Edinburgh Outdoors

Granton Community Growers is a wonderful example of a neighbourhood initiative that started small and then grew beautifully in ambition. From a one-off meet-up, when a group got together to dig up a street corner, to a sourdough bakery producing pay-what-you-can bread, many street corners now in production, and a garden where people come together to cook and eat, this is real community in action.

To the backdrop of the most delicious food smells, I met with Tom Kirby who told me how he started the project and how it's grown and developed over the years. 

Work is also funded through an initiative called Sowing our Horizons which was created by Marie Amelie Viatte, so she also came along to sit with us in the garden to talk about how community growing is more than just an initiative, but is a way to create new communities and address overreliance on food systems. 

Granton Community Garden is HERE

You can view the corner plots created by locals all over this area, including THIS ONE

You can find out more here: https://www.grantoncommunitygardeners.org/

This is where you can buy bread on a Saturday at 73 Boswell Parkway: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XzarEpGDTAJiJmCx8

Sowing our Horizons is here, where you can find out more: https://www.sowingourhorizons.org/

You can see pictures from my visit on 

Instagram - @edinburghoutdoors_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

and on my Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

Greyfriars Kirkyard is a tourist hotspot with millions visiting each year to seek out Harry Potter graves, poltergeists and the much-loved Greyfriar's Bobby.  I met with the brilliant Mark Hatton of the Friends of the Kirkyard to find out much more about the space, its history and heritage.   

Dating back to an original group of farming friars, for centuries the Kirkyard was Edinburgh's only green space and it's packed full of interesting history which is well worth discovering.  

The Kirkyard is HERE

Find Friends of Greyfriars here: https://fogk.org/

And they are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/188879245722935

For old images, Capital Collections is a good place to start: https://www.capitalcollections.org.uk/

You can see my photographs and images on Instagram: @edinburghoutdoors_

and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

Check out my Substack where I write up some visits and post photographs: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/p/edinburgh-outdoors-podcast

Steve Garrett, musician, artist, writer and geo scientist is performing in this year's Fringe: The Song of the Ice at St Mark's Church on 13-15; 18-20; and 26-28 August.  We met at the Scotland's Stones monument in Regent Road Garden to talk about Deep Time, creating music from carbon data, how creativity can communicate science and his time in the Antarctic.

In a first for Edinburgh Outdoors, Steve brought his guitar and so we listened to his haunting and beautiful music while contemplating Arthur's Seat and the city's extraordinary geology beside the monument.   Listen to the music, find out more about how it was created and learn about the monument too, which features stones from each district of the country and was created to mark the opening of our Parliament.

Regent Road Park and the monument are HERE

To find out more about Steve's Fringe show: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-song-of-the-ice

Steve Garrett's website: https://www.stevegarrettguitar.com/

Our Living Rivers and Glens here: https://deedonceilidhcollective.com/our-living-rivers-and-glens

You can read more about the Stones of Scotland here: https://edinburghgeolsoc.org/geological-site/stones-of-scotland/

Steve's book "A Suitable Stone": https://stevegarrettguitar.com/a-suitable-stone-book

And we referenced the excellent Hamish Napier (I'm his biggest fan!) and his new album: https://hamishnapier.bandcamp.com/album/the-hill

Growing Matters is a community charity transforming the walled garden at Gilmerton House in East Lothian.  Ten years into a 25 year plan, they are bringing biodiversity, wildlife and lots of flowers and produce to a previously unloved four acre space. 

With volunteers including a beekeeper, a hydrologist, a willow specialist and skilled gardeners, the garden is a wonderful community project that's transforming lives through the outdoors and creating an oasis within swathes of largescale farmland. 

The garden has an open day 12-4pm on Sunday 23 August 2026 when you can go along and visit, enjoy tea by the pond and then buy some produce to take home. 

You can find more details about Growing Matters here: https://www.growingmatters.org.uk/

And on their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growingatgilmerton/

The location is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XVo7XcmxBbZcCgHa9

You can see pictures on my Substack:  https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/p/edinburgh-outdoors-podcast

And on Instagram: @edinburgh.outdoors_

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

Drakkar's Drift is a new garden set in Victoria Park on Newhaven Road and was designed by Royal Horticultural Society Young Designer of the Year, Luke Coleman.  The garden is ideal for enjoying the outdoors, running around, sitting in, or just admiring its design.  It was originally in an RHS garden show last year and with the support of its sponsor, Edinburgh Council, it has been moved, stored and then relocated to Victoria Park in early 2026.

I met Luke to find out how you design a garden and then move it across the country to create something completely new.  We also talked about gardening for climate change, the benefits of community and his love of the outdoors.  

Drakkar's Drift is HERE

Luke Coleman Gardens are here: https://www.lukecoleman.co.uk/

You can see pictures of the garden on my Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

and also on Instagram: @edinburghoutdoors_