Granton Castle Walled Garden Newsletter
Welcome
Dear Subscribers
Welcome to our November newsletter.
The days are drawing in, and the garden has settled into its autumn rhythm. We’ve now switched to our winter opening hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1-3 pm. Our weekday volunteering sessions continue as usual on Mondays and Fridays, 11-3 pm.
If you’ve never volunteered with us before and would like to get a feel for what’s involved, we’d love to welcome you to one of our introductory sessions. Please email grantongarden@gmail.com to find out more.
Garden Updates
Doors Open Days
We were delighted to take part in Doors Open Days 2025 during the last weekend of September. This is Scotland’s largest free festival celebrating places, history and culture. Coordinated by the Scottish Civic Trust, it offers free access to hundreds of venues and events across the country every September.
Our programme this year included guided walks of the garden, a dyestuffs exhibition and demonstration by The Weaving Project, and a fungi demonstration by Mycobee Mushrooms.
Wildlife
Our trustee Ingsay is adept at spotting the small creatures that bring life and colour to the Walled Garden. Here are some of her recent observations, made while the Michaelmas daisies were in flower.
There are many different Bumble Bees in the garden. We had a nest of Carder Bees last autumn. This may be a Tree Bumblebee. The asters/michaelmas daisies are popular with bees who seem to crash out and just rest on the flowers.
Red Admiral butterflies also gather to collect nectar and look very striking with their red black and white wings.
- Ingsay Balfour
Community
Mycobee Mushrooms at the Garden
In our last issue, we introduced Mycobee Mushrooms CIC, the community enterprise founded by Bea and Mario that’s brought a thriving “mushroom corner” to the Walled Garden. Over the past year, they’ve deepened their roots here, running dozens of fungi workshops and inspiring visitors to explore the hidden world of mushrooms - from gourmet growing to composting, soil health, and wild foraging.
👉 Read their story here
Events & What’s Next
As the season slows down, there’s still plenty happening at the garden. Here are the events confirmed so far for this month:
Up-to-date events: 👉 GCWG Events Page
Visit Us
Opening hours:
Saturdays and Sundays
April - end of October: 14:00 -16:00
November - end of March: 13:00 - 15:00
Volunteer Hours & Getting Involved:
👉 Volunteer with GCWG
Thank you for supporting Granton Castle Walled Garden. Your interest and involvement mean the world to us. We look forward to welcoming you through the gates soon. 🍂🌻
