There’s so much to see and make use of in our community garden:
- outdoor raised beds
- indoor raised beds
- 4 Polytunnels – 2 for the communal growing/market garden, 1 for social events and one for members to grow their own crops
- Beehives
- Hens
- Orchard
- Pizza Cob Oven
- Solar Array
- Fruit Cage
- jam patch
- Water Collection and Storage Units
- Composting Area
- Wetland Area
- Nectar Beds
- Herb Garden
- Tool Shed
- Club House
- Weather Station
- Toilet and Washing Station
Polytunnels
We have 4 polytunnels in the garden.
Polytunnel 1 is used by the growing team as their base.
As well as work and propagration areas, there are a number of beds used to cultivate crops for the garden members and the public. The growing team plant up a number of variety of seeds early in the year, and nurture them to create seedings and plants for members, the public and for our plant sales.
Polytunnel 2 contains a number of raised beds used by the growing team to grow tomatoes,, cucumbers, sweetcorn, chillis and much more. These are available to members and to the public to help raise funds to sustain the community garden.
Polytunnel 3 is used as a social and meeting space. We’ve used it for Halloween and Christmas parties, flower shows, fundraising events, coffee mornings and much more.
Polytunnel 4 contains growing beds which can be hired by members to grow more tender crops, such as tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, sweetcorn and chillis.
Orchard
We have a selection of fruit trees in and around our orchard in the hen enclosure.
Pizza Cob Oven
In 2019, gareden volunteers, supported by Historic Environment Scotland, constructed a pizza cob oven, using some of the clay excavated from the garden. We’ve enjoyed some lovely pizza, topped with fresh produce, grown in the garden.
Solar Array
A 30kw solar panel array is installed on site, which will completely eliminate the garden electricity bills and generate an income for the project over the next twenty years as it sells surplus energy back into the national grid. Funding for the project came from via the Community And Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and the Stirling and Clackmannanshire Environment Trust.
Fruit Cage
We grow a selection of soft fruits, such as redcurrants, raspberries and blueberries in our fruit cage.
Water Collection and Storage Units
We are not connected to the mains water supply, so we collect and store rainwater from the rooves of our polytunnels.
We have a series of pumps and hoses to allow us to move the water to other storage units around the garden.
The collected rainwater can be used by members to water their beds.
Composting Area
Waste not, want not. We don’t waste weeds, leaves and other vegetable matter.
Instead, we let nature turn it into valuable compost.
Wetland Area
At the lowest point of the garden, where water naturally collects, we have the wetland area and pond. All the plants herre enjoy having their roots wet.
Nectar Beds
There are a number of nectar beds throughout the garden. These have been designed with plants which will be attractive to bees and other pollenators.
Herb Garden
One of the communal raised beds is devoted to growing herbs.
Tool Shed
Our fully-stocked tool shed has all of the tools you need to tend your raised bed and the community garden. Choose from trowels, forks, rakes, buckets, spades, wheel barrows and much more.
Club House
Our club house gets a lot of use for meetings, catch-ups and of course tea-breaks.
Weather Station
We have our own weather station in the garden, collecting information 24 hours a day.
You can see real-time data from our weather station on the Weather Underground website.
Toilet and Washing Station
We are not connected to the mains water supply, but we do have a chemical toilet and have a hand-washing station with UV-filtered water.