Our company

The Achiltibuie Garden is a new business venture, set up by three ladies in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. There are several strands to the business which at the moment concentrates on its mail order element, supplying a range of hydroponics growing kits. These range from those suitable for growing herbs on a windowsill to custom-designed systems for domestic greenhouses. There is a loyal and well-established customer base due to us taking over the business of The Achiltibuie Hydroponicum in early 2007, with many of our customers having visited the area, seen hydroponics in action and wanted to try it themselves. Achiltibuie Garden is run by three of its directors: Julie Edwards, Alison Graham and Diana Wilding. The company started trading in 2008 and we also have two non-executive directors who provide specialist advice and expertise.

Our relationship with our customers is really important to us and we are proud that we have retained such a well established customer base. This is mainly due to the excellent service we provide, the quality of goods we supply and our after sales care. We are always happy to talk to customers who may have questions or just want to tell us how well their systems are doing! It's not unknown for us to give advice on places to eat, visit or what traditional music is on in the village! It is extremely important to us that our customers are able to place an order from us safe in the knowledge that we do not pass on their details to a third party.

A short history

Julie, Alison and Di are ex-employees of the Achiltibuie Hydroponicum and took over its running in April 2007. Their new company includes the Achiltibuie Hydroponicum, which was a visitor attraction located in Wester Ross and comprised growing houses demonstrating the use of hydroponics to grow a range of plants. There was an associated mail order service, with a café and shop also part of the attraction. In early 2007 the land and buildings of the Hydroponicum were sold to a new owner who was to lease the building back to us to operate the business. We had a very successful first season where we turned the business around from making large losses to making a small profit. Sadly, we reluctantly decided that we were unable to continue operating from the Hydroponicum building and at the beginning of 2008 we moved our business to a temporary location nearby whilst we decided on the path forward.

What's happening now

We are currently operating the mail order element of the business which sells hydroponics growing kits to gardeners and enthusiasts growing mainly on a small scale, as well as growing and supplying small amounts of fresh produce to our local community. We have a double span growing house which is home to a variety of growing techniques including soil based growing and the world famous Achiltibuie Hydroponics. During 2009, we planted a shelter belt of trees around our new site and started work on the indoor and outdoor garden areas.

Future plans

Although we don't have facilities open to the public at the moment, we have plans underway to open a new visitor centre in 2010 on a croft site in Achiltibuie. All the elements we are going to include are linked by the main activity of growing and we aim to provide an environmentally sound facility which can be enjoyed by both visitors and our local community. We are disappointed that there will be no main building to open this year but look forward to welcoming visitors to our indoor and outdoor gardens.

Our new visitor centre will continue to showcase hydroponics as an efficient, sustainable method of growing a range of plants. In addition, we're planning a series of outdoor gardens demonstrating plants which thrive in our sometimes inhospitable climate, soft fruit growing space and vegetable beds to complement our indoor growing space. We will establish an orchard containing old Scottish apple varieties to help preserve several species of apple. Both indoor and outdoor areas will be used to provide fresh produce for local sale and all our growing is done without the use of pesticides. We hope to demonstrate how growing and consuming food locally will have benefits not only for our community but the world in general.

We want our business to embrace as many environmentally friendly practices as possible starting with the materials used in the construction of the buildings, all the way through to the technologies required to minimise the day to day running costs of the centre. By adopting 'green' practices ourselves, we hope to inspire our visitors to see how even small changes can help minimise their impact on the environment. We are using local contractors where possible and are trying to source local materials for the main building of our new centre.

Commanding a breathtaking view, the café will be the hub of our new facility, using our own fresh produce along with locally sourced ingredients and real home baking. In addition to carrying our mail order lines, the shop will also sell local arts and crafts and relevant products.