You'll learn allotment with a little help from Botanics

AS the home of the Capital's horticultural expertise, it seems only right that the seeds of a gardening revolution should be sown at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Plans have been drawn up to establish a scheme that would see volunteer gardeners trained to provide help and support to people in how to set up and run their own allotment-style gardens.

The project would also establish a volunteer-run demonstration garden, a first in the Botanics' 340-year history.

The Edible Gardens Volunteer Taskforce, a joint initiative between the Botanics and the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, would train up to 40 volunteers to provide support and mentoring for people who want to grow their own fruit and vegetables but lack the basic skills.

Head of exhibitions and events at the garden, Ian Edwards, said the idea came about after talks with the Allotments Society five years ago.

He said the society was reporting that half of the people who are assigned allotments in the Capital were giving up after the first year, or otherwise had the plots taken off them because they lacked the necessary skills.

With a seven-year waiting list for land in parts of the city, Mr Edwards said the need for better training was clear.

He said: "We get people approaching us for help all the time, we have a lot of requests from community groups - schools, nurseries and retirement homes - but we're too busy to help people much.

"(By] training up a group of mentors, this way we can respond more positively."

Mr Edwards said the project would address the skills gap by demonstrating tried and tested methods especially designed for people starting edible gardening from scratch, and would involve writing a simple manual for Scottish gardeners.

He added that although it would be the first time a piece of the gardens would be managed for and by members of the public, the idea was not new.

"One of the first (Botanic] gardens was at Trinity hospital, which is now Waverley station. The garden grew flowers and fruit to be used by hospital patients. For the past 300 years the gardens have been used for Scientific Conservation - and the rarer and more endangered the plants, the better.

"In a way we're going back to our origins with the community part of the garden. We'll use the volunteers to inspire other people to do their own fruit and veg growing."

The taskforce's trial programme would initially help communities in north and west Edinburgh grow edible gardens, after which it would be developed and used as a basis to help people with a variety of growing spaces, from tenement gardens to window boxes.

The project is seeking the majority of the 69,850 it's expected to need from the Postcode Lottery's Dream Fund.

The winners of the Dream Fund will be announced at a ceremony at the National Galleries at the end of the month.