Friday, October 10, 2008


The Highlands Food & Drink Awards


We won the Innovation Award... well done team!


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Reporting Scotland

We have also been featured on Reporting Scotland recently.... have a look at this link. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/scotland_video_and_audio/7427950.stm

Smoothies for sale



Ali Sloggie and Tyler MacKenzie...IHS's very own celebrity chefs!





Lauren, Eyah and Tyler selling our smoothies at Dalneigh Community Centre

Shop in the Victorian Market



Early June saw us starting our shop in the Victorian Market in the middle of Inverness

TRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visit our farm

The REAL social enterprise received a very real boost to its profile with the visit of TRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in early June. The weather forecast was the rain, rain and more rain; but things dried off for the whole visit. Fantastic!

Their Royal Highness' spent 35 minutes inspecting the farm site, talking to pupils at various locations as they progressed around.

Cara and Emma before the event looking relaxed!

Cara and Emma explaining aspects of the polytunnel!



Prince Charles having received a hamper of local produce



The Duchess of Cornwall loved the smoothies and came back for a second sample!

Prince Charles just before he left for his next engagement

Friday, May 23, 2008

Eilidh and Jennifer working away at preparing a bed for planting.
Central Primary School P7 class getting involved in planting and growing their own potatoes

New shops; new workers










May was really hectic for us with us starting up shops in Raigmore Hospital and new village markets at Strathpeffer, Culbokie and Evanton.



We have been running a grow school over the summer with Doug Patterson and Sue Mullins from Highland Liliums taking a number a number of people through the basics of how to grow your own vegetables.


New growth in the new season

Monday, April 7, 2008


The team pic...


Exploring the properties of water at close quarters

Our team of valiant workers have a training day....


Laura going over the top


Yogi rolling along...


Lauren excelling at Apehanger



Jimmy concentrating


Jennifer casually hanging above a 20m drop!!

More building....


Polytunnel No3 is up and running, with a built in teaching area as well. Spot the gardeners!



We also had the REAL Board around viewing the progress. Iain is explaining carefully how things are developing in the polytunnel.

New shoots of spring...






Speaking at the start of April, we are experiencing northerly winds and a rapidly changing dose of showery snow flurries.... but safe within the polytunnel, things are beginning to turn.... endives, mustard greens and in the propagation beds we are seeing peas, broad beans and tomatoes coming through.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Progress over the last few months

And he asked for time off for a honeymoon!



Eric, one of our key workers got married in February..... he keeps muttering 'my wife and I' all the time. Alison is her name by the way!


Team REAL



Also since January, we have been training up a group of youngsters to work on our shops.... they have been meeting after school on Thursdays and looking at areas of work such as how the shop works, product history, displaying goods, dealing with money, working with customers, health and hygiene and understanding the ethos of REAL. There are also some going through their cycle proficiency so that they can work for us delivering orders on bikes to houses immediately around the school.
VILLAGE MARKETS




Since September, the marketing side of REAL Organics has really developed and pupils are learning all about the retail side of things. Under the banner of REAL Food we have been working with a primary school-based ‘village market’, setting up for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. We have piloted this at Kirkhill, but are presently looking to replicate the idea in four other locations across the area. And we seem to be pushing at open doors; local people really want a real alternative when it comes to buying their food.

The scale of this is developing all the time, and pupils are also buying in other products to sell alongside the farm goods to offer a good choice of fresh local food. During the winter, when our farm is not producing so much, we take in wholesale vegetables from other producers, striking a balance between market regularity, choice and customer satisfaction. Other local businesses are encouraged to join us and we regularly have Les Bates and David Hendry selling their garden and gift based produce as well as Mary Croak with her tablet.

The market is very much to the advantage of the school and is enthusiastically supported by the headteacher at Kirkhill, Cris Ford. It allows the school pupils to develop their enterprise and eco-school credentials as well as offering a platform for relaxed interaction with parents and with the community in general. The workforce would be drawn from local adults, local volunteer primary aged pupils and IHS pupils.





CHRISTMAS

Here is the team enjoying our Christmas lunch together



SELLING IN DALNEIGH






Just after Christmas, we have been running a wee stall at the James Cameron Community Centre in Dalneigh. Jennifer, who is with us through Project Scotland, runs the stall ably assisted by Kitty, a local volunteer. It has turned out to be a real hit...with the Cromarty bread and free range eggs disappearing like snow off a dyke!