This year’s Community Garden Week runs from Monday 3rd to Sunday 9th April. Its purpose is to celebrate community gardens across the UK and emphasise the power of community gardening for all. We’d like to introduce you to some of the local gardening projects on offer across St Andrews and show there are lots of reasons to get involved this community garden week!
Community Gardens positively impact your health
Gardening and green spaces have been proven to have a positive impact on both physical and mental health. Spending time outdoors helps to reduce stress and ease depression and anxiety whilst community gardens also promote a sense of inclusion and belonging. Whether just visiting or volunteering, any time spent in gardens could have a therapeutic effect. Of course, community gardens also promote healthy eating by increasing access to fruit and vegetables!
Community Gardens have fantastic Social Benefits.
Not only does volunteering at a community garden help build friendships, but it is also an excellent opportunity to learn new skills from others and work collectively to enhance your surroundings. Community Gardens also create a sense of belonging and inclusion to the local area and builds a sense of community through mutually caring for a shared space.
Transition St Andrews
Community gardens play an important part in meeting the University of St Andrews’ goal to be net zero by 2035. Transition St Andrews focus on promoting food sustainability by diminishing carbon footprints linked to food transport, and creating designated green spaces where nature can flourish and improve air quality. Within Transition’s range of initiatives is the Edible Campus, which has developed over a dozen gardens throughout the town in which the public can get involved.
A complete map of Transition St Andrews spaces can be found on their website.
There are numerous ways to celebrate Community Garden Week. You can visit the garden, help others to maintain the plants, and do whatever else is possible to contribute.
You can share your expertise with the public. You can teach them how the space works, meet fellow gardeners, recruit new allotments, and show the people how it can benefit them.
You could even throw a party to show off your cooking skills with homegrown produce! This will not only encourage more people to become involved with gardening but provide a lovely social event for everyone to enjoy!
What to plant during Community Garden Week
As we all know, St Andrews doesn’t have the warmest of climates, but here are a few suggestions for what to plant in Scotland this April.
April is the perfect time to sow seeds for lettuce, cabbage, kale, peas, radish, spinach, chard, cauliflower, pumpkin, courgette and potatoes. Many plants from the allium family including garlic, onion/shallots, spring onions and leeks are also best planted in April.
If you fancy getting involved with our amazing edible campus then get in touch at [email protected] or through the following link https://transitionsta.org/get-involved/
And if you’d like to immerse yourself more in themes of community, nature and sustainability, then visit For Peatland’s Sake at the Wardlaw Museum until May 8th! https://for-peatlands-sake.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/