COLUMNIST: TRELLIS
Trellis promotes and supports therapeutic gardening in Scotland.
In a regular column with Scotland Grows, Fiona Thackery tells us how Trellis harnesses the feel-good effects of gardening and uses it to help people feel better and improve their quality of life.
A summit focusing on the advancing doom of climate change: perhaps not quite the feel good distraction from the autumn virus spike we were needing. Luckily, we gardeners tend to be optimistic souls and since headlines, by their very nature, must be dramatic, it falls to us to focus on the positives.
Though governments can shape our environmental impact with laws, policies and nudges, we should never underestimate the power of small changes made by ordinary people.
In 2019 Trellis published ‘Plastic-free Gardening’, the world’s first book about reducing plastic use for gardeners. When I began looking into our use of plastics to write the book, what struck me was the potential of seemingly tiny adjustments to bring about phenomenal transformation – like the 5p plastic bag tax which stopped 6 billion single-use bags going to landfill in just six months.
The problems of climate change often seem overwhelming and make many people anxious but gardening can give us back a sense that we have the power to change things.
Doing my bit is all very well, you might say, but does it really make any difference? Take the example of cardboard plant pots. Your small purchase sends a message both to the garden centre and the manufacturer that this produce is desirable, which in turn helps stimulate increased production. Your neighbour or fellow allotmenteers or garden club members may be inspired by your success in using the pots and convert their own propagation methods. Soon you have a critical mass of gardeners whose modified growing techniques and consumer behaviour is influencing the market.
In the Trellis network of therapeutic gardening projects we have seen inspirational examples of carbon capture through gardening. Recently a Fife group got in touch seeking guidance. During lockdown they had been growing fresh produce and contributing to the local food bank and had seen demand increase markedly, along with interest in participating with the growing. Now they need to find funding to employ a full-time worker to coordinate these gardening sessions as well as cooking events in an on-site field kitchen.
Another project, on the south bank of the Tay has been growing and sharing produce for years, orchestrating small revolutions in local people’s appreciation for freshly grown food and cultivation methods along the way.
Food growing projects like these contribute to climate awareness and carbon reduction in many ways, both obvious and more subtle. By growing local fruit and vegetables they keep packaging, transport emissions and waste to a minimum but they also serve to inspire and educate.
A new gardener learning how to work with soil begins to understand how it can be enriched and protected from erosion, how its structure and microbial fauna can be improved and its water holding capacity increased. Gardening teaches us about decomposition, carbon and nitrogen cycles and how different soils are affected by the seasons.
When you begin to value soil and know how carbon and climate relates to your local plot and the food on your plate, you can link climate concerns very directly to your own life and make much better sense of the big questions. You might also be inspired to take action, make more changes, large or small, and as a bonus, feel a little less anxious about things.
Our recent 'Growing Series' events and videos shared knowledge of how to grow tomatoes and strawberries, with special tips on how to adapt these tasks to the needs of people living in care settings or dealing with various health conditions. By inspiring viewers to have a go at growing their own produce we hope that one by one, we are also encouraging these new growers to get curious about our planet and how it works.
'Plastic-free Gardening’ is available on the Trellis website and from bookshops priced £11.99. All proceeds support the work of Trellis. From now until the 12th November, use the discount code ‘COP26’ to purchase the book for £10.
If you are interested in learning more about therapeutic gardening, take a look at Trellis' website.