BETTY Reevie, fresh from wrestling a large cabbage out of the ground, dusts off the soil from her hands with a smile.
“I have a lovely bit of ham for my tea, and I was just about to put on the cabbage I'd bought from the supermaket when I realised it had gone off,” she explains, with a sigh.
“So I popped across to get a fresh one - well, it saves me going all the way down to Tesco, doesn’t it? And it’s free.
“This garden is a great wee place for us all, it makes a big difference.”
This is Kelvindale Growers’ Garden, a cheerful little corner of the north-west neighbourhood where gardeners of all ages and abilities gather to share ideas and recipes and some food they have made from fruit and veg grown on the spot.
A core group of around 40 men, women and children tend the space, many originally from different parts of the world, from Ireland and Brazil to Italy, China and Guatemala.
It makes for an interesting sharing of ideas and recipes - “a million things to do with a cabbage”, as one of them puts it, with a laugh.
The space is packed with produce. There are courgettes and green beans, four-metre tall sunflowers - planted by local kids in tribute to the people of Ukraine - a sea of cabbages and more potatoes than the team knows what to do with. Bags of them sit near the entrance, for local people to take away.
Annibale Coia, who has whipped up some gnocchi using the garden tatties, explains: “We have had a great response to the garden, there is always someone coming to drop something off or help out.
“It was a dumping ground before, full of broken glass bottles and foxes. We got some council funding and a local builder, Blair Yuill, cleared it for us at cost and it has grown from there.”
He adds: “It’s a great thing for the whole community. Everyone gets involved and it’s especially good to see so many kids taking part.
“It’s education. I didn’t know anything about growing vegetables before I started coming along here, nor did many others, but we have all learned a lot. There are some brilliant gardeners who share their tips and skills.
“It’s an amazing project.”
Since April, the UK-wide Dandelion Festival has been encouraging people in communities across the country to sow and grow with each other.
This weekend (from September 9 to 11) is harvest time, with hundreds of events happening here in Glasgow and beyond to celebrate the end of the initiative.
In the city and surrounding areas, 35 primary schools will host events with the tatties they grew over the summer (part of a nationwide effort involving 468 schools and 89,000 pupils across Scotland), while a bunch of community groups, including Maryhill Integration Network, Pollokshaws Area Network, Incredible Edible Neilston, Roots to Recovery Bridgeton, Cranhill Development Trust and the Kinning Park Complex are all holding harvest events.
In addition, all of Scotland’s Unexpected Gardens, created by Dandelion, will host harvest events. In Glasgow, the Govan garden will stage an evening of spoken word and poetry curated by Victoria McNulty, a music gig, plus a meal and ceilidh for the local community. For details visit dandelion.scot.
The Kelvindale Growers have registered with Dandelion as part of the wider call for anyone who wants to host a harvest meal or event of whatever scale.
One of the Kelvindale Growers, Rebecca Lau, is originally from China. She grew up in Hong Kong, before moving to Glasgow 44 years ago.
She has brought along some Chinese dumplings, made with leeks, potatoes and spring onions from the garden.
“We come to learn about growing and to share the food we make,” she smiles.
“I wasn’t really a gardener before I got involved here.
“It has given me the confidence to try new things. I’m growing goji berries in my own garden now. They are very good for the eyesight, and are used a lot in Chinese herbal medicine.”
Kelvindale Growers developed out of a project created during lockdown.
An Empty Gunny Bag Cannot Stand encouraged neighbours to grow potatoes in multi-coloured hessian sacks on their doorsteps. The families came together at the end of the season to harvest and cook the potatoes at a big community event, supported by the Glasgow Times Streets Ahead campaign.
During the project, twins Mark and Gemma Stewart became the Soil Fairies, so-called for their enthusiastic trips up and down the street topping up everyone’s bags of tatties with soil and compost.
Mark, now 13, explains: “This garden is a really great idea, and we like coming here to help plant and do some weeding. We also use a lot of the things we grow here for cooking and baking. It’s really good.”
Gemma adds: “Today I made a rhubarb, plum and apple crumble with rhubarb that we grew here. I enjoy cooking and I really like the fact we can come to the garden to pick fruit, like rhubarb, gooseberries, raspberries and blackcurrants.”
The twins’ mum Ada, who is originally from Guatemala, hopes the story of the Kelvindale Growers will inspire other communities to give growing and sharing food together a go.
“It’s a relaxing place to come to and has been really good for the community,” she says.
“We’re all proud of our little garden.”
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