The Secret Herb Garden celebrates its first birthday, May 2015.
The Secret Herb Garden opened its doors in May 2014 to introduce people to ‘the magical world of herbs’. Located to the south west of Edinburgh the Garden is a place to relax, enjoy and feel the nurturing effects of the herbs whether that’s sitting amongst them in the glasshouse or walking among them in the gardens.
The seeds for Secret Herb Garden were first sown in 2011 when Hamish Martin decided to pursue a radical career change. Having successfully built up Inverarity Vaults to become Scotland’s leading independent wine merchants, he sold the business and embarked on a Diploma in Herbology at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At the same time, Hamish’s wife Liberty, a successful recruitment consultant, was also looking for a change in lifestyle.
Twelve months later, the couple stumbled upon a large, derelict greenhouse in Lothianburn to the southwest of Edinburgh. They bought the entire plot and together with their four children and assorted animals, spent the next 24 months living in two static caravans, working tirelessly to achieve their dream of creating a Secret Herb Garden.
It’s a place to be enjoyed and be embraced by the surrounding herbs, plants and nature. There are courses on offer ranging from bee keeping, candle making, a complete range of herbal courses and seed planting activities for children.
The café is family friendly serving fresh, healthy, seasonal and wholesome homemade food grown and produced where possible at the Garden. The shop supports the products that Hamish and Liberty make from the land such as candles, honey, teas, coffee and freshly cut flowers.
After an extremely successful year the Garden will be celebrating its first birthday on Saturday 9th May, with the help of Stretch Tents Scotland. The visually stunning stretch tent will be transformed in to a ‘tasting tent’, with beer and wine with the Secret Herb Garden’s own range of beers, herbal tea tasting, herbalist consultations plus more. The chefs from The Gardeners Cottage, Edinburgh will be roaming around the gardens, helping you discover the magic of cooking with herbs.
Explore the gardens to find more events including children’s planting workshops with ‘The Green Man’, and herbalist consultations. The Family Fun Day will run from 10am to 4pm.
