New Eco Site ( Polytunnels)

The new site situated at Hailstone Green Park. opened its doors in 2015
This site is considerably larger than the old one, with more raised beds for growing plants, and a new office area with kitchen unit, and toilet facilities. New raised beds have been built, including some that are suitable for wheelchair users. 
We would like to express our thanks to all who have helped fund and work on this project. We are also keen to attract new volunteers to assist at the polytunnnel, if you are interested in doings so, please contact us via the website,
The site has been funded from several sources  to install five composting bins at the Eco-Site; the group aim to maintain the beauty of the area through green initiatives, ranging from collecting rainwater for the plants to using our seventeen solar panels for power, light and heat on the eco-site; recognises the positive impact the eco-site has on the local community by encouraging residents to maintain their own raised beds, and their continued involvement in a food co-op which sees freshly grown produce provided to the local foodbank and elderly; and further notes the increase of young families using the site over the past year and the educational benefits of learning about nutrition and the environment as communities attempt to tackle climate change. 

Forth eco site is completely community run, we consult the village in any projects we are carrying out within and outwith the site to ask for everyone's opinions on them. We are a fully inclusive site,our members and volunteers cover a wide range including those with mental health issues, the vulnerable and others excluded from school etc. We welcome everyone and turn no one away. We are situated in a deprived rural area, so the community enjoy getting involved on or off site. The primary school have recently built their own poly tunnel but prior to this they were regular visitors at the site learning about growing and looking after plants and vegetables. We are in close contact, giving them advice when needed and also sharing surplus gardening equipment and plants. We have a range of young to elderly members of the community who pop into the tunnels asking for our advice and help and we are always happy to accommodate them.

We also supplied growing kits to kids who were shielding during the start of the pandemic, which led to them being handed out within the community as well. We are in the process of building new compost bays to help encourage as many of our residents to make their own, which will help with environmental issues. We will be doing a few classes to show them the process. Our members have recently transformed a few area's of the village that were run down and neglected, along with members of the elderly community.

In 2022 the flower planters were all painted and the full area weeded, also planters in Sunnybrae were cleaned up and planted with flowers to make the view much nicer for the residents. The gateway areas into Forth were also given a tidy up. We also supplied our local food bank and community with produce grown on site. Our local butchers also took produce and handed it out to the community (which is helping reach a wider section of our residents.) 

We also got our street planters out which made the main street much brighter. We have planters across from Bank Hall, with pick your own herbs which has proven to be a great success. We also planted bee and butterfly friendly plants.

Our site is totally off the grid, we harvest the rain water to use on our plants and vegetables, in 2021, we purchased two 10,000 litre water tanks for the site, these will hopefully help in the years ahead as we are finding that during the longer hot weather in the summer we are struggling to have enough rain water to meet the demand of watering all the thirsty plants.  We also use solar panels to generate our power.

We make our own compost on site using only green waste and we encourage bed holders and members of the community to do the same and to cut out travelling to the shop and buying it, this has been a huge success and many more people are making their own compost at home. We are trying to create a natural meadow along our fence lines to help bring more insects into the area with plenty of pollunators to help the bees. 

This is a work in progress at the moment. Our site doesn't have any bins so any waste needs to be taken home and recycled, we only allow green waste on site for our compost bays.

We have 26 beds situated outside including 1 disabled bed and we have 20 indoor beds.
 We also have 5 outside beds & 3 inside which we use to grow for the local food bank.

There is currently a waiting list for raised beds, if you are interested in putting your name on the list, please contact us .