A Terrific Tattie Day Turnout!

Kirrie hosted Tattie Day for the first time in February and what a smashing turnout it was! Along with co-hosts Potato House, Sustainable Kirriemuir welcomed along a variety of local producers as well as experts in the field of farming, potatoes, climate and more. With delicious stories and lots of eco-friendly crafts to try, there was something for everyone to enjoy.

A Day of Celebrating the Humble Tattie

Doors opened at 11am where we welcomed over 400 visitors, many Kirrie locals, and others from all over Scotland. Talks began at 12pm with visitors hearing from Sue the Seed Saver, Kate Everett – Permaculture Expert, and our headline speaker John Marshall – Tattie Expert! Stovies went down a storm with our volunteers tattie peelers, cookers and mashers all putting in a tremendous amount of time and effort to feed the crowds!

There were lots of activities to take part in, for kids and big kids alike. We welcomed Michelle from Angus Outdoor Learning who brought with her a variety of nature-themed crafts, and volunteer felter Cluny who was on hand to help visitors make their own felt pictures.

Local Farmers and Producers

As well as our co-hosts Andrew and Amy Skea of Potato House, who brought with them over 45 varieties of seed potato to choose from, we welcomed a variety of other local producers selling fresh, local produce. Not forgetting the importance of pollinators in our food system, we also welcomed Buglife and Scotia Seeds along to share their knowledge and seeds to support our local wildlife.

The showstopper of the day had to be the panel discussion which ran on for so long that our tattie expert John almost didn’t have time to take to the stage! We heard from our panel of experts, Fiona Guest of Scotia Seeds, Virginia Osborne of Kinclune Estate and Organic Farm, Claire Pumfrey of Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Andrew Skea of  Potato House & Skea Organics, Archie Gibson of Agrico UK and William Houstoun, local Regenerative Farmer. Together they discussed the topic ‘Farming in a Changing Climate’. We would love to have continued the conversation long after the event ended.

What our stallholders had to say about Tattie Day:

“Lovely day chatting to folk we know and several new faces. Certainly worth doing again. Sincere thanks to Amandla who did so much work organising this event, and all the volunteers and unseen backroom pairs of hands that make all the difference to a day like this running smoothly.”

“It was a great event; very friendly, colourful, educational and bustling too! So nice to meet all the locals and to get lots of chat with folk. Roll on next year?!”

And from our co-hosts at Potato House:

“To everyone who bought some seed potatoes – thank you! We are here for all questions all season – so if you don’t know when to chit, how to plant, what to do and when, give us a shout on our social media or on email. We’re here to help you grow some fantastic tatties! Top Top Tatties in fact!”

Would you like to help organise Tattie Day 2024?

We’d love Tattie Day to be an annual event in the Kirrie calendar but it can’t happen without the help of willing volunteers! If you’d like to be involved in the organising or on the day itself, message Amandla, Project Manager, or contact us by email.