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We discovered Greener Peebles’ gem of a garden in 2021 when we moved to Peebles. Actually, it’s not entirely true, because when I researched Peebles on Facebook long before moving here, the first thing that caught my eye was the Grow Kids classes. I thought “Ooh wouldn’t that be nice!”… Little did I know that this would be the gateway to a wonderful community and so many happy hours in the garden!
We’d never had a garden before as we had always lived in flats, so our little boy wasn’t that interested in gardening to start with – but he was very keen on the toys tractors and bikes! Then, slowly, he started taking an interest in actual gardening jobs and the changes happening around him in the garden. Two years later, we now have two raised beds at the garden and he’s very involved in sowing, watering and harvesting. A previously very reluctant vegetable eater, he now loves eating peas straight from the pod, and – gasp, horror – has even been known to eat broccoli. His little brother is a lot more adventurous with vegetables, no doubt because he’s been attending Grow Kids since birth!
The garden is an amazing place to meet new friends. It’s also a very safe FREE place to hang out with small children, which is hard to come across. Every couple of days, we come to the garden for half an hour or so, to water the plants or to have a picnic. Afterwards, the children can pick a couple of strawberries or raspberries, or a flower, and it feels like such a treat. It’s paradise for them and a calming place for everyone.
It’s no secret that times are hard for everyone and the abundance of fresh vegetables available in the garden through Grow Kids is always a lovely gift. But it’s also incredibly inspiring. We’ve discovered so much about growing, but also about foraging and the wildlife. When we bought our house, the garden was unfortunately already laid with artificial grass. This means that there’s not much life in the garden, such as worms or pollinators, but removing the fake grass would create issues in terms of waste and plastic disposal, so we decided to keep it. Instead, we built a few raised beds in our garden. We now grow (and eat!) radishes, kale, pakchoi, lettuces, rocket, strawberries and courgettes. We look at bees, caterpillars and butterflies. We have no idea what we’re doing, but we literally learn as we grow, and we’re already talking about what we’ll sow next year!