Category: Edible Gardening ProjectPage 6 of 9

Pruning raspberries

Raspberries, one of the tastiest soft fruit, grow very well in Scotland. Many of the commercial varieties have been bred by the James Hutton Institute (formerly Scottish Crop…

Time to sow winter salads

The dark days of winter do not mean an end to a supply of fresh nutritious home grown greens. There are a range of salad plants that can…

Chicago Botanic Garden; Green Youth Farm

I’ve been in the privileged position to spend the last week with Chicago Botanic Garden’s Green Youth Farm Programme. There are a handful of these farms located around…

Really Wild Veg – August 5 Update

‘Really Wild Veg’ is a vegetable growing trial run by the Edible Gardening Project and four other community gardens – Girvan Community Garden, Good for Ewe, Whitmuir Organics…

Growing Chard for Winter

Chard is a great autumn, winter and spring crop. Multi coloured varieties such as ‘Rainbow Chard’ look fantastic and are as valuable as an ornamental plant as an…

Really Wild Veg – June 11 Update

This summer the Edible Gardening Project at the Botanics is working with four community gardens across Scotland to grow three wild plants that have given rise to familiar…

Successful Watering

Good weather this week has meant that everything in the Edible Garden is growing well. We have harvested our first peas of the year from the polytunnel. Fine…

Watch Out! Gooseberry Sawfly is About!

At this time of year gooseberry sawfly larvae can rapidly strip the leaves off your gooseberry bush. The best form of defence is vigilance. Regularly inspect your plants…

Don’t Miss the Apple Blossom

The apple, pear and cherry trees in the new fruit garden are in full bloom at the moment and look delightful. This year we have started to record…

Wildlife-friendly Edible Gardening

This week is Scotland’s Nature Festival, a celebration of Scotland’s wildlife and landscapes. Growing fruit and vegetables can sometimes feel like a battle against nature. There are hundreds…

Really Wild Vegetables

This summer we’ll be investigating the wild relatives of some of our most familiar vegetables with our ‘Really Wild Vegetable’ trial (as part of the Talking Science Project). All crops have…

What happens to all the veg from the Edible Garden?

The Edible Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is carefully tended by a team of dedicated volunteers. In reward for their endeavours the volunteers are able to…

Want to grow fruit and veg but don’t have a garden?

Growing fruit and vegetables is an immensely rewarding and popular activity. The average waiting time for an allotment in Edinburgh is 4 ½ years with some people waiting…

Growing Endives and Chicory

Endives and chicory are attractive salad plants that are now found in many pre-prepared supermarket salad bags. They are relatively hardy and easy to grow. Some varieties provide…

Braving the cold weather

The Siberian winds this March have put a stop to any outdoor seed sowing in the Edible Garden. However, it is still possible to sow hardy crops indoors…

Growing Peas in a Gutter

Nothing tastes better than home grown peas picked straight off the plant and nibbled whilst walking through the garden on a warm summer’s morning. Peas can be sown…

Growing Broad Beans

Broad beans are easy to grow and provide an early summer harvest in the edible garden. We are growing a crimson flowered variety that looks great in an…

Top 10 Winter Harvests in the Edible Garden

Cold temperatures and low light levels in winter do not mean an end to fresh produce from the garden. Here at The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh we have…

Kale, Cabbage and Compost

We harvested kale, cabbage and baby leeks this week for the Gateway restaurant at the Botanics. It may well be winter but the garden is still producing. The…

Planting apple trees at Casa San Lorenzo

Winter is the ideal time to plant new fruit trees. On Tuesday this week the Edible Garden volunteers went to help plant apple trees at Casa San Lorenzo…