Organised by RHC Fuggo King, the North Scotland gathering took place on 16th September. Hosts came from Skye, Aberdeen, Ross-shire, Moray and Inverness-shire to celebrate, share stories and socialise. Fuggo describes the day.
With WWOOFers and host families we were about twenty gathered at The Natural Vegetable Company near Inverness. Host Maggie Sutherland runs a successful veg box scheme as well as supplying salads pretty much all year round to local restaurants. Her husband Neil also runs a flourishing award-winning business on the same site and they and their sons live in a beautiful timber frame eco house in a sheltered glen near Loch Ness.
They welcomed us with warmth and humour, much needed due to the torrential downpours in the morning. However by the time everyone arrived and was ready for the tour of the farm the sky was blue and a chill sun shone on us.
‘It was a very nice gathering at Maggie’s and we both really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to see what she is doing with her veggie box scheme and what a lot of time and effort she has put it to make such a successful enterprise. Hearing her ideas and experiments for growing and exchanging views made it a perfect event. The barbecue food was delicious too!’ said Christine and Alasdair from Skye, who made a fantastic effort to attend and also entertained us with music. In fact some of the WWOOFers also sang and played guitar, so a bit of a singalong occurred.
We had a bonfire in a wheelbarrow, beetroot burgers (as well as the meaty variety) and lots of shared stories, so that we all came away inspired and encouraged to keep on; whether we have small businesses or simply grow for friends and family.
It was also really nice to meet people who I only usually contact via phone and email. Thanks to all who made it a fun evening; with the hardy staying up into the small hours and then camping.
