Welcome to our wee website 🙂 Narrowboat Farm is a market garden with a difference nestled on the banks of the Union Canal 2 miles east of Linlithgow.
Narrowboat Farm does exactly what it says… it is an eco-friendly small farm producing tasty, healthy produce brought to local markets by traditional canal boats. This was the norm 200 years ago when genius engineers created Scotland’s Canals. Soon every farmer along the canal was taking advantage of this futuristic, rapid yet smooth transport link. They built jetties, they designed special barges to take horse and cart and they even took advantage of the dung boat which made its way out of Edinburgh each week to fertilise their fields.
Then trains came, then the internal combustion engine came, then industrial agriculture came and this little piece of history was lost. Not that we have anything against progress and scale, but its time to bring this piece of history back. Back then many of the farms would have been smaller, diverse farms producing a range of tasty goods for local markets. So we’re doing that too! With one foot in the past we have our sights firmly set on the future by farming in a way that will enhance the environment for future generations.
As well as all of this, Narrowboat Farm is also a pilot site for a brand new social enterprise seeking to increase the vibrancy of the canals by creating special places for boats to visit and moor. Community-owned moorings will be a fantastic way to help liven up the canals by encouraging the boat movements which bring the ancient monument of the canals alive. Check out www.communitymoorings.com for more on that.