Winchburgh Community Growing Group (WCGG) in West Lothian is making spaces across the village accessible for growing free fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers for the community to enjoy all year round.

They are putting the principles of local seasonal food into practice by adding planters filled with edibles including herbs, vegetables, fruits to be made available for everyone. Inspired by ‘Incredible Edibles’, the group have installed the eight planters along a pathway and outside the Tally Ho, the local pub.

Vivian, one of the founding members of the group said “I heard about Incredible Edibles during my time as volunteering for the Take One Action Film Festival a few years ago and was impressed by the power of the collective and how much good was produced in the communities just by growing food for everyone. People started talking to the neighbours, people shared the community spirit. From that moment I thought this is something I’d like to try in Scotland – what an amazing idea”

Last month the group launched an WCGG app so that the locations and contents of the planters can be found with additional information. For Halloween, the group has developed a Halloween Hunt app game making use of the app.

Their website has a ‘clean eating’ page which gives advice on how to forage safely. If people are unsure they can check the WCGG app which includes a picture with details that match the wooden stick in the planter confirming the edible. There are also seasonal recipes from Winchburgh residents on the website.

What initially started as a project with the vision to make good food accessible for all, has now been enhanced with additional social aspects. People are coming together to support the project, getting out of their houses, meeting their neighbours and talking to each other - something that sometimes fades away with people’s busy lifestyles.

Holy Primary School and Winchburgh Primary School have been involved in local park consultations and as part of this work the P4 class at Holy Family offered to create a logo for the WCGG. The judges thought that Jessica Philbin’s logo stood out and her logo will be featured on every single planter of the project.

Visit the Winchburgh Community Growing Group website