The idea
We know that people in Bootle want to grow their own food and flowers but sometimes the difficulties of community growing are too big and good projects fail after the first few years due to a lack of water, knowledge, power, access to basic amenities such as toilets and anti-social behaviour.
Taking Root in Bootle is a network of community gardens and growing projects. ‘Learn, Grow, Share’ is a key part of our plan to transform Bootle through food and flowers. We will test out:
- solar panels (for kettle boiling!)
- training up a team of community green roof builders
- grey water systems
- community composting schemes
- different irrigation systems for different structures and landscapes - a composting toilet
We need to create solutions unique to Bootle. We are inspired to make real change in how people in Bootle get their fresh food and access to green spaces, and to create innovative sustainable community growing to improve everyone’s health and well-being.
What we'll deliver
- Clear and prepare sites
- Plan and design sites
- Buy equipment e.g. shed, solar panels, composting toilets etc
- Training with experts in the field
- Testing and reviewing what works
- Share with the network
- Hold celebration event
Why it's a great idea
At Taking Root in Bootle we love to share! We are already working on creating a sharing economy in Bootle where people work together to share learning, ideas, time, resources and harvest. We know that when we work together we are stronger and more effective than when we exist in isolation. This project benefits a lot of people and is bigger than one organisation. We will organise educational, experiential workshops for our members, inviting experts to introduce new innovations for us to try out - The learning from the project will be shared across the Taking Root in Bootle network which will then help other organisations to grow more effectively. Anyone can come to the sites to learn new ideas so they don’t need to make mistakes on their own project! All food grown will be shared with the community. This means more sharing to benefit more people.
This project will also feed into local projects such as Bootle in Bloom which will make life brighter for everyone!
Steps to get it done
- Site mapping and plot designing
- Clearance and preparation of sites
- Start test projects (e.g. growing, irrigation, solar, green roof...)
- Organise experiential learning sessions with expert guest gardeners
- Celebration event
As part of Taking Root in Bootle we have visited other spaces and projects – we are close friends with Incredible Farm in Todmordon and are inspired by what they have achieved. We will learn from their experience and their great ideas but we need to create solutions specifically for Bootle as we are unique!
Learn, Grow Share is our test bed to experiment with different approaches to find out which ones work best for us. We are inspired to make real change in how people in Bootle get their fresh food and to create sustainable community growing to improve everyone’s health and well-being.
We will share our learning - successful and not so successful - at a celebration event where local residents will be invited along to get some new recipe ideas for our produce and to go away with a free bag of lovely fresh produce made up with surplus fruit and vegetables from our growing.
