Town plants community vegetables

COMMUNITY vegetable patches are being created on publicly-owned land in a North Yorkshire market town to help ease the financial burden on a district council battling major cutbacks.

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Jul 2011, 09:21 BST

A pilot in Richmond is aiming to build on the success of trailblazing projects such as the Incredible Edible Todmorden scheme, which has established plots in the West Yorkshire town for the public to pick their own fruit and vegetables.

Richmondshire District Council has agreed an initial 12-month lease with a community group, TRY – Growing Food Together, to develop 12 plots ranging from a small herb garden outside a pizza takeaway to a six-acre site in a derelict orchard. The council agreed to hand over the sites as it attempts to make major savings to counter Government funding cuts. The community group’s founder, Sally Reckert, said: “It is amazing how many people do not know how their food is grown, and this is about trying to educate them as well as showing fruit and veg can be grown in a whole host of locations.”

More information is available from Mrs Reckert at [email protected] or on 01748 822640.