The Leith Walk Police Box garden is a partnership between Leith Community Growers, Edible Estates and the Leith Walk Police Box on Croall Place, Edinburgh. The Police Box is a pop up space that highlights local businesses, artists and third sector initiatives. Edible Estates was delighted to join up with the police box to take over their small garden to grow food and create a place to grow food, sunflowers, herbs and nasturtiums in the heart of Leith.
Over the course of several weekends at the end of lockdown, suitably masked and distanced volunteers from the Leith Community Growers group helped to design, build and decorate total of 21 planters made from pallets and generously brought a selection of peas, salad leaves, brassicas, herbs, fruit and more to plant a food garden. We painted, sanded and planted and we are very proud of the result!
We were grateful to members of the group who gave up time and skills, soil and seedlings to help us to reimagine what a disused space on Leith Walk could be. We want our garden to create food and to be productive and to show what can be grown in a small space. We also want to have lots of conversations with our community in Leith about food growing, community food initiatives and all things around what we eat, where it comes from, and why its good to grow some if you can, where you can!
Over several weekends in the summer of 2020 (and beyond) we will be hosting a day at the Police Box to share seeds and ideas, plants and plans for community growing here in Leith and Lochend.
In 2021 we received a grant from Action Earth and we were delighted to be able to purchase compost, seeds, herbs from the Secret Herb Garden and fruit bushes to establish a more perennial and accessible range of delicious and fragrant plants for everyone on Leith walk to enjoy!
Volunteers and visitors to the garden'Thankyou! Its beautiful, I didn't even know this space was here!' Joanna 28
'Thank you for putting a smile on my face!' Charlie
'I didn't even know this space was here,' Chris
'I have wanted to be involved in something like this for years, its great we are making a garden for Leith Walk,' Linda
Lead organisation
