Edible gardens set to take root in unexpected bits of land in Caithness
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Caithness will host one of 12 Unexpected Gardens being installed around Scotland by creative arts programme Dandelion, showing that even the unlikeliest of places can bloom.
Gardens are set to transform unusual spaces in the county following today's announcement that Lyth Arts Centre (LAC) will be partnering with the programme to grow an Unexpected Garden that will tour and bring the beauty to different locations within the area.
Commissioned by EventScotland and funded via the Scottish Government, Dandelion is Scotland’s contribution to UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a nationwide programme of creative events and engagement.
Driven by the concept of ‘sow, grow, share’ – not just food but ideas, music, scientific knowledge, and community – Dandelion takes a unique approach to growing. It will bring together artists, scientists, performers, and technologists to present events and programmes throughout Scotland, including the Unexpected Gardens, which will culminate in hundreds of harvest celebrations later this year.
Bringing new life to community libraries, car parks and even tidal sites from the Western Isles to the Borders, the Unexpected Gardens are set to be a highlight of Dandelion, taking place from April to September 2022.
The beautiful gardens of Caithness will be loaded on to a series of trailers before visiting places including Thurso and Wick. On arrival at each site, the raised beds and planters will roll off the trailer to create a garden and audience area.
The trailer will become a performance and workshop space, offering seating and integrated lighting/electricals allowing the gardens to be brought into the heart of each community. Each site will also offer the chance to ‘dig in’ and create more permanent planting.
A spokesperson for LAC said: "Our Unexpected Garden will take the garden to the people. A curtain-sider trailer converted into an innovative growing space will tour four to five sites across Caithness.
"We hope to create a cyclical growing pattern where communities across the county grow food for each other. We'll explore where our food comes from, how it's transported, and try some experimental approaches to cultivating vegetables. We're so excited to be part of Dandelion and take on this exciting project that combines culture, community, climate and growing and eating together."
Other sites include one stunning floating garden which will tour the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the Union Canal from June. In Forres, Findhorn Bay Arts’ unique garden will respond to the town’s main square and multiple alleys, promoting the growing of mushrooms which will thrive in the dark shadowy entryways.
Elsewhere in Scotland, Edinburgh Agroecology Group will develop a garden site at Lauriston Farm and RIG Arts will take over a site behind South West Library in Greenock. In Fife, the Leven Programme will convert the car park of The Centre – a community space – into a garden site. Taigh Chearsabhagh in North Uist, Fèis Rois in Alness, The Stove Network and Stranraer Development Trust, Alchemy Film & Arts in the Borders and a partnership of organisations in Dundee are also dusting off their green fingers to get involved.
Neil Butler, festival and events director said: "We’re excited to announce today the locations of our Unexpected Gardens. We look forward to watching each of the gardens come to life as they grow and hope that their programme of events succeeds in bringing people together. Sustainability lies at the heart of our programme, and we can’t wait to see people from all over Scotland sowing, growing and sharing food, music, ideas."
Each Unexpected Garden will host a programme of events unique to each location throughout the summer, programmed by a creative producer. A local musician in residence will also be appointed to each site, with applications now open, to create a new piece of work to be presented at the culminating harvest event in September.
The Lyth Arts Centre garden is one of 10 sites currently taking applications for the role, for more information, and to apply please go to the website.
Additionally, the gardens will be visited by Dandelion’s specially designed Cubes of Perpetual Light, part-artwork, part-miniature vertical farms, the cubes will grow hundreds of seedlings under LED light, showcasing the latest technological innovation in horticulture.
Fiona Dalgetty, the team's futures director, said: "As part of Dandelion, we’re excited to work with a local musician or band who will help provide the soundtrack to our harvest. Our musician in residence role is a great opportunity for artists who are passionate about the environment and the climate crisis to share their voice. Music has the fantastic ability to forge emotional connection and unify people from all walks of life and hopefully create an understanding of the environmental challenges facing our times."
Marie Christie, head of development at Event Scotland said: "We are thrilled to see that gardens across the whole of Scotland will be enjoyed by local people and visitors as part of the Dandelion programme throughout this year. It’s wonderful to be part of a project that celebrates such creativity and aims to connect with the widest range of audiences and participants."
UNBOXED’s chief creative officer, Martin Green said: "UNBOXED celebrates creativity in its widest sense, placing it at the heart of people’s everyday lives, as Dandelion is doing across Scotland this summer.
"As a project, Dandelion is literally about sowing seeds for the future, which we hope will inspire local communities and the next generation. It’s part of a programme of five brilliant projects taking place in Scotland as part of UNBOXED this year, which combine art, science and tech, offering amazing events and experiences for everyone."
To find out more about your local ‘edible garden’ visit: dandelion.scot
The full programme of events at each garden will be released in spring.
