Last night a public meeting was held at Ramsbottom library headed by Lynn Leyland-Mather to get ‘Rammy’s Big Dig’ underway. With the waiting list for allotments longer than an MP’s expense claim her vision is to increase the volume of local produce grown in the town. Who knows, maybe one day Ramsbottom will become self sufficient. There was no doubting the interest in the project with a large number of residents descending on Carr Street.

Nick Green from ‘Incredible Edible’ was on hand to impart his knowledge and experience from their hugely successful and well publicised scheme just up the road in Todmorden. You could be forgiven for thinking that Lynn had mistakenly booked ‘A Night with Rory McGrath’ as Nick entered the room but there was nothing light-hearted about his truly infectious passion for the project. Driven by Pam Warhurst ‘Incredible Edible’ has been running for two years with the ambitious target of making Todmorden completely self-sufficient within 10 years. Every nook and cranny is used to plant all sorts of weird and wonderful fruit and veg for the community to enjoy – even disused plots of land are turned into horticultural havens thanks to a spot of Guerilla Gardening. Exciting eh?

Their success to-date has been achieved through 3 main criteria:

1. Convincing individuals about the merits of the project
2. Educating folk about gardening
3. Marketing and promoting the project

For more information about ‘Incredible Edible’ visit www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk

What they have achieved in Todmorden is fantastic and with a little bit of elbow grease and a healthy dollop of community spirit there is no reason why we can’t achieve something similar in Ramsbottom.

In the coming weeks Lynn will be calling a more extensive follow-up meeting. Details of this will be posted on the site so keep an eye out. In the meantime she is asking for volunteers to form a core group in order to drive the project forward. Please contact Lynn by emailing leylandlynn@phonecoop.coop if you would like to be part of this group. Whether you want to grow local food or just eat it please share your ideas, skills and resources below. You don’t have to be a gardener!

Clare Westhead looks at plans for a new community vegetable patch…

Veg. When I was growing up in the seventies it was the overcooked mush you tried to hide under your mash on a Sunday. Tinned if you were normal, frozen if you were posh, it wasn’t fun, and it certainly wasn’t trendy.

Of course it’s all different now. The surveys came out revealing our kids thought carrots grew on trees and hens laid courgettes. Celebrity chefs took up the mantle, and hey presto – vegetables have had a brand re-launch. Growing greens is where it’s at.

And that’s where Lynn Leyland-Mather comes in. She is spearheading a plan to get the whole of Ramsbottom growing our own. We‘re not just talking about the odd tomato here. Lynn has big ideas for a community gardening project.

‘I was totally inspired by a trip over to Todmorden where every part of the town is used for growing fruit and vegetables’, she tells me. ‘Even the flower beds have been converted to grow artichokes, and there’s fruit being grown all over the place. The locals there are allowed to help themselves. It’s a great community thing.‘

Lynn is keen to bring the same idea to Ramsbottom, starting with a local patch and building momentum from there. What she needs from us is ideas. Where would we put a garden like this? How many people might be willing to help look after it?

‘It’s about working together to find the spaces to grow more,’ she says. ‘I’ve been offered a small plot in Nuttall Park for herbs, but we need more and we need to be creative. Who knows? One day I’d like to see fruit trees in Nuttall Park and vegetables growing in the ornamental beds!’

But that’s the dream. Before Lynn gets to swap the pansies for potatoes and fill Rammy’s famous urn with onions she needs your help getting started. There’s a public meeting in the library on February 23rd at 6.30pm. She wants us to get our thinking caps on, scope out some spaces to grow, and put plans together for how we can all make a community fruit and vegetable patch work. So come on – turn up, put your back into it, and perhaps we can create a community project that’ll not only keep us fit and put us on the map, but taste pretty good as well.