General
Kemfest information event: Greener Kemnay will be at the Kemfest information event at Kemnay Village Hall on 17th May from 10:00am-2:00pm. All the groups attending would be happy to hear your thoughts and you can join in their activities.
Bird Song walk: This is a Kemfest bird song walk on 10th May from 9:00am to 10:30am, this is starting from the Community Garden, meeting Jenny Spratt there.
Community Garden
Polytunnel: We have now replaced the polytunnel that was damaged last winter. We replaced it with a different type and hopefully the snow will not build up on the new tunnel. This was put up with the help of Kemnay Men Shed which sped up the process and it is looking good.
Trail Camera: We have purchased a camera trap with help of funds from The John Adam Trust this has been set up in the woodland adjacent to the community garden and we look forward to seeing what is recorded.
Community Garden Work party: We have a work party next weekend on 9th May, we are really needing your help and if you could give us some time between 10:00am – 12:30pm we would be grateful. We are looking to get the fence repaired and ready for painting. We also need to do work on the path, weeding it and cutting back the vegetation from the paths. Along with this we need to get the polytunnel ready to plant.
Energy Group
Course: The Energy group are developing workshops for the village, to help people to retrofit energy saving measures into their homes. At the moment they are looking for ways of funding these.
Just Transition get together: 30th May from 10:00am to 4:00pm at Kemnay Village Hall Friendship room. Last May’s session was very enjoyable with lots of ideas put forward on what the future should look like for Kemnay and its residents. The setting up of a charity and working towards a development trust for Kemnay is included in the day. Cuppas and Lunch provided by the organiser NESCAN.
Paths Group
Place of Origin work party: There was a poor turnout to our last month’s work party, we did manage to get 10 bird boxes and 2 squirrel feeders up around the site. We also manage to tackle some of the growth around stone circles by the car park, there is still more to do and hopefully this can be done next time.
Trail Camera: Monymusk Thrift shop has given us money for the purchase of two trail cameras for the Place of Origin, we are hoping to place these on the squirrel feeders and look forward to seeing the results.
Kemfest at Place of Origin: Saturday 16th May between 1:30pm – 3:30pm, meet at Fyffe Car Park for activities around the Place of Origin and discover more of the place.
See the Email below for a course that may be of interest.
Hello Birley Bush Community Garden,
I hope you’re well.
I’m reaching out because I’d really like to open a connection between our projects.
We’re developing an 8-acre community land project just the other side of Craigearn, alongside a wider GrowFree learning community. This is a site we bought alongside Lorna Forsyth and she suggested that if I get this email to you today you might be able to discuss it at your meeting tomorrow.
There are similarities with what you are doing, and yet our projects are also quite different — both volunteer-led, rooted in local people, shaped by care, and also connected outward through the work you do.
There’s something really important in these kinds of spaces, and I have a sense we could learn from each other and potentially support each other over time.
Together in Nature – May Immersion (15–16 May)As part of what we’re doing, we’ve been developing something called Together in Nature — simple, experiential learning outdoors that explores how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
It’s not formal training or classroom learning. It’s more of a shared, practical space where we explore things like:
· how we stay resourced when we’re holding a lot for others
· how we notice and work with our own nervous system in real time
· how connection and attunement show up in everyday human interaction
· and how being in nature can support all of this in very direct ways
We have a couple of other similar projects joining, and I would like to offer a guest place for our May 2-day immersion – Friday 15th & Saturday 16th – to a member of the Birley Bush Team as you are so local to us.
It feels particularly relevant for people working in community gardens or similar spaces, where so much of the work is relational, informal, and often quietly held.
An invitationIf it feels of interest, I’d love to offer a place for someone from your team or volunteer group to come along in May.
It would simply be a chance to:
· experience the work
· see if it has any relevance for your context
· and begin to get to know each other a little, with no expectations beyond that
From there, there could be the beginning of some useful connection between our projects.
You can read more here:
https://www.grow-free.com/TinN2026The group will be a mix of people from different community and care-based contexts.
If someone can make it, rather than go through the booking page above, they can use this participation form, or I’m also very happy just to have a quick chat or hear your thoughts.