This route takes you to three spots to get fresh veggies and fruits or volunteer to learn how to grow your own. Of course, you don’t need to visit all of these, but we made the route as scenic as possible in case you do. You can start this route at either end. At Donkeyfield Community Orchard, feel free to walk a bit further and spend a while at Portobello Beach.

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At Dig-In Bruntsfield Community Greengrocer, you can purchase fruit and vegetable boxes to receive weekly. Get an excellent variety of handpicked fruits and/or vegetables for a great price! The fruits and vegetables are as local and organic as possible but consistently high quality. You can also volunteer as a shop assistant or be part of the committee. Also, see their handy recipes to take full advantage of your fresh produce!

Leaving Dig-In, turn right onto Leamington Walk to walk through Bruntsfield Links. Cross over Marchmont Road, then turn slightly right to continue along the pathway between Melville Drive and Fingal Place.

At the end of the road, turn right onto Lord Russell Place, passing Summerhall. Turn left onto West Preston Street and continue as it becomes East Preston Street to reach Dalkeith Road and turn right. You can cut through this glass building or turn the corner left onto Holyrood Park Road. Just before the road curves right before the roundabout, turn right to follow along the pathway that eventually joins onto Duddingston low Road.

Duddingston Low Road becomes Old Church Lane. Enter through the car park on the right. Walk to the top right of the car park and follow the paved path for about 140 metres to enter the gate for Dr Neil’s Garden. Exit the garden back onto Old Church Lane and turn right. Turn right onto Duddingston Road West, then right again through the car park to find Jock Tamson’s Gairden. Exit the garden back onto Duddingston Road West and turn left.

Dr. Neil’s Garden is a beautiful little oasis of serenity. Find a wide variety of medicinal plants, herbs, bushes, and trees. Sit and enjoy a warm beverage right by Duddingston Loch or the little pond and catch sight of some beautiful swans and ducks. It’s easy then to see why Drs Andrew and Agnes Neil encouraged their patients to join them in working in the garden, with its air of healing properties.

Jock Tamson’s Gairden is another lovely little garden space where you can volunteer and learn the ropes of horticulture. Sometimes, fruits and veggies are sold at their Greens to Go stall throughout the year, usually on Fridays from 11 am. Follow their Facebook page for updates on this. This community garden and its volunteers provide a welcoming space for all faces from all backgrounds.

Continue along Duddingston Road West until you reach the four-way intersection, to turn right onto Milton Road West. Curve with the road to the left as it becomes Clifton Road West.

Continue along the road as it becomes Duddingston Crescent. Just before the big intersection, turn right to go down the pathway, under the road, and left back up a pathway. Once you reach the main road again, turn right, then right again onto Brunstane Road South to find Donkeyfield Community Garden just across from Brunstane Station.

Donkeyfield Community Orchard is Portobello’s very first. It holds a wonderful variety of apple, pear, plum, and cherry trees ranging from the old, unusual, and local. Additionally, soft fruit bushes of currants and gooseberries can be found here, as well as willow and hazel trees that are used for coppicing. In future, they would like to set up a medicinal herb garden. Throughout the year, they host numerous fun events, such as Apple Day, where they press some of the orchard’s fruit in their very own hand press. Yummy!

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Not on this route:

Edible Estates has numerous neighbourhood gardens and community projects throughout the city, including:

• Broomhouse Growers
• Calders Community Garden
• Murrayburn and Hailesland Community Garden
• Clovenstone Community Centre

Resources:

If you enjoyed this route, see our Leafy Garden Walk

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