Get Jed Fed

Get Jed Fed grew out of the Fallow Land project. I'm still figuring out why I did it. The only thing I ever did in horticulture was to grow cress at primary school. I think my real motivation was to challenge the use of public space which in Jedburgh had become challenging on many levels. There's a dubious and at times pernicious attitude to the ownership and uses of land, space and property in the Borders that comes in my view from the values of a Tory council and a landed aristocracy. I considered this to be an arts project, a socio-politically charged arts project, and as a lover of complexity and challenges the project I wasn't disappointed.

In Jedburgh you have pretty flowers which is nice but I always thought that community or guerrilla food growing could make a positive statement about a small town that challenged and defied the norms. I was proved to be correct. An initial conversation with food expert Charlotte Maberly convinced me that it was a worthwhile endeavour and the idea of an eventual demonstration garden kept me motivated. 

As things developed I had at one point over a dozen partners in the town or wider region offering help and advice alongside good community engagement, most significantly from the school and the horticultural students. Now that it's up and running I think it will continue. A few robust 'conversations' have cleared away most of the die-hard objectors to the project. Keep an eye out for updates.