The Ross of Mull Community Garden is a beautiful space right in the grounds of the Historical Centre and continues to thrive and benefit a huge range of the local community as well as visitors to the Centre.

The garden is managed under the umbrella of South West Mull and Iona Development (SWMID) and grants have been sourced to pay for a part time gardener (Lorraine) year round. Lorraine has a wealth of gardening skills and is full of enthusiasm for ways to encourage more people to benefit from the garden. She works with the local primary school so that pupils come on a regular basis to the garden, helping to plant and sow crops in the spring, harvest in the late summer and clear and tidy beds in the late autumn. The harvest this year was especially rewarding - seeing the children eagerly digging for onions and potatoes, picking tomatoes, squash and beans in the poly-tunnel, chopping up all the vegetables to make soup, and grinding garlic and nuts to make pesto. They then shared the soup and pasta with parents and other community members in a harvest lunch. A few days later Lorraine organised harvest sharing for the community with people bringing any surplus fruit, vegetables, etc they might have from their gardens to share with others. This is a regular annual event and is always popular and well attended. Early in the year we had our annual seed swap and then in spring, a plant swap.

Another successful event this summer was Practical Plants Day. This was organised by Emily the Ranger in conjunction with Lorraine and garden volunteers. Workshops on Willow weaving, Eco-printing, and foraging were offered to adults with free drop-in children’s activities available alongside.

Lorraine is present at the garden two mornings a week and always encourages community members to drop by either to help with the work she is doing or just for a chat and cuppa.

There are also a number of raised beds that are offered as ‘allotment beds’ to local residents.

Emily the Ranger uses the garden and centre facilities as a base for the after-school nature club which she runs during term time.

The garden is always open, so please drop by and see what is growing next time you visit the Historical Centre.