With so much time recently spent around our lovely village (and with the benefits of being out of the house clear for all to see, this year more than most), we became inspired by other groups such as the Incredible Edible movement and Abundance Keyworth, and decided we’d like to create something similar in Ruddington.
So, Edible Ruddington has been born! We’re still very much in the early stages of planning and deciding what might be possible, but our main objectives are to:
Enhance our community spaces by growing fruit, veg and herbs in “unloved” areas of the village for anyone to pick and use.- Inspire people to grow their own and suggest ideas for how to use the produce.
- “Map” fruit trees in the village (public trees plus any private ones where help is needed to harvest) and arrange harvesting and distributing, to make the most of produce already in our village.
- Distribute excess produce to those in need.
- Promote the benefits of gardening and spending time in outdoor spaces.
Whist we’re planning now, we realise the main planting season begins in spring, so we plan to hit the ground running (or digging!) then.
We’ve already been in touch with Ruddington Gardeners Association and, thanks to Ruddington Parish Council, we now have responsibility for the planters around the Elms Park playground. So, we’ll be starting small and then we hope to identify other areas and grow – literally!
Social distancing and local restrictions will of course be observed at all times.
So, if you’re a gardener and could give advice, belong to a local group and would like to take part, want to learn more about growing your own and give a helping hand for an hour, are willing and able to make planters/signs, or have any other skills and/or ideas please do get in touch at edibleruddington@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook; search for “Edible Ruddington” or follow this link to join our group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/385260079142862. We’d love to hear from you – and absolutely no experience or knowledge are required.
Gwen, Emily, Liz and Alex (the Edible Ruddington team)