In partnership with Dunfermline Greenspace and their lottery bid to create a Community Garden Network, the church has been successful in a funding bid for  £2000 for our Kitchen Garden Project. This project was outlined at the Kirk Session last autumn when Gayle explained the idea of developing the use of our kitchen by growing our own vegetables and herbs to provide ingredients for soup being made for our Friendship Group and Winter Café. St Leonard’s is one of 5 new community growing spaces being supported by Fife Council funding. This funding has to be used for equipment and materials to grow food, has to involve all generations and has to be done in partnership with an established, experienced growing space in Dunfermline who can offer support and advice. A Community Garden Network has been set up by Dunfermline Greenspace to create and support these partnerships. Their lottery funding has given them a part time staff member for a term and money to buy tools and some materials for across the network.

An earlier step in the project was a consultation meeting with our Tuesday Garden Team at the church with Gayle and the Chair of Crossford Community Allotments who we have been partnered with. We explored possibilities and thought through the location of the growing space.  As a condition of the grant, we must spend the money by the end of June so 2 raised bed kits have been bought and these have been assembled and installed by Fife College students. A bench with planters on either side has also been bought for growing herbs enabling people to do some seated planting and tending. A trellis planter is another addition and in May, the Friendship Group have started our planting with some peas and spinach.  You’ll see from these photos how the group engaged with planting in different ways. 2 ladies from Crossford allotments came to the Friendship Group to speak about their “Angel’s Share Project” where all their allotment gardeners grow an extra 10% food produce to donate to community groups who provide food. St Leonard’s will now receive food from there but also some seedlings brought on in their poly tunnel which we can plant in our raised beds. The raised beds have 4 sections in each and each of our youth organisations will be given a section. This will link into badge work and programmes for Scouts, Guiding and BBs. We look forward to seeing the kitchen garden develop and of course, to harvest time!