Livingston Shed.

Livingston Shed has developed a close link with Cedarbank School. Both were successful in bidding for the Eco Development Fund and the shedders designed their application to incorporate the school’s existing work visits to the community garden at Carmondean centre. Cedarbank, which specialises in additional support provision, has been bringing pupils to the shed since last summer. 

These sessions have now been developed further into a collaboration with SilviBio. The company is also based in Livingston, founded in 2019 to explore scientific mitigations for climate change. 

The shedders, SilviBio and the school are undertaking a trial using a peat-free growing medium at the garden. The potting blocks will be sown with tomatoes, lettuce, flowers, willow trees, courgettes, beans, spinach, chard and peas. The third EDF has helped to fund the greenhouse and other equipment. Pupils will help the shedders look after the young plants, and feed results is fed back to SilviBio. 

The three partners are organising the completion of the greenhouse and polytunnel to grow the test blocks. The shed will also help SilviBio to carry out some trials on fertilisers. Cedarbank students will also get to make their own blocks from the growing media and learn about why it is made peat-free.

“The collaboration is of interest to the shedders from a gardening viewpoint, plus linking up with the school develops the shed as a source of education and community research.”

A new low-water-content peat-free growing medium is an exciting development. The potting soil is made from agricultural materials from the local bioeconomy, and a patent has been filed. The ingredients are all processed at SilviBio’s facility in Livingston. 

The benefits to the community will be the successful completion of a year-long plant-based project which will provide plants and trees for free distribution among the community. It will also further develop the skills of pupils by working alongside older shedders.

The greenhouse’s foundations have been laid and the structure is about to go up. The current rural skills class pupils will start the growing trial off and it will be carried on by the new class at the start of the new school timetable. 

Updates will follow.