Mandala Garden Project

Aim

A fundraiser for a deer fence to help further develop and protect the Community Orchard and organic market garden, plus a composting toilet.

We aim to further develop and protect the Community Orchard and organic market garden. 

This fundraiser is for a deer fence and a simple compost toilet. 

www.mandalagarden.uk

The Mandala Garden Project, now in its 3rd year, is a mandala of activities, rooted in the principles of permaculture; Earth care, People care, Fair share, and Co-creation with Nature and Regenerative Agriculture.

The project is based on 4 acres of land, situated between Forres and Nairn, in the beautiful Scottish Highlands.

The heart of the Mandala is a small organic / biodynamic market garden, running a community supported agriculture scheme (CSA), the Mandala Garden crop share.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

CSA is a mutually supportive partnership between growers and consumers in which the risks and responsibilities are shared.

Most members of the crop share know the garden and the garden team well. Some even volunteer regularly. In return for committing to buy a regular share of the harvest, we are delighted to offer fresh, organic and biodynamic, high quality, local vegetables, fruits and herbs. It’s a pleasure that the CSA scheme makes it possible to offer all these for a very fair price. – so everyone benefits!

For the last two seasons Mandala garden has been growing and selling weekly produce boxes/shares. Currently, more than 30  local households benefit, and there is much demand for expansion of the scheme. Members of the crop share are also automatically members of the budding Community Orchard.

The founder of Mandala Garden Project, Ute Wegener, is a professional grower and landscape manager. Ute manages the project with the generous support of a small team of committed volunteers, a regular group of local volunteers, and WWoofers (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms).

Next season (2023) we aim to bring together a dedicated group of Community Orchard volunteers.

Community Orchard

The Community Orchard/woodland garden is another important part of the Mandala. This is a 1.5 acre field dedicated to growing fruit, as well as a space for people to work with nature co-creatively, meet, learn, share skills, share food, celebrate, meditate, create, and much more.

The intention is to develop this orchard space for many different uses. Connecting people and the land, working consciously with nature, sharing our gifts, skills and the harvest as well as caring for the land. A community orchard is created and managed by and for local people. Here, the orchard will be run and managed by volunteers and individuals receiving funding.

You are most welcome to be part of this important next step! Many hands and hearts will help the orchard flourish :)  Regular volunteering will start again in March 2023.

It would be great to have a compost toilet to make this place more welcoming and accessible for all volunteers, and to assist in hosting workshops and other gatherings here in the near future.

So, we are also fundraising for a simple, two-chamber compost toilet.

The Community Orchard so far

So far, simple infrastructure is in place; there is water, electricity, road access, and a large portacabin has been installed to serve as a kitchen, social/meeting space and orchard office.

A wild fruit hedge is planted around the orchard. The fruits planted so far include 30 blackcurrants, 26 red currants, logan berries, cultivated blackberries, seabuckthorn, 24 gooseberries, 6 jostaberries, and lots of cherry plums (60+). All are growing well!

A temporary high fence has been built to protect the apple tree nursery and fruit propagation area from the heavy grazing of deer. Now, more than 100 apple trees, grafted here, are waiting to be planted into the orchard. These will start fruiting in 3 years time and will continue to do so for about 40 years….unless they are destroyed by deer :/

A Real Challenge

The Mandala Garden Project wants to continue providing affordable, high quality produce to the community and grow an abundance of various fruits. As a contribution to food resilience in the area, share knowledge of growing food, processing food, champion local varieties and heritage, and introduce new ways and ideas.

We don’t mind sharing a bit with deer as well, but their share is a real & present challenge to the survival of the project. Their impact mainly on the young fruit trees and hedges really is debilitating.

There is a large deer population here, enjoying the woods, pastures and peace, all around Mandala Garden, as much as we do. Because deer like to eat vegetables too, additional cover has to be put on the veg beds, which adds to the costs, labour and carbon footprint.

To fence around the entire growing area, 500 new posts together with strainers, mesh, wire and gates are needed, plus digging equipment and labour. With the recent sharp rise in the cost of fencing materials, all that amounts to £18 per post.

Unfortunately, the Mandala Garden project is currently too small to be eligible for agricultural funding, the most obvious for such a project. We would need to own or rent an additional 3 acres (minimum).

Your support will help in so many ways:

● Help establish a supply of healthy, organic, affordable produce for people in our local area for years to come

● Build food resilience in the Nairn/Forres/Findhorn area

● Expand the ways that volunteers can connect with Nature here and learn skills. In the future, we hope this includes workshop participants and other groups benefiting from this place

With huge appreciation for all your support and enthusiasm for this project. 

Thank you for being part of this project with your donation!

This project successfully funded on 30th December 2022