Forth Valley Food Links

The workshops will run throughout the summer and autumn in Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling areas, and will be advertised through community and food networks, and on this website. 

If you work with a group and are interested in signing up to a workshop, then please register your interest with Diane at FVFL, 01786 449215 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Here’s some of the Square Foot Gardening activities that Forth Valley Food Links has been working on:

Sowing the Seeds of Interest at Braveheart Plus, Camelon, Falkirk
Square Foot Gardening and growing your own ‘microgreens’ was the topic of discussion at a presentation by Forth Valley Food Links to the Falkirk Braveheart Plus group in Camelon, a group of members who are living with, or at risk of developing heart problems .

The enthusiastic group saw a demonstration of how to sprout seeds using re-usable containers.  It made the point that there are health benefits to be gained from growing ‘microgreens’ in this way, that doesn’t take up much space, resources or effort.  Group members were able to sample a spicy ‘Gourmet Mix’ and mung beans, to mixed reviews!

There then followed a slide show of planning and developing a Square Foot Garden, a way of growing healthy vegetables and herbs in little space with little resources. The group chair was astonished to learn that this method of gardening required the planting of only the amount of seeds needed to produce food for one’s needs, without a large surplus. ..and to think that he had thinned out and wasted so many seeds throughout his life!

Best Foot Forward at Denny WASP, Falkirk
In association with Denny WASP, Forth Valley Food Links commissioned tutor Mike Hamilton to deliver a series of Square Foot Gardening sessions in Denny High School in March.

Seven students enrolled to find out all about Square Foot Gardening and how you can grow fruit and vegetables in a small space.

The students had a range of gardening experience, from the novice to the experienced, but the great thing about this course is that people are given the opportunity to share their knowledge - learning about mistakes is just as important as knowing what works!  The one thing that everyone had in common was a desire to learn and try growing more food for their own home.

After a run through of what the students wanted to get out of the course, we looked at what square foot gardening actually is, how it works and what it hopes to achieve – gardening in less space, with less work and greater rewards!  Basically, it takes a lot of the hard work out of gardening and is environmentally friendly too, as it encourages people to reduce, reuse and recycle.  On that theme, all of the students became adept at making paper pots out of old newspaper, and found out about the gardening uses for plastic bottles, loo roll card and egg boxes – nothing goes to waste!

We covered the materials needed for making a square foot garden and the importance of the grid to make gardening more manageable.  Compost plays a vital role and we were lucky to have Rena Moore, a Master Composter volunteer on hand to give advice on how to produce perfect home compost.

Planning your garden crops is important, and so is knowing the correct quantities of plants for each square foot, as is crop rotation, which is basically avoiding growing the same crops on the same soil in consecutive years.
 
Harvesting crops is the second most enjoyable thing about growing fruit and veg after eating it, and these topics were covered in our last session.  Although the students didn’t harvest or eat any crops in the duration of the course, they did take home pots of newly sown herbs and salad, so they should soon be sharing tasty home grown produce, as well as their knowledge of square foot gardening with their friends and family.  (Source: Mike Hamilton, Tutor, April 2010)

Callander’s Footprint Festival
Forth Valley Food Links played its part in supporting Callander's residents to reduce its community carbon footprint at the Callander Footprint Festival on 16th May.

The Square Foot Gardening demonstration attracted much interest from visitors, who found out about using the method as an 'easy' way to grow food in a small space.  The information given to residents was designed to inspire those who had not grown their own food before, and to help those who had, to decrease their impact on the environment.  There was also a cafe providing locally sourced, and Fairtrade food.

Hillview Square Foot Gardening, Stirling
Forth Environment Link will be working closely with the Cultenhove community to deliver a series of workshops over the summer. 

Participants will learn what Square Foot Gardening is, before developing their own raised beds from kits, planning their crop, sowing, maintaining and harvesting.  Links will be made with the NHS Forth Valley Community Food Development Workers for using the crop at the harvesting stage.

Dates for the workshops are: Thursdays 27 May, and 3, 10 & 17 June at the Hillview Centre, Cultenhove from 1.00 – 3.00 pm.