The garden opens on to St. Ives Bay. Centrally it is tiered on three levels. To the left is a wooded area with a narrow path that leads down the valley and joins other public paths to the beach and the coastpath, while to the right there is a previous ornamental garden, a former pond and well-situated walled greenhouse whose glass unfortunately fell in many years ago.
It is planned to develop the central section as a growing area and to restore and consolidate the characters of the other section while also developing their potential to provide edible produce. Permaculture principle will be used throughout.
Over the next months the aim is to build a group of 5-10 local people who are using the land for growing. The produce can be distributed amongst them and surpluses passed on to those on or below the food-poverty line in the area. Through shared activities and the multi-faceted social nature of the project this represents far more than a traditional allotment structure and will offer a richer benefit for the participants than just the food produced.
There is also space and need for a residential gardener to participate in the growing and the shaping and development of all areas of the land in exchange for accomodation and a share of the produce.
The whole will be overseen by a team of locals, working with the growers and the gardener to manage and develop the project. There are also (already) plenty of opportunities for volunteering, in regular morning sessions or organised around particular projects, for example building a compost toilet, an outdoor kitchen, rebuilding the original greenhouse…
The varied character of the different areas of the land means that in addition to the growing areas, spaces can be created that meet needs of groups from the local community to experience and benefit from relationship to nature in a sheltered and wholesome environment.