Skye & Lochalsh Horticultural CIC

Get up and Grow!

Originally set up in 1994 as the Skye and Lochalsh Horicultural Development Association uniting amateur and professional growers in Skye and Lochalsh - the now Skye & Lochalsh Horticulture Community Interest Company still aims to increase the level of local produce sold in the area.

Selling Local Produce

An original aim was to replace 'imported' products and skills. During the summer you might have noticed the Horticultural Producers Stall in Somerled Square in Portree and at various Shows and other events. It sells produce grown by a variety of the Horticulture CIC's members with fourteen being involved last year. It is a great way for growers to find out what the public likes and also for members to try out new things, earning at the same time. This is one of the ways the CIC has tried to encourage the take up of local produce in the area. Over the lifetime of the stall it has been very noticeable how the demand for local produce has increased in the catering trade and so most of the fruit and veg grown locally is sold direct. There is room in the market for more people to put in the work to grow more. Be under no illusion that the combination of windy wet weather and generally poor soils presents an interesting challenge!

Organic Production

Some growers have grouped together, innovatively, to form an Organic Group - once again sharing skills and also saving money on Organic registration. This started in 1999 and was the first Group in Scotland to be registered with the Soil Association. There are now nine members whose holdings vary in size between 10 acres and half an acre and are situated all around the island. The group aims to grow for their own use and to supply local people. The weekly market stall also sells their produce. The group believe organic growing has a real future particularly in areas such as Skye, where there is a clean environment and less intensive growing methods are used.

The Soil Association standards are strict in order to protect the integrity of the soil and its produce. The registered holdings are inspected annually and given conditions that have to be complied with before a licence is granted. The Soil Association symbol on produce is a guarantee that it is authentic.

The principal behind organic production is that a healthy soil is necessary for plants, animals and people to be healthy. During the last 50 years there has been a large increase in the use of fertilisers, weed-killers and pesticides; many of these substances are taken up by plants and leave a residue in the harvested crops and in the soil. As a result soil health declines and so does bio-diversity and the ability of plants, animals and people to defend themselves against diseases and ailments is diminished.

Projects

Over the years the Skye and Lochalsh Horticulture Association and now the CIC have tried to increase locally grown produce through a wide variety of projects. Throughout it has kept to its original purpose of putting growers in touch with each other to exchange techniques and to broaden knowledge. This winter, for instance, this has been done by talks, question and answer sessions and a quiz - all good fun and informative at the same time.

A couple of years ago, in November 2004 (before “Jamie’s School Dinners” took over the nation) the then Association, commenced a 2 year project working with five out of the 20 or so primary schools in our area with the aim of encouraging schools to grow their own fruit and vegetables and to raise awareness of where their food came from.

Growing projects with young children need to be exciting, creative and involve all levels of pupil skills.    Planting containers were supplied to each school together with compost, seeds, propagators etc.    Children were shown and also encouraged to discover for themselves,  the main requirements for successful seed germination using a range of vegetables and flowers.   The subsequent plants were planted out into the garden areas or the tubs provided, and the children drew up rotas to ensure regular watering and weeding, especially over the long school holidays.   It was encouraging to see that in a number of the schools parents also became involved, especially with the “heavier” work of ground preparation, watering rotas and weeding.  

A number of innovative and unusual varieties of various vegetables, most notably purple potatoes was supplied to each school for them to grow on and name as their “own” variety.  At harvest time – the most exciting time for all the children – the produce was either divided among the pupils for taking home or supplied to the school canteen for inclusion in a school meal.     On the days when their own produce was on the menu, even those normally taking packed lunches, enjoyed “school dinner”, with purple potatoes proving a very popular menu item!

Part of the project was also to encourage and support local growers to supply produce to their local schools but this proved more of a challenge because of the stringent local authority purchasing methods.

Although the project ended in 2006 it is hoped that the links that were established between the SLHDA and the schools will continue and it is encouraging to note that a number of the participating schools have gone on to win awards for their gardens and growing projects.  Calina MacDonald, the project co-ordinator said, "the work that this and other similar projects have achieved with primary school pupils will, I am sure, reap rewards in the future, and has in any  case raised awareness of how food is grown, where it comes from (or can come from) and what influence it can have on your health."

contact the Skye & Lochalsh Horticultural CIC at top of page

page added 15 July 08