Beyond the boundary walls of the PGR Garden – belonging and connection

By Paola Alarcon Lopez, Research Culture Intern PGR Communities.

Paola is part of the UofG Research Culture team, leading projects that include the PGR Garden, PGR Bookshelf, and PGR Walking Group. She is also in the first year of her PhD in the School of Law, researching the role of financial law in the modern microfinance industry from a feminist jurisprudence and economics perspective.

There is no doubt that gardening contributes positively to the environment and the sustainability of our planet. Plants and trees purify the air, and capture noise pollution. Green spaces encourage pollinators (bees, birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, and small mammals), which boost biodiversity and food supply. Trying to grow your own food and composting your waste goes a long way towards preventing climate change.

In personal terms, gardening also improves our well-being, that is, it makes us feel happier.Watching the transformation of tiny seeds into robust and healthy plants is very rewarding. Additionally, the joy of harvesting and enjoying fresh fennel, peas, apples, and blackberries straight from the garden while figuring out what the garden needs, is truly satisfying. Moreover, witnessing the stunning colors of new flowers blooming is a priceless feeling. All these benefits have driven various university gardening groups at Glasgow, under our sustainability strategy, but the PGR Garden has become something more.

What is the PGR Garden and where can you find it?

The PGR Garden Community is a vibrant community that meets at Viewfield Lane Gardens on Wednesday afternoons for two hours throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn months. During this time, we share all kinds of things with each other. Our conversations cover a wide range of topics, from discussing our favorite plants and corners of the garden to exchanging experiences related to our PhD life. We address aspects like our interactions with supervisors and peers, as well as the various challenges we encounter in our studies. These diverse dialogues create an enriching environment where we support and learn from one another. The PGR community is very lively, friendly, fun, inclusive, and supportive.

This summer, after a gardening session, we gathered to bake a fruit crumble with apples and blackberries from the garden – literally allowing ourselves the opportunity to feast on the fruits of our efforts as we connected in a social space outwith our regular Viewfield Lane Gardens.

In addition, the garden community has supported and contributed to two fantastic PGR-led projects this year: we helped to run an ‘Engaging with the natural environment’ session as part of the James McCune Smith Scholars Conference and a ‘Creative Writing and Floral Landscape’ session as part of the Decolonial Feminist Ecologies training programme. In essence, the influence and dynamics of the community have genuinely and naturally expanded beyond the physical boundaries of the garden.

Finding belonging at UofG

Since May 2023, I have been facilitating the PGR Garden’s weekly meetings, which I describe as a co-creation space. It is a place where members with varying levels of gardening expertise come together to collaboratively plan and execute activities that bring fulfillment to everyone involved. Recently, new members of our community have asked me why I have committed to hosting a weekly gardening session and what motivates me to do so.

From the moment I knew this project existed, I wanted to be a part of it. Although I was not sure what was driving me to commit myself to the garden community, I simply knew it was something I wanted to pursue, despite my limited experience in gardening and even less familiarity with Scotland. I soon discovered the need I felt to be in touch with the earth and nature, and I connected this feeling with my search for a space of relaxation and well-being. However, during one of our sessions, I realised that I was looking to get in touch with my roots and feel part of the territory. After all, nature connects us to that place where we feel we belong.

I soon realized that this feeling resonates with other garden members as well. I noticed that we were sharing about how the garden connects us to the feeling of being in a safe place and how we learned as kids to grow and care for the garden. Therefore, in the PGR Garden, we not only cultivate and socialize, but we also make each other feel that we belong and, in this search for connection, we are not alone.

What is next for the PGR Garden?

One of our last activities in the garden was in autumn and involved planting 300 bulbs of Daffodils, Allium, Crocus, Tulips, and other wildflowers. We hope to have a marvellous display of colours in spring. However, we want more! In February we will hold our first seasonal planning meeting, where we will map out our hopes for the garden. So far, I can share three main ideas we have already discussed.

Firstly, we want to see more flowers blossoming from spring to autumn. Our initial thoughts are to make early sowing of summer plants in late February and March. Marigolds grow great in our garden so it is one of our musts, and perhaps this year we can try to make the most of our greenhouse by sowing some Dahlias.

Secondly, this year our peas grew amazingly well and were an absolute sensation in our garden, so they are at the heart of our vegetable project. However, we did not have so much success with our watermelons. Thus, I dare to say that growing watermelons is a pending project for 2024, which we are eager to embark on.

Thirdly, there is our compost project. Our compost system is falling apart and is overloaded. One of our members is very knowledgeable and keen on composting and, after conducting some initial explorations to find out how the composting process is going, we found that it does not have the proper balance of brown and green materials. Therefore, we are looking to work on this for the coming year. This project promises a lot of exciting manual activities as well as leading to us having more fertile soil and healthier plants.

Finally, as I said the PGR Gardening group is more than just gardening. I am excited to watch the plants and vegetables thriving, but to continue to see our community do so too. While we wind down our activities this year and prepare for the winter ahead, I think about my ambitions for next year in the PGR Garden. I strongly believe that the PGR Garden should continue providing a safe and peaceful opportunity to connect with others, regardless of their knowledge, experience, or background. I hope to see our gardening group continue to grow, and go from strength to strength; connecting, socializing and even hosting more events in Viewfield Lane. And, who knows, perhaps our events will event branch out beyond the borders of our garden?