SUMMER: COMMUNITY & ABUDANCE
Juicy tomatoes, gluts of courgettes, glowing sunsets and luscious meadows - it’s no secret that summer is the season of abundance. The natural world comes alive and long awaited produce fills our plates. When the Scottish sun shows its face there’s an unmistakable spring in everyone’s step and smiles are passed around. Familiar smells of barbeques, pollen in the air and the aromatics of our tomato jungle tell us that summer is here. There are so many things that make summer great. But this year, for us, one of the most significant things that summer has brought to the farm has been a sense of community.
We have had more people on the farm this year than any of our previous 2 summers and it has given us such a boost in enthusiasm, purpose and meaning. We have had visits from Dunkeld Primary School, workshops with the Landworkers Alliance, monthly volunteer mornings, positive conversations with customers at the farmstand and of course, to top it all off - Soil to Slice with our favourite pizza pals. A big part of what we believe in is that food and farming should be at the heart of our communities. Small, local farms like ours play a role in providing a space for people connect with the land, to see, feel, smell food at its source and to meet the people who work hard to produce it. We believe the more we can rebuild our connection to food, the more we can reconnect with ourselves, our health, our community and our planet. We are so grateful to have a space to facilitate this. Everytime we welcome people to the farm we get new ideas about what is possible and more inspiration for the future direction of the farm.
WHATS BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM?
TEAM TROCHRY
This year we have had a few extra hands on the farm which has given us a boost in productivity and a sense of team spirit – Evy and Jenna have both joined us part time this season and have been a wonderful addition to the Trochry Team.
Evy
Evy worked with us in 2023 and has come back on the farm this summer. A yoga teacher who brings unshakable positivity and her yogi strength to the farm. Although Evy doesn’t have a background in growing, she has a passion for food and nutrition – much like Iain, so there’s always plenty to talk about. She often brings Mini Cupar, her tiny hairy sidekick (dog).
Jenna
Jenna joined the team this summer after gaining an interest in growing veg at her Perth allotment. She just finished training in horticulture and has now turned to a career in gardening/growing. A seasoned entrepreneur and jewellery maker, she’s definitely helped us to be more organised and tidier in the field! She always brings her enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.
BERRIES
As well as the orchard that we planted this winter - we now have over 100 berry bushes on the farm, including honeyberries, blueberries, josta berries, Aronia berries, gooseberries, redcurrants, whitecurrants & blackcurrants. Interplanting these between our the trees in our orchard, we hope to create more diversity on the farm. They have benefited from a wet summer as regular watering is required to establish strong, healthy plants. It will be a few years before we get a good yield but it will be worth the wait.
FARMSTAND & FARMERS MARKETS
The farmstand has been as busy as ever this summer. We love bumping into customers and really appreciate all the positive feedback. As always we would like to keep it full as much as possible but for now we fill it to the brim on a Tuesday and Friday morning by 11am. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
Summer markets at Aberfeldy and Guardswell Farm are a highlight for us. We always appreciate the return customers who fill their bags with our produce and there is never a market that goes by where we don’t meet new people and have interesting conversations. August and September are some of our most abundant months in terms of produce so come find us at one of our favourite markets.
SOIL TO SLICE
We have had 2 amazing Soil to Slice events this year – both with over 150 people over the course of each day. We love having our friends from Luigis pizzeria on the farm and it gives us a chance to use the space with its current facilities whilst we dream up ways of improving things in the future. A particular highlight at the July event was the music provided by Jamie Kunka, from Lonely Mountain Skis, and his bespoke Birnam Beavers Soundsystem. Thank you Jamie.
