The Sanctuary Garden

13 new rescue hens from the British Hen Welfare Trust join our existing pair. They are settling in and it will take a while before they get used to freedom and the outside world. They should also be back to laying eggs soon as the move is rather stressful.

We’re feeding them organic henfood, it’s good for them and makes the eggs taste great. It does cost £27 a bag compared to the standard feed which is less than £15.

Their henrun is great for chickens but no so good for people, to get in and out. We’re looking for funding to get a new hen house. These houses have roll-away nesting boxes so the hens have difficulty eating their own eggs. It’s a real problem, at one point I had about 40 hens and was collecting about 5 eggs a day instead of 35… These henhouses are also much easier to clean and maintain, stand up in and just generally better designed. The current hen house was built in a rush because a storm trashed the previous houses, no hens were hurt, just a little bit wet and unhappy.

The community garden tattie planting event had three community gardens, Touch, Baldridgeburn and Crossford Allotments. We all planted in the 7m x7m bed with the seed potatoes pushed into the earth enriched with compost and finally covered with straw. The straw will keep out the light, keep down weeds and provide some nutrients allowing a no-dig harvest in the autumn. The harvest will be shared with all those involved taking home a share and the excess clamped ready for use through out the winter.

As a staple, potatoes are very popular but take up lots of space. The idea was to utilise space we have at The Sanctuary Garden and allow the smaller community gardens to grow other ‘higher maintenance vegetables while we waited for the autumn harvest.

Welcome to the social experiment

The volunteers have done it; designed and built a polytunnel using poly-pipe and timber. A remarkable and satisfying feat! Next is irrigation and ventlation. Oh yes, and we’ll need to plant some tomatoes.

The polytunnel shelves are made by cutting a pallet into two; a brilliant and copyrighted design.

BEGINNERS VEGETABLE GROWING WORKSHOP BOOK HERE
SESSION 1 (Wed 13 May/Sat 16 May)  +   SESSION 2 (Wed 20 May / Sat 23 May)

Turn curiosity into confidence with this friendly, hands-on 2-session beginners gardening course designed to demystify growing your own plants—from seed to thriving seedlings.

In this practical and engaging course, you’ll learn not just what to do, but why it works, giving you the confidence to experiment and succeed at home.

Across the two sessions, we’ll guide you through the essential building blocks of gardening. You’ll discover how to choose what to plant at the right time of year, test and store seeds, and understand the fascinating science behind germination—what actually triggers a seed to sprout and how to give it the best possible start.

We’ll explore the world beneath your plants too, breaking down composts, soils, and growing mediums in a simple, practical way. You’ll learn the pros and cons of different options (including peat-free alternatives), how to improve your soil, and what additives like perlite or vermiculite really do. By the end, you’ll know how to choose the right growing medium with confidence.

You’ll get hands-on experience sowing seeds, choosing the right pots and trays, and learning how to avoid common beginner mistakes like transplant shock, root-bound plants, or “leggy” seedlings. We’ll show you how to water effectively, feed young plants safely, and prevent issues like damping off—so your seedlings grow strong and healthy.

In the second session, we build on your progress. You’ll transplant seedlings and learn how to pot them on, handle them properly, and troubleshoot any problems. We’ll also introduce simple and rewarding propagation techniques—from cuttings and runners to division and layering—so you can multiply your plants for free.

Beyond the basics, the course opens up bigger ideas in an accessible way: how to save seeds, the difference between F1 hybrids and heirloom varieties, and how small growing choices can impact biodiversity and sustainability.

This course is perfect for complete beginners or anyone who has struggled to get seeds to grow and wants a clearer, more confident approach. Expect a relaxed, supportive environment with plenty of practical demonstrations, simple experiments, and take-home tips you can use straight away.

By the end, you won’t just have planted seeds—you’ll understand how to grow🌱

The Sanctuary Garden now has water!

Thank you to The Stafford Trust for the funding, our neighbours for installing the pipework and the volunteers for their input and ideas. We will be adding rainwater harvesting and use that as our primary water supply as rainwater is significantly benefits growth.

The three raised beds are now complete at Dunmore Nursery School in Ballingry. We’ve donated our seedlings to jump start their growing season. The Sanctuary Garden will continue to supply seedlings to the nursery school throughout the year.

Wow! We are truly grateful for the time and effort our volunteers are contributing to the garden. March is slightly skewed because we’ve been working almost every day erecting the new polytunnel and it’s nearly ready. There has been significant progress made tidying up, planting seeds, potting on and planting out.

A volunteer said “I leave here feeling better than I arrived”

Most volunteers treat volunteering as another ‘job’ and feel they must work hard and commit to every week. We are fortunate to have this natural space for volunteers to enjoy and it’s not all about ‘sweat on your brow’, it’s about enjoying your time outside, away from technology, building a community and not feeling you ‘must’ do anything. It’s also about making it fit your schedule, and that obviously means you will miss sessions to do other things.

Our aim at The Sanctuary Garden is that all volunteers leave feeling better than when they arrived.

Join us on Monday and Thursday 10-1pm

Muircockhall Farm, Killiebone Road, Dunfermline, KY12 0TQ – there is a pin on google maps.

Bring the Brood brought families into Inverkeithing High School for a 2 hour session, one hour cooking and another hour of physical activities and/or craft sessions. There was no typical family, and a wide age range of children from toddlers to teens and typically 16 families attending each event, who were split into two groups.

The Sanctuary Garden led in the kitchen with different recipes each week that could be prepared and cooked within an hour in the school kitchen.

This project has had a significant impact and thanks go to the entire team at Fife Council and CLD who were able to offer a safe space for adults and children to have fun, learn and meet people. The unexepected results are at the bottom of the page.

The comments below were unexpected and significant!

Using Airtable, we are able to check how many seeds were planted last year compared to this year. It is remarkable that we have planted 3000 seeds in 2026 so far, and 3100 during the same time in 2025. I just imagined that we were behind the curve.

The DIY germination chamber (GC) is a game changer and there are various options used by market gardeners; both Pillars of Hercules and East Neuk Market Garden use a tall fridge with a slow cooker in the bottom shelf, controlled by a reptile thermostat that keeps the inside of the fridge at a constant temperature. Fridges and freezers are a well insulated cupboards, and we’re using them to keep the heat in.

The Sanctuary Garden version is an undercounter fridge with an ST1000 controller and a 60w heating element  and it’s been set to 22.5^oC. Obviously there is no light inside the fridge so it’s really important to put the seedlings under light as soon as most of them have emerged or you end up with very, very leggy seedlings. We’ve had a few failures with overly long stemmed seedlings.

The germination rate using this germination chamber (GC) is remarkable. Using heating cables beneath sand, I remember being disappointed by how few chilli and aubergines germinated last year. In the GC, the germination rate is about 75% which is great for any seed in ideal conditions. This is particularly important when you buy seed packets with a stingy 5 or 6 seeds enclosed. I’ve noticed seeds from Europe are very generous compared to seeds from the UK, especially from the big names.

This year, we have the significant advantage of a grow-tent, grow-lights and heat. helping our seedlings. The tomatoes now have their first real leaves and have been pricked out into bigger pots.

We’re lead to believe that lighting is ‘complicated’ or at least the marketing and internet forums make it look complicated quoting UV, infrared, red, blue and daylight with conflicting views. At the cheap end, LED growlights are completely useless unless you are growing one seedling.

These are my empirical findings: use a warm white LED bulb, 150w in old money, and have it on a timer so it’s on for 18 hours and off for 6. ‘Daylight’ LED bulbs are great for established plants and ‘blue’ light will make seedlings leggy. In a local general store 4x 150w warm white bulbs and 4 pendants cost £30 and 2 bulbs are hung per shelf 89cmx 50cm (IVAR from IKEA) filled with seedling trays. We could probably use just one blub. By the equinox where the days and nights are equal – not the meteorological spring (seriously who made that up) you can put the seedlings outside as there is enough light for them to not become leggy. (with heat and frost protection.)

Keeping seeds in a dry, cool and dark place is critical to their viability. A photo organiser (6″x4″) is a perfect option.

Our wormeries have tiger worms and manure, the composting toilet has yet to be delivered. They are all funded by Fife Climate Hub.
We have been donated woodchip from Crawford Tree Surgery that will be share with community gardens and used in our garden for pathways.
As part of the Mental Health and Wellbeing fund from FVA, lots of the 2700 seeds planted are starting to germinate. Our target is to donate 10,000 to the local community!

Three raised beds have been installed at Dunmore Nursery in Ballingry by volunteers at The Sanctuary Garden. These beds will be filled with compost and a regular supply of seedlings will be provided for the children to plant in the next month or so.

Following a visit to “Keeping the plot” flower garden in East Neuk, a dead hedge has been installed by volunteers to act as an eco windbreak, slowing down the wind and promoting growth while providing a home for insects, birds and bees.

20 Cubes of Mushroom compost has been delivered. We’re planting seeds in snail rolls that take up significantly less space than trays.

We have beds and it feels like a garden again.

Thank you to our volunteers who are making The Sanctuary Garden come alive.