Archerfield Walled Garden near Dirleton champions local makers from honey to homemade bakes

Archerfield Walled Garden, near Dirleton, has long been a favourite stop for East Lothian day trippers. This autumn it has been showing how much it values the small producers and makers around it, with two partnerships that keep things very local.

The first involves honey made on the estate itself. David Boog of Longniddry-based Chesterhall Honey keeps six hives at Archerfield, and jars of his new range, including Spring and Summer Wildflower Honey, are due in the food market before Christmas.

The bees are surrounded by a newly sown ten-hectare stud field with a mix of annual, biennial and perennial plants, including phacelia, sunflowers, crimson, sweet and red clovers and lucerne. As the field develops over the next three years the species will naturally change, giving pollinators a varied source of forage through the season. David, now in his fourth year working with Archerfield, said you can really see the difference such variety makes to the bees.

The stud field is part of Archerfield's wider commitment to regenerative farming, bringing together food production, horticulture, wildlife and visitor experiences across the estate.

The second partnership is a homecoming. Amy French spent three years working in Archerfield's Garden Cafe before leaving in 2021 to work in restaurants, cafes and a cake shop in Edinburgh. Along the way she discovered a passion for homemade bakes and launched her own business, Bakes by Frenchie, specialising in brownies, blondies, cookie pies and traybakes.

Now based in Haddington, the 24-year-old, who grew up in North Berwick, is supplying her bakes back to the place where her hospitality career began. She described it as a real full-circle moment. Amy Buglass, food and drink buyer at Archerfield, said the team were delighted to welcome her back and proud to support her in a different way.

Archerfield describes itself as a place to recharge, play, eat, shop and gather, and these stories show the network of local people behind what ends up in the food market and on the cafe counter.

Opening times and details of the cafe, food market and estate are on the Archerfield Walled Garden website.