Dumbiedykes Growers are a welcoming bunch of around ten folk that have really shown you can be creative in how and where you community garden, as they’ve gotten busy beautifying and transforming greenspaces all over their estate throughout 2023/4.

The group have met every week, come rain or shine, and fostered a lovely neighbourly spirit as they’ve worked with Community Gardener Johanna to establish an orchard, plant a wildflower meadow that looked spectacular and was a hit with bees and butterflies during the summer, and renovate existing raised beds, which were planted up with an abundance of produce.

‘Dumbiedykes in bloom’ – the words of a resident after spying the vibrant wildflower patch!

At the moment they’re working on creating a new growing space, turning a disused patch of grass in a central but quiet spot into a small garden for locals to use – which is coming along nicely.

While the group has regular growers each week, others dip in and out if and when they have time, or just stop by for a chat and cuppa – which the group welcomes! Meet at the fruit trees on Viewcraig Street on Sunday afternoons if you’d like to see what the group are up to.

Crewe Road is a new project with a small but mighty team of four residents working together with Community Gardener Sylva to transform a large grassy area behind their homes into a space for the community to grow food, enjoy events, and play. So far they’ve made great progress building some raised growing beds, and are keen to build picnic benches and a tool shed in the future – watch this space!

If you live locally and would like to get involved in making this a great space for the community, please contact Sylva.

Residents of Mount Lodge in Portobello approached the City of Edinburgh Council and Edible Estates with ideas to transform some unloved greenspace on their street, which had been locked for as long as anyone could remember.

Keen to make sure the space reflected the community, they put together a survey to find out how they would like the space to be used, and improving biodiversity was highlighted as a big priority. The residents were then supported to design a plan, which included developing a central grass space with perennial plants, a wildlife border, and bird boxes. The residents worked alongside Edible Estates Community Gardener, Paul to prepare and plant up the area, and spent a series of workshops coming together, getting to know one each other, and enjoying time outdoors.

Since then it’s provided blueberries and currants for locals to enjoy as they pass by, become a haven for bees and butterflies, and even housed a nesting pair of blue tits – showing how local people can band together, achieve community goals,  and transform greenspaces in their area for the better!

Find out more about the project in this blog post.

The Broomhouse Community Orchard was born from a desire among Broomhouse Growers to grow a range of fruits that would compliment their growing activities in the Broomhouse Community Garden.

The group have abundant harvests each year, that are always shared among the community, whether that be by market stall, or via meals at Space Broomhouse Hub, and this project has really added to that! Gooseberries, apples, red currants, raspberries – you name it, they most likely have it. In around two years they’ve really transformed this space from an unloved patch of grass into a beautiful spot in the community, the before and after has really been something and created a big sense of achievement for everyone involved. They’re currently planting up a wildflower meadow which will no doubt be a kaleidoscope of colour and a haven for bees come the spring and summer.

They run sessions on Wednesday and Saturday morning that are welcome to all. Have a look at their Facebook page to see what they’re up to!

Muirhouse Neighbourhood Garden was created in 2023, born from an exciting collaboration between residents, Edible Estates, and local organisation Community Renewal.

It’s had a steady group of fifteen enthusiastic gardeners since, and been the site of some fun-filled community projects and events throughout 2024, most recently a mural project with National Galleries Scotland and Muirhouse Youth Development Group, which you can read all about here! The garden is a safe, welcoming space for all kinds of activities – one budding artist often seen sketching among the raised growing beds said:

I can sit and draw and nobody minds. Sitting and sketching is my way of saying “it’s ok to be here in this garden,” it’s for us.

You can read more from her in this blog post, and please get in touch if you have an idea for the space!

There are two community gardening sessions each week, where folk come together to tend the garden, with lots of harvests donated to the Pennywell and Fidra Kitchen Pantries, adding to the project’s real community feel and sense of being part of something bigger.

Fun Fact: The garden’s hub was once some derelict garages, before being converted into a space for the community to gather by volunteers from Lend a Hand and Growing Youth workshops – it’s since become a welcome spot for gardeners to enjoy a cup of tea (and often a sweet treat) during sessions.