Springtime Garden Week on Erraid

Written by Elizabeth Montgomery, supported by videos of many Erraid Lovers

On Saturday, 22nd March the Isle of Erraid community welcomed their biggest group of people this year. The week has been an amazing collaboration between the Erraid community, the Findhorn Foundation SCIO, and the Dutch owners of the island, the Van Der Sluis family, and their friends. Amongst the 25 people who have come together to focus on our gardens, two participants were serendipitously booked in to come and turned out to be gardeners also, coming all the way from British Columbia, Canada! Mike works in creating vertical gardens, and Csaba has a passion for compost and wormeries! Watch this space as hopes to create our own wormery unfold!

To start off our week we invited our neighbours from the Isle of Mull to join us for a gardening party. We were blessed with beautiful sunshine as we walked through the gardens and listened to old stories, new gardening ideas – which we all wrote down into the beautiful books made by the Dutch group – and enjoyed cake and tea on the lawn.

We also have five past members join us who have many stories and knowledge to share. Hester Van Der Sluis lived in the community for a year and even got married here! She cares passionately about the community and our way of life here, keeping sheep and gardens herself back home in the Netherlands. She and her two good friends AnneMartien and Saar have been the driving force together with Magnus, our resident gardener, and Ash, the Findhorn Foundation gardener, for this focus week. 

Britta left the community almost ten years ago to live and work within the Findhorn Foundation. She's been taking and sharing many photos and videos, enticing you all to come visit us and join in. She adds a humourous, caring strength in all things community.

Hugh and Janet met on Erraid in the 80s and also got married while here. Some of us were weeding in the gardens while Ash taught us an Irish song with Scottish lyrics ‘O come by the hills’, when Hugh was passing by and started singing it to us. It turns out it was their wedding song! Janet has two prints for sale in our little shop of the old lighthouse keepers’ cottages we live in, and of goosey, our famous late resident goose, and some cards and postcards which she kindly donated!

Janet tells us about her time on Erraid in the 1980s.

Hugh speaks about his love for Erraid.

During tea break we sang ‘Come by the Hills’ a traditional song, we learned during weeding.

Amrita left the community three years ago to return to her home country the Netherlands and she has stayed friends with the Van Der Sluis family. Hester invited her to come and cook for us this week. What a real treat it's been to have such a creative chef prepare us such culinary delights! 

Amrita loves cooking delicious meals for the whole group of 25.

So much fun has been had and interesting conversations, not to mention how much has been achieved in such a short time. It's set us up for a bountiful growing season – I'm already looking forward to harvest time – and it's nourished our hearts and souls.

Some of the activities this week have included planting out our seedlings, weeding, clearing, gathering seaweed for mulching, which really feeds the soil and reduces weeds. The blackcurrants were given a lot of love – clearing, pruning, and transplanting more bushes. Borders around the beds have been defined, hedges pruned, fences maintained, everything has been neatened, cleared, and strengthened. We found a place in the back garden behind cottage 7 where deer were coming in to nibble the baby trees and Csaba and Mike built a new fence to protect them. More potatoes have been planted. Fallen roof tiles have been secured, wood split, kindling made, and chickens loved. Even our Chief Executive, Terry, has been able to take time away from the laptop and has done some woodworking – making cold frames and adjusting our new dining room tables!

The new deer fence to protect our baby trees, built by our participants Mike and Csaba.

The whole group helps to bring the seaweed onto our gardens. At times it felt like a dance …

Hear from Ash, Hester, and Magnus

This is what Ash, our Findhorn Foundation gardener; Magnus, our Erraid gardener; and Hester, passionate gardener, and part of the Dutch family who owns the island have to say about the gardening week. Instead of asking them to write some text – as we did in preparation for the week (LINK to last blog) – Britta asked them to tell us about their experience in short videos, as she was able to catch them live on the island.

On her last night on the island Ash (Findhorn Foundation Grounds and Gardens Lead) tells us how the garden week was for her.

Hester (one of the Dutch family who owns the island) tells us what the garden week was like for her.

Erraid’s resident gardener Magnus tells us about his garden week experience.

Hester and Magnus share a bit more about their joint experience.