Rhyze Mushrooms Moving Onto the Farm

We are welcoming Rhyze Mushrooms Co-op onto the farm this year as a Land Partner. This means veg bag scheme members and veg stall customers will be able to get Oyster mushrooms grown right here by Rhyze, and we will be able to work with the Rhyze team on soil health, composting and repurposing waste. We have already worked together to build a vermiculture composting system in the Market Garden – launched in April with a fun afternoon celebrating worms and soil health.

W.O.R.M.S Appreciation Day, photo by Lauren of Rhyze Mushrooms

Screening the Structures

Rhyze Mushrooms will have three portacabins, with a roof covered area, within the Market Garden fencing. These will be painted a neutral colour (edit: these are a mix of new cabins and the brightly painted ones at Fountainbridge, repainted). We will be adding bits of timber screening because we know all our structures stand out a bit at the moment – but this isn’t how the farm will look in a few years time. As regular farm visitors know, we have planted a lot of young saplings along the fence line, which will grow into a beautiful stand of trees and a hedge. As these mature and we feed the soil, the farm will become more nature-rich than it has been in years.

New Structures in the Community Garden and Allotments

On the Community Garden side of the farm, we are putting in a better shed for the Community Supported Agriculture members to collect their veg bags, plus a second composting toilet for the Allotment community. As with the Market Garden, the view will change again over the next few years thanks to the young saplings growing on the Allotment site, which will add interest and beauty, plus a huge increase to the food and shelter available for wildlife. Click here to read about our approach to wildlife and biodiversity at the farm.

Planning Technicalities

We submitted a Prior Approval application as a precaution for the new structures, but the Planning Department confirmed that these structures come under Permitted Developments for the farm, and do not require separate planning permission. There is a mistake on the map annotation on the council website, so we have made a corrected and, we hope, clearer map to show this year’s developments in the Market Garden – click here to see a PDF map of the Market Garden Structures for 2024.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Future Vision For the Farm

We know it’s hard to imagine what the farm will look like in 10 year’s time. Our plan is: beautiful and full of life! Although the farm has been a ‘green space’, it has not been a good habitat for wildlife for a long time. There was not enough food, shelter or water to support healthy ecosystems. And no food for people either. The work we are doing now will bring more and more life to the farm with every passing year. By this time in 2034, you should have had a huge springtime blossom show from all the fruit and nut trees. The woodland, hedgerows, wildflowers and grassland will be supporting a wider range of pollinators and mammals. You’ll see established ponds and waterways full of aquatic life. The farm buildings will be much less prominent amongst established trees and hedges. You’ll see rows and rows of more and different food crops, all farmed in nature-friendly ways.

Meanwhile, if you ever have any questions or concerns about developments at the farm, please get in touch. We are always happy to share more information and get your feedback.