laughter after the Beltane celebrations. Come and make the most of it by helping our growers recover from a supernaturally soggy April. There'll be lots of learning, fun and camaraderie. We are aiming to more than double the amount of veg we grow in the Market Garden this year. This is exciting but also scary and there is a lot to be done to prepare the Market Garden for a successful season. It's a great chance for a fresh outdoor workout too. Get your cardio in while working on your core strength too. Please sign up here:
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Wildflower Hill Volunteering Session
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Thursday 16th May, 1:30pm-3:30pm
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Helping hands needed to get the hill looking lovely for the Pollinator Picnic, Open Day and the longer summer days. We'll be doing planting, weeding and general maintenance of gabions (the stones-in-cages that make the seats).
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Tree Care and Maintenance
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Wednesday 29th May, 2pm-4pm
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| The bareroot tree planting season is now finished, and we now have around 12,000 tree and hedgerow saplings planted at the farm! The young trees need our help to survive and thrive, by weeding, mulching and ensuring posts and guards are secure. We'd love your helping hands (and just to re-assure you, we don't do all 12,000 in one session!). Please sign up here if you can join us to do some tree care in May:
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Saturday 1st June, 6:00am-8:00am
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As the days get longer, the starts get earlier! For the third bird survey of this season, Professor John Frank will lead a group around the farm, counting and recording the species you find on the day. You don’t need previous knowledge - John will teach you how to identify birds using the mobile app Merlin. We have to restrict the numbers of people on these very popular walks, so it really is a case of the early bird catching the worm/spaces on the sign up sheet. And please do remember to cancel if you can no longer make it, as someone else would love to step in. Here's the sign up sheet for Saturday 1st of June: | |
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summer hours starting Tuesday 14th May
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Drop-in Volunteering is going up to two sessions a week from Tuesday 14th May. We're not able to offer a late evening session at the moment, but from the 14th, we will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2pm-5pm. Newcomers are always welcome, along with our regulars - if you're free on a Tuesday or a Thursday afternoon, come along and give it a go! If you haven't been before, click here for more details and access notes. As ever, if you have any questions, you can contact communityallotments@lauristonfarm.org | |
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Introduction to Growing Your Own Vegetables
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6-week course on Thursdays, starting 16th May
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We still have some spaces left on the Grow Your Own courses. This beginners course covers soil, compost, seeds, propagation, pests, harvesting and eating! We will have two groups, one on Thursday mornings 10am-12 and the other on Thursday evenings 6-8pm, starting 16th May. This is a pay-what-you-can course, with a free place for anyone who needs it. If you are in a position to make a financial contribution, we suggest anything from zero to £100. We wholeheartedly encourage anyone who would find a financial contribution difficult to take a free space. Your presence is also a gift!
If you would like to join a course, please contact Lisa and Agnes on communityallotments@lauristonfarm.org
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New Community Navigator Role
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Do you work in community engagement? We have an exciting new role at the farm for a Community Navigator, to support more people in North Edinburgh to access and benefit from Lauriston Farm. The Community Navigator will work to foster relationships, increase engagement, make the farm more accessible and inclusive, and reach people within our neighbouring communities of Muirhouse, Pilton, Drylaw and Granton.
We would particularly like to encourage people from the Muirhouse, Pilton, Drylaw and Granton areas and from under-represented and marginalised groups to consider applying for this role
You would collaborate with local organisations such as Pilton Community Health Partnership (with a desk based at PCHP), North Edinburgh Arts, Granton Youth, Low Income Families Together, Muirhouse Medical Practice and Community Renewal.
All details and application process here (closes Sunday 9th June):
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Latest Articles on Our News Page
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- see photos of us all celebrating the worms!
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Thank you to everyone who has filled out an Expression of Interest for this year's Community Supported Agriculture veg bags. We’ve now closed the forms, and are working away behind the scenes on the logistics. We will be in touch soon to offer membership places. | |
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Our community orchard has expanded this past season and now has three more varieties of apples and some other tasty fruits for all to enjoy in years to come! There is now a central mulberry and some plums, greengages and cherries on the edges of the orchard. Three of the trees were planted by pupils from Craigroyston High who were working towards their Junior Forester award. The community orchard group has been busy protecting and maintaining the trees over the past few weeks - and they are starting to blossom beautifully. Some of the group will be present at the Agroforestry Open Day on the 18th, so please come along if you’d like to find out more. You can also visit the orchard anytime - it's in the open area just north of the fenced Community Allotments. And if you'd like to get involved, you can e-mail toni@lauristonfarm.org | |
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News From Our Land Partners
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Willow Patch Volunteering
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Wednesday 8th May, 10am-1pm & 2pm-5pm
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Basketweaver Anna Liebmann has a patch of land at the farm to grow basketry willow beds, and she is looking for some helping hands. The willow bed planted two years ago needs weeding and mulching, and is ready for the first cut. And this year, Anna and a few committed volunteers have already mulched a further 12 x 12m square with eco-tex mulch matting and planted almost 1,000 new basketry willow cuttings. If you can help Anna on Wednesday 8th May, please sign up here:
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Grass Roots Remedies Herbal Walks
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(Photo by Kev Theaker, Written in Film)
We're happy to say that Grass Roots Remedies will be expanding their educational sessions at the farm, as well as growing medicinal herbs on their plot. If you're interested, please click here to go to the Grass Roots Remedies website and sign up to their mailing list. Look out for an evening herb walk later this month, with plenty more to come...
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Thank you for reading. Hope to see you at an event, volunteering session or wildlife spotting on the farm soon, or at North Edinburgh Community Festival on 11th May.
from all at Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op
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