Donation to Alexandra Park Food Forest

Alexandra Park Food Forest is a magical place where people of all ages are introduced to food growing, a thriving space where people can connect with the living world, share delicious food and mark the seasons through art & song. They were the recipients of our March donation of £500 pounds worth of healthy, organic food. We asked Clem Sandison to explain to us a bit more about what goes on in the forest. Over to you, Clem.

1.Tell us about how it all started and a little more about Ally Park Food Forest.

The Food Forest was designed and planted by the community in 2016, transforming a 1-acre area of public land in Alexandra Park into an accessible food growing space. In addition to producing free food that local people can harvest, the space is designed to support wildlife and bring people together to meet and share skills through workshops, volunteer days and cultural celebrations. We aim to build people's understanding of seasonal cycles, to see themselves as part of the web of life, and to become stewards of common land. Over the last year our volunteer team has built a large-scale wormery to compost green waste, created a pond using a natural clay liner, and saved seed for the next growing season to ensure our crops are climate adapted. We use no-dig practices, green manures and companion planting to improve soil health.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about what will be done with the food donation provided by Greencity?

We will use the donation to provide healthy lunches for our weekly volunteer gardening group that meets on Thursdays. We’ll also use the food at our public events and monthly community meals where we cook on a fire using seasonal produce from the Food Forest and Kitchen Garden. Our next community event is Spring Equinox and will be held on Sat 22 March, 1-4pm..

3. What other interesting things are going on at A P F F?

.Our community garden is off-grid with no mains electricity and limited access to water, so we’re in the process of designing a new climate-friendly growing system involving rain water harvesting, solar-powered irrigation and a hot compost propagator to bring on our young seedlings. We’re also planning the design of an outdoor kitchen and will be working to plant up our wildlife pond this Spring.

4.Tell us a bit more about any other things you do to support the people of Glasgow.

People can access the Food Forest 24hrs a day and it provides a tranquil haven where you can spend time in nature. It’s also a great space for socialising and learning new skills together. Lots of local schools visit the space as part of their curriculum and we also regularly run tours and workshops for groups across the city who want to learn how to design a perennial food forest or community orchard. This year we’ll be running free drop-in community meals on the first Thursday of the month (May - October) and we’ll be celebrating the Equinoxes and Solstices with songs, arts and nature-focused activities.

5. Is there anything members of the public can do to help support your organisation?

People can volunteer at our work days to help maintain the food forest for all to enjoy (e.g. we recently pruned all the fruit trees and bushes), or they can apply to join our regular gardening volunteer group. We’re always looking for extra hands to help with scything the wildflower meadow, mulching the trees, and other maintenance tasks through the year. We’ll have a plant sale on Sunday 4th May and all proceeds will be reinvested in our community activities so come along to buy some plants to take home and support our project. We also welcome donations of gardening tools (that are in good 2nd hand condition). Find out more about our activities on instagram or facebook.