In the latter part of 2015 artist Claire Briegel was selected by Fife Contemporary to undertake a residency with children at Methilhill Community Learning Garden’s outdoor youth group in Fife

Through a series of creative workshops and engagement, Claire and the children explored the garden’s ‘edible cycle’ of waste, growing, cooking and eating. Together they made mini transparent compost ‘bins’, so that they could watch the natural process of waste happening; they made waste plant dyes which were then used to create batik pickle, jam and ferment jar covers; they tried their hand at making fermentation from vegetables grown in the garden; they experimented with different spices, making imagery of the garden’s biodiversity including a fantastic turmeric bee; and finally they tried cooking and eating including clootie dumplings! A real engagement of all the senses!

The booklet gives a brief description of the point of the residency and then gives short recipes for some of the projects enjoyed by the children.  An introduction was written by Eva Schonveld of Common Good Food who gave useful advice during the residency.

Example of a transparent compost cup

Happy Turmeric Bee

Methilhill Edible Garden Booklet is now available here to download for free – and it hopefully will encourage others to explore food’s natural cycle from beginning to end too.

24pp including 4pp cover
Full colour
ISBN Number 978-1-907346-05-7

To view the booklet full screen, click the icon in the centre of the player below.