Trees Not Trash Edinburgh Community Garden

TNT UK COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE: Nov. 13th 2012

Evening News article: 
Evening News about garden removal
STV.com article:
http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/magazine/200628-community-shocked-as-guerrilla-garden-destroyed-without-warning/ 

Our little developing green space/community garden on a patch of unused land alongside the Union Canal was removed today by the Edinburgh Council.

Please see http://innertubemap.com//blog/post/498 for photographs of the removal.

Why was it removed?  The reason for the removal of our growing space is unclear: some Council representatives cited a picnic table that was slated to be installed in that exact location (there were 3 other locations the Council also conceded could have been used); other reasons include using Council land without prior permission.
 
This garden was not an act of defiance; it was an act of community building and civic engagement. We should be taking initiative to participate in our neighborhoods and take the time to foster projects that bring communities together and remind us that we all share the space we inhabit. 

The Edinburgh Council missed an important opportunity to engage with the public and strengthen support for green spaces and food initiatives. Public gardening is not something to forcefully demolish and community growing areas should not be eradicated by a governing body that does not necessarily represent the opinions or needs of the populace.These are vegetable seeds, not bombs. Kale is nothing to be scared of.

It is not just that it makes economic sense to grow your own food; you have learned something crucial about the world, your ability to instigate change, the freedom that comes with being able to be more self-sufficient, and the satisfaction of acquiring real, useful skills that can be transferred to all sorts of jobs.

Please consider similar projects done without prior permission:

http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/projects/growing-round-town
http://weburbanist.com/2007/08/21/urban-ecological-subversion-the-art-of-guerilla-gardening-in-public-spaces/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2231849/Steve-Wheen-Pothole-gardener-creates-miniature-flowerbeds-potholes-Londons-streets.html


Our community garden received enormous support from the community. Local children who had never planted vegetables, sown wildflower seeds or held worms came each Sunday to help, and the site quickly became a point of public interest. It was a demonstration of how civic engagement and growing food can build and strengthen a community.  Thank you for your support


Trees Not Trash Community Green Space & Garden
 

What is it? We started the first of TNT Edinburgh’s community green spaces, on a small stretch of unused land adjacent to the Union Canal in the Shandon area of Edinburgh on October 6th, 2012.  This piece of land is generally overgrown with a forest of stinging nettles which gets mown day every now and then. Usually this piece of land is used as a favourite spot for dogs to do their business, so we thought why not repurpose it for usable growing space? After all, we weren't disturbing anything other than the stinging nettles, and the naturalised daffodil bulbs weren't moved. Besides, the neighborhood kids LOVED it.

Where? Why? Why now? I had been intending on starting a new community  garden/green space in Edinburgh for some time, certainly since last summer, but hadn’t found the right spot for it yet. I had been eyeing spaces that were far more disused, derelict even, rather than the canal-side space we started with. Although it is a very green neighborhood, there were great reasons to put a tiny community garden in the location that we have chosen: it is public, well-traveled, unused, sheltered, and right next to a water source (the canal!).

Why bother with community gardening?

Gardening and food-growing knowledge builds confidence in people. There is something very satisfying and empowering about growing a vegetable from a seed, watching it turn into a plant, being able to see what it looks like while it is growing, and finally, being able to eat it. That confidence can lead to all sorts of exciting things; children who learn how to garden are then able to teach their friends, or their siblings and parents.

There is a distinct lack of land in Edinburgh for growing produce, as anybody who has been on a wait-list for allotments can tell you (I checked, and most allotment waiting lists near this neighborhood and beyond are on average of 6 years long…). That is a long time to wait to grow your own vegetables! We are doing something on a much smaller level, but encourage anyone and everyone to get involved...and hopefully inspire people to grow their own food as well.