Living HUbs - Traquair Forest Garden

The final engagement event in our Living Hub programme saw us being hosted by the new Traquair Forest Garden. This community garden is the product of a recent collaboration between Traquair Estate, The Tweeddale Sovereignty Group and Forge in the Forest. The garden is situated on the site of a former market garden in the grounds of Traquair house and recent work has seen the garden enclosed with a deer fence alongside the removal of old cherry trees and construction begin on a workshop space. The garden will incorporate three distinct zones, reflecting the interests of the groups involved, within a forest garden that emulates the layers in a natural woodland ecosystem. There will be a series of beds in the vegetable plot, a herb and berry garden, and a workshop hub constructed from materials harvested on site and processed using iron age methods practiced by the Forge in the Forest group.

SBCAN organised a consultation event in the garden with a community lunch provided by local café Ace of Cups. The lunch provided a chance for volunteers and locals to discuss their views on local green spaces - how they use them and how they might be made to work better for both wildlife and people in the future. It was also a chance for those curious about the new garden to come and see the work that has already taken place. We were delighted to see 25 people turn out on a warm and sunny day and enthusiasm for TFG’s project was clearly running high; there was a real buzz in the air!

The findings from the consultation events have now been passed on to local environmental organisation Bright Green Nature, who commissioned the programme of events. We hope to be able to update you on how the Living Hubs programme will develop in due course.