News

SEER Rockdust® is currently available through our network of distributors. Click here to visit the Purchase page and find out where.
The response to media coverage in 2005, The Independent(21/03/05), The Daily Mail(22/03/05), BBC Breakfast, Sky News and BBC Radio 4 Today Programme(22/03/05) was very encouraging. We were initially overwhelmed with queries from all over the world and hope all enquirers were happy with the responses we gave.
The SEER Centre featured in The Daily Telegraph Weekend Cover Story on 18th February 2006, in an article about Graham Harvey's fantastic new book 'We Want Real Food' which argues the case for soil remineralisation. The Daily Mail featured articles by Graham Harvey on 21st, 22nd and 23rd February.
The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet featured the Thomsons work and the SEER Centre on 12/11/06. There has been great interest and demand from gardeners, farmers and businesses in Sweden.

Testimonials from farmers and growers.

Click on links below to read about the results from impressed enthusiasts using SEER® Rockdust®.

The SEER Centre Trust Newsletter for SEER Friends

The following are articles from SEER News, Spring - Summer '05. The full newsletter is sent to all SEER Friends bi-annually. To join SEER, please visit the Join Us page

3rd - 6th June Gardening Scotland, Ingliston
SEER’s MoiraThomson, with Jennifer Cook of Buzzard Business services and Grant Milne of Tayside Contracts spent three busy days at this exciting show.
Moira demonstrated to people, over and over, how easy it is to remineralise soil as she sprinkled handfuls of SEER Rockdust systematically over the grass in front of the stall. We hope to occupy the same area next year so we can see if the grass there is any more lush!

Jim McColl, from Tern TV’s “Beechgrove Garden” found Moira in a quiet moment, with a cool ice cream. On the following week’s programme, Jim was spreading SEER Rockdust on the organic vegetable plot at the Beechgrove Garden.

Several tons of 20kg bags of SEER Rockdust were sold. Many thanks to Marigold (pictured right) and Martin, who volunteered for a day, and Jennifer Cook (pictured right in our stall) for her 3 days volunteering and her preparatory work.

31st March
Stornoway Horticultural Producers Association keen to hear the story and see the slides, this enthusiastic group flew Cammi and Moira from Inverness to Stornoway. This was Moira’s first ever flight! She loved the experience of flying, the birds-eye view of greeny-brown Scotland, the evidence of earlier cultures and newer developments. The group were impressed by SEER’s achievements and they planned to start a trial of dusts from the three quarries on Stornoway. Ruiraidh Ferguson drove Cammi and Moira around the Island and took them to the Callanish Stones and Visitor Centre. Moira took her customary samples of local worm-casts and showed Ruiraidh the difference between smooth, dull, mineral-poor worm-casts and gritty, glittery, mineral-rich worm-casts she found below crumbling stones in a wall.

28th June BBC World News Documentary “Hands On - Green Beginnings”
In June’s sunshine, BBC World News Documentary “Hands On - Green Beginnings”, visited the SEER Centre and filmed Cammi and Moira showing how simple it would be to remineralise soils, anywhere in the world. The documentary, which is aimed particularly at education and promoting ecological, sustainable developments in developing countries, was broadcast in almost every country in the world - except Britain. Many countries in the developing world saw the programme.

28th July
The Eden Project
Moira and Cammi were flown to The Eden Project to speak to over 70 “Friends of Eden”. Moira and Cammi stayed in excellent accommodation in the White Hart Hotel in St Austell and spent a day looking around the Eden Project. They were fascinated to observe that the soil created in the gardens there was very similar to the SEER terraces - it was a gritty, sparkly compost - they discovered that the granite dust from the old clay-mines had been mixed with local municipal compost. The crops looked good. It was a very inspiring place.
The Head of Research at The Eden Project, , attended the SEER lecture and was very impressed with results. The nearby Leskeard Garden Centre took delivery of one ton of 20 kg bags which were actually sold out to new enthusiasts before delivery!

The following are articles from SEER News, Summer - Winter '04. The full newsletter is sent to all SEER Friends bi-annually. To join SEER, please visit the Join Us page

Grants and Support

The Scottish Executive and Score Environment granted funding for visitor centre staff this year, from 1st April 04 - 31st March 05. We are very grateful to the Scottish Executive for their continuing financial support. This enabled us to cope with increased visitor numbers, fantastic media interest, upkeep of the grounds & gardens, and marketing rockdust and SEER branding.

We are preparing a five year plan and funding proposal for completion of the Visitor Centre & facilities, gardens & staff and future research projects. We remain optimistic that future support plus funding from external bodies will allow the SEER Centre to continue our important work.

If you have not visited the SEER Centre yet, or haven’t been in a while, please come and see our new garden features. In the past year we have had a large polytunnel erected. It makes a perfect setting for our Summer and Harvest festivals and provides a place to sit and listen to the storytelling, or simply to shelter from that good old Scottish weather. Notice, in the foreground, the long posts erected for the viewing platform.

We’ve constructed a viewing platform perfect for disabled visitors wishing to enjoy the spectacular view over the whole garden. The viewing platform and steps have been constructed entirely from recycled products by our gardeners. The platform is accessible to everyone by climbing the steps from the garden but can also be accessed from the back path on the house terrace (near the disabled car park) for those unable to climb or descend the stairs.

These seats and stools have been hand crafted by our gardeners and are dotted around the Centre to provide an excellent opportunity to sit, relax and take in the fresh air and spectacular glen scenery as you make your way around the beautiful gardens.

Our little wooden shop in the car park has really boosted produce and rockdust sales this year. Next to the main entrance, it’s ideally placed for taking admission fees and selling fresh produce. It’s very convenient for locals or passers-by to pop in. Tourists prefer to roam the gardens then buy SEER goodies!

The following, is the front page article from the Summer 2003 SEER Newsletter . The full newsletter is sent to all SEER Friends bi-annually. To join SEER, please visit the Join Us page

OPEN SEASON AT THE SEER CENTRE

No - Nothing to do with shooting, or even golf; we are in the middle of our first season as a fully open tourist attraction. And what a difference it is making to SEER Centre morale and finances!

The car and coach park, which was completed in the last year, has had a top surface of rock dust added, providing a solid and well-drained finish.

The main entrance to the gardens is now through the car park gate, except for disabled visitors who can park by the house.

We have worked hard to make the area near the entrance attractive and interesting. Flower borders and a "Big Bed" (see article on page 2 of SEER News) has been developed on the flat area by the road and the crops are certainly an eye-catcher. Winding paths lead the visitor up to the older parts of the garden, where they can borrow a laminated self-guided trail and find their own way round. There is usually someone around to answer questions, and the Cabin shop is now open, selling a wide variety of produce, SEER-mix remineralised compost and rock dust. Income from sales so far has risen ENORMOUSLY with the Public Open Day still to come.

As far as attractions are concerned, there is still a long way to go, especially regarding information, events and interpretation, but visitors comments are very favourable. We no longer talk of the "hill-field" as a separate development - it has become part of the gardens. And what beautiful gardens they are too - especially after the glorious summer we have had. It has been great welcoming so many people from near and far to the SEER Centre and knowing they will go away and "spread the word around the world".

Nice, too, to know that we are now achieving one of our aims - providing fresh, local, healthy produce for local people. Many of our Pitlochry and Kirkmichael neighbours are now regular customers, buying SEER produce. With the new terraces and the big bed by the road in production, we have plenty of produce to supply the Comunity while keeping the Demonstration Garden looking spectacular as well.