SHED at the Community Roots Gardens

03/03/2026

During the winter, when there was less gardening to do, I thought I would get some studying done. I am a trained complementary therapist, not a trained gardener, so this Certificate in Social Therapeutic Horticulture Practice course helped me bridge these skills better.
I am looking forward to applying some of this knowledge and methodology to the gardening sessions in the future, and for our lovely Garden Stewards to do the introductory course in the Autumn.

Gardening is therapy for so many of us! ( I know it is for me!)
If you would like to see the benefits of social gardening yourself, then please come and join us at our volunteer sessions.
The next one is tomorrow 10-1 at the Community Roots Gardens (incorporating the Boyd Orr) at 115-117 Main Street, across from the pharmacy.
We have a few volunteers going on a field trip to Eglington Park tomorrow so it will be a quieter session, so any extra hands are appreciated. No experience necessary- like I said- I am not a trained gardener and we all muddle in together :)

Fi

02/03/2026

Happy March-time from the gardeners! We are putting our new polycarbonate tunnel to good use and getting on with sowing, potato chitting, looking after some baby plants and enjoying the extra warmth whilst we have our coffee times 😊🙏😎
Funny to think that in just a few months this wee space will not only be filled with hope but also much greenery and life! 💕

Join us : Mondays 10-1 at 53 Main St- gardens accessed through the close and upstairs

Wednesdays 10-1 Community Roots Garden and Boyd Orr Garden (whilst there is building work ongoing please don’t enter the garden gate unless it is session time and the gate is propped open. If the weather is poor or tasks change we may be back at the polytunnel at 53. Usually we will post about any changes to the schedule so please follow and like our page to keep up to date)

02/03/2026

Here’s a wee walk through of the building so far! We are really excited to see that the last of the brickwork is nearly finished and soon we will have glazing and cladding completed.

Thanks to everyone for your patience while we complete this work, and for the encouragement and excitement that you’ve shared with us. 🙏😊

17/02/2026

Take a look at the Community Roots Garden building progress!
Volunteer sessions: Mondays and Wednesdays 10-1. Usually at the Community Roots Garden 115-117 Main Street West Kilbride. Though we are sometimes offsite due to the building work so follow us on Facebook for updates on location, or text Fi on 07903404224

You can donate to our project via our secure SumUp Link : https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/Q5RNVDEC
or
if preferred our Crowdfunder link is this: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/community-roots-051963
Don't forget to leave your email address on the donation so that we can say thankyou.
No donation is too small.

04/02/2026

Just a wee reminder to anyone passing by the Community Roots Garden and wanting to look at the work that’s ongoing- please for your own safety don’t enter the garden via the main st or happy hills gates.
The gates will usually be locked but if f they are being used by the builders they may be unlocked.

We’ve also had people wandering through our neighbours gate and through their garden, which we are not happy about.

So for now please view the building work from a safe distance across the road.

We will be posting up photos soon with the progress to help with everyone’s curiosity and look forward to opening our gates and doors to you all soon.

Best wishes

Fi and the team

04/02/2026

No gardening today as we are at an event offsite today. We will be back next Monday 😊

03/02/2026

Here is what our volunteers have been busy with the last couple of weeks depite the cold January weather. Whilst building work continues in the Community Roots Garden we have been working around our polytunnel at our other Main Street site in West Kilbride.

10/01/2026

💚

Please speak up if you are struggling

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🤷🏻‍♀️It takes just a copy and a paste!

17/12/2025

What a bumper week for our volunteers! We have been waiting on our Community Roots Garden to quieten down a bit so that we could get back to work around the polytunnel site. Digging in ant-rodent protection around the perimeter with mesh and repurposed Victorian bricks that we had to hand. I think we might sow mixed clover into the mesh and brick work or creeping thyme. 🩷
There was lots of clearing up of the overgrown beds which have not been in use so that we can sow surplus onion and garlic sets into them from the main garden. The interior of the polytunnel was tidied up and we had a lot of fun!

And that was just Monday!
Today we had a splendid wee get together with lots of tasty food and were unusually indoors and nice and toasty! Some of our volunteers only come on specific days so this was their first time meeting up.

It was a wonderful wee afternoon!
To our volunteers - you rock! Thank you for a special year!

11/12/2025

You can help Community Roots WIN a £500 donation prize in easyfundraising's giveaway this week! Community Roots will get a FREE entry each time a new supporter signs up before the 14th December! It only takes a moment and it's completely free, so please get involved if you haven't already - this would really boost our 2025 fundraising:

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09/12/2025

🎉It’s official! We’ve excelled ourselves this year and moved up to Level 5 Outstanding in just the 3rd year of our Community Roots Garden being open! 🎉

Well done to all the team involved on the ground and in the background! This certainly is an “outstanding” achievement! 👏🙏

08/12/2025

https://www.ruralsprout.com/marigolds-in-the-vegetable-garden/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAOjwntleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeZ9KXaF6GM99uGJPG2C_A6bWNi5fWwuQUTsk365a4J6_dCN7wgSuoVlgGymQ_aem_9w-nB6e_Nz4KaGdFiGbg_w

French Marigolds (Tagetes patula) are an excellent plant to grow. They look lovely in planters, hanging baskets or ornamental beds or borders, but they can also be an excellent addition to your vegetable garden. In fact,