The Walled Garden was our dedicated patch. It’s long been one of Kilmahew’s signature sites. In Victorian times, a dedicated staff tended to specialist fruit bearing trees, vines and shrubs; today, the briar and bracken wynd where they will. Though overgrown, the garden still throws open a welcome.

We packed plenty in: recording trace elements, leaving our mark with baggage tags and a model community of toy figurines, and digging beds to plant tatties. Father Doogan did the ceremonials, giving the crop his blessing. David Gall won the naming competition – ‘Fleming’s First’ – after Kilmahew’s pioneering head gardener.

Fingers crossed, by late summer we’ll have a decent enough crop to cook up chips for all. In the process we began the job of turning the garden back into a “taskscape”. And what did we learn? That sowing ideas and making small changes is a symbolic act and a substantial effort.

by Hayden Lorimer, March 2012 Workshop Leader