The Team

Achiltibuie Garden is run by three of its directors: Julie Edwards, Alison Graham and Diana Wilding. We also have two non-executive directors who provide specialist advice and expertise. Achiltibuie Garden Ltd was incorporated in March 2008 and started trading in September 2008. Julie, Alison and Di are ex-employees of the Achiltibuie Hydroponicum and took over its running in April 2007.

We've all made our homes in Coigach and have built up a great working relationship through our previous employment at the old hydroponicum. Best not forget our other common passions – yoga and gardening!

Each of us has our own area of expertise and we work well as a team.  Between us, we have at some time worked as tour guides, café assistants, shop assistants, mail order packing, back office, customer care, cleaning and gardening at The Achiltibuie Hydroponicum, in fact we calculate that together we have more than 25 years experience in hydroponics and the tourism industry.

We all grow our own produce – organically and hydroponically – which helps when advising customers on what kit is most suitable for their needs. We even tell customers how they can recycle existing equipment to use for hydroponics.

Who are we?

Di tells you about Alison:

Alison is responsible for the financial side of the business and is always keen to find an excuse to help with growing plants and produce.  Outside of the business she is our local librarian, keen musician and gardener as well as being a wonderful cook.  To help keep the winter blues at bay, Alison has set up a singing group – they provided the musical interlude at the Burns supper held in our local community hall and delighted the townships with their Christmas caroles. 

Alison tells you about Julie:

Julie looks after our existing customers and is who you are most likely to speak to if you phone us.  Mainly based in the office at the moment, she runs the marketing side of things, mail order processing and basically organises anything else that needs doing.  In the past she has run the successful Lilypond Café at The Hydroponicum, and along with Alison has catered for private functions – including two weddings in the community hall, where the best of locally grown and sourced produce was used.  Over the years she has gained a reputation for making fantastic cakes and puddings. During 2008 and 2009 she and her husband Stuart used their own polytunnel to help Di produce enough salads to meet local demand.

Julie tells you about Di:

Di is our gardener but has risen to the challenge of being responsible for our mail order despatch - it is her mission to get orders out within 24 hours of receiving them! As with many people living and working on the west coast Di wears quite a few hats - we find them all over the place! For quite a few years now she has been a retained firefighter in the Achiltibuie unit and is always keen to find a new challenge - once she had them run a hill race in full fire kit. Her home is on a working croft where she keeps hens, ducks, turkeys, kerry cattle, Venus the goat and grows healthy veg without chemicals. Her kederhouse is filled with plants growing in soil and hydroponics.

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! Unlike many online/mail order companies 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. 

The photo is an old one!  L - R: Di, Julie, Alison.