Loch na Mhoid Community Garden is no more.  Toni and Andrew have sold the croft and moved - fortunately not far away.

We intend to retain on the website, for the record, something of the story of Loch na Mhoid's connection with TBI, and some of the excellent pictures that have been taken over the years.

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Many thanks to everyone who has come along to the garden over the last six years - we've loved having you here.

Below are a few photos of whats been going on over the years ...

 

 

                                   

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Tidy tunnel October 2014

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December 2012

the regular Friday Group spent a morning shopping for fruit trees and bushes - like kiddies in a sweetie shop I hear! They were able to do this thinks to a generous £250 Action Earth grant. They have bought several fruit trees - plum, apple, damson and cherry and berry bushes including Tayberry and blueberry.

Also this month we were really lucky to have a day's visit from 10 hardy folk from the TCV (Trust for Conservation Volunteers) who have did a wonderful job cutting back part of the hedge round the community garden, digging much needed ditches in the Friday garden, clearing a large bed in the polytunnel, planting trees and clearing the pond. Thank you so much!

September 2012

What a great day we had - sunshine, so much food and lots of visitors from far and wide. Thanks to all who contributed to a really celebration of local, tasty and shared food. We held this to co-incide with Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight and as part of "Blasda" Scotland's Local Food Feast. Staff and volunteers from RoWAN (Ross-shire Waste Action Network www.rowan.org.uk) and TBI members enjoyed a chance to meet some of our community gardeners and admire all their hard work.

Dishes included:

Cucumber and onion bake with herb crust - Loch na Mhoid kitchen

Sweet onion and potato pie - Loch na Mhoid kitchen

Goat's cheese, leek and spinach pie (my favourite) - RoWAN volunteers

Beer-battered carrot and courgette fritters with spicy tomato chutney - Community gardener, Alan

Pasta salad with lots of nasturtiums; watercress, beetroot, carrot, hard-boiled eggs - Eleanor and guests

Garlic and herb flat bread - Sharon

Zucchini bread - Alan (recipe below)

Brownies, scones, lemon drizzle cake, blackberry muffins - Teen, Loch na Mhoid and other top-notch cooks.

For photos see our Facebook page ...

26th August 2012

On this glorious day we welcomed The Culture Kitchen Relay team who are visiting 16 community growing projects stretching from Glasgow to North Uist. They brought with them a recipe and ingredients for Stovies from Huntly and we cooked up beer-battered fritters (using Goldeneye Beer from The Black Isle Brewery) and mince using ingredients from the croft - Dexter beef and beg from the plots outside the summerhouse. The recipes and ingredients are now going onto Achiltibuie. Alan cooked up a storm of fritters from tomates, onions and courgette flowers he and Tedi have grown here at the community garden. See the Blasda website and blog for more information.

19th August 2012

This weekend we were visited by lots of two-wheeled yellow-vested children and a few adults who added a splash of colour to the summerhouse plots during their cycle picnic from North Kessock as part of The Million Miles project.

... things are growing at long last - despite countrywide agreement that this has been a difficult season for the fruit and veg. The community polytunnel is bursting with life - bolotti beans, butter beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes, squash of all shapes and budding melons. Tedi and Alan and Berand and our "Friday" friends have been put alot of work into making this such a productive month.

In the outside plots we are enjoying beetroot, potatoes, turnips, peas and carrots, and last year's fruiting hedge is full of gooseberries, white and red currants and a few Tayberries (although the birds the hedge was intended for have had most of them).

2011
One of the best events of 2011 was our Pot Luck Picnic which we held as as part of the “Blasda” local food feast. Despite the rain and the 101 other events on that same day we welcomed folk from far and wide. The sumptuous picnic included delicious dishes all made with something grown in the community garden or on the croft:

 

Rhubarb Salsa relish – thanks to Kathe from Oregon, USA
Croft courgette (or zucchini) bread – thanks to Alan from the Muir
Quiche Lorraine with croft-grown kale, tomatoes, onions and eggs – thanks to Tedi from the Muir
Potato salad with croft-grown Juliette salad potatoes and French beans – thanks to Sharon from the Muir
Herb and garlic flatbread – also from Sharon (my favourite dish of the day)
American oatmeal cookies and rolled biscuits – made in the croft kitchen
Fresh yellow plums – from the croft garden
Elderflower fizz – flowers from the tree by the pond - made by Toni
Red and white onion flans – made by Andrew
Roasted chicken – donated by Teen

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Rhubarb Salsa recipe:

Combine in a medium saucepan and bring to a high heat:
2 cups* diced rhubarb (3 stalks)
1/2 cup* sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup* fresh orabge juice
1/4 cup* chopped shallots or red onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 jalapeno pepper/chilli, seeded and chopped

Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced - about 12 minutes.

* 1 cup = 8 fl oz = 250 ml (or thereabouts)

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Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup* vegetable oil
2 cups* white sugar
2 cups* grated zucchini (or 1 cup zucchini/1 cup carrot)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups* self-raising flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup* chopped pecans (or walnuts – or no nuts at all)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 165 degrees C (325 degrees F).
Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf tins.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy.
Mix in oil and sugar.
Stir in zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture.
Divide batter into prepared tins.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes (or until a knife or cocktail stick comes out clean).
 * 1 cup = 8 fl oz = 250 ml (or thereabouts)

 

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Sitting here on another wet day we can at least be grateful we're getting our watering done for us! Our vegetables are growing well and there is alot of produce ready for picking. So if you've sown, planted, watered or weeded at any time this summer please do come and take your share. Otherwise it might have to head for the compost heap. And that would be a shame. Tedi, Alan, Berand and Sharon, along with the Friday-morning lads, have been busy keeping everything flourishing.

 The polytunnel has been worth its weight in gold as it seems to shrug off anything the weather throws at it and is busy producing salad, herbs, courgettes, tomatoes (can anyone give us some tips how to do better?), onions and our forest of sweetcorn. The husks are very nearly ready to harvest, but don't tell anyone! This winter we have set ourselves the challenge of having a constant supply of salad leaves, so if you too would  like to grow some healthy greens, come along and join us. There's space for everyone.

Look what Abigail found in the summer house plot - the BIGGEST worm she had ever seen. This photo was taken in April - there's not a patch of bare soil to be seen now.

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