news
Your own fruit & veg is only a workshop away!
If the idea of growing your own fruit and veg has always appealed to you but you're not quite sure how to go about it, our new series of grow-your-own workshops will give you all the confidence and inspiration you need!
In this series of four demonstration events, we'll cover everything from getting started, to growing tomatoes, to growing greens, and growing fruit. So whether you'd prefer to grow brassicas or berries, we can help you produce delicious specimens!
Visit our events page for all the details, date and booking info.
Drop in for a gardening check-up at our monthly clinics
The dates for our 2012 free monthly gardening clinics have now been set and we're all ready to give you the advice you need to get your garden in great shape! You'll find details and dates on our events page.
Don't forget too that you can make use of our free gardening advice service at any time of the year. Click here for details of how it works.
Like us on Facebook to win afternoon tea for 4!
To mark the launch of Merryhatton on Facebook, we're offering the chance to win afternoon tea for four people, or a Merryhatton gift voucher, in our competition running until 29 February.
Click here for the low-down and your chance to treat yourself and three friends to a delicious afternoon tea on the house!
Tour the world from the cafe at Merryhatton
Join us at the cafe at Merryhatton for a culinary tour of the world in 2012. We'll be bringing you a different cuisine each month, with a reasonably priced, delicious set menu, great service and BYOB. Coming up next are:
- Thurs 1 March, 7pm: a taste of Morocco
- Thurs 29 March, 7pm: a taste of Germany
Bookings are now being taken and tables are already filling up fast so ring to book on 01620 880278 or book in person at the cafe till point. Click here for further details.
In a survey by the East Lothian branch of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), the UK’s largest parenting charity, local parents praised Merryhatton’s friendly staff and fantastic home baking and voiced their appreciation of its spacious buggy-friendly layout, great toy corner and general cleanliness.
The aim of the NCT survey is to highlight those places that provide the best facilities and the most supportive environment for parents and their young children and encourage other local businesses to follow their lead.
On receiving the award, Alan MacFarlane, Manager of the Café at Merryhatton said “We’re delighted to have come top in the NCT East Lothian survey. It’s really important to us at Merryhatton that our café, and the whole garden centre, is truly family friendly. We’ve put a lot of thought into the facilities we provide for families and our children’s menu to make Merryhatton a welcoming and relaxing place for children of all ages and their parents. It’s lovely to get such a positive response from our customers and to hear that what we’re doing is clearly hitting the mark.”
Caroline Libberton, NCT East Lothian’s volunteer Membership Co-ordinator, adds “Merryhatton has really thought about what facilities parents and young children need and have got it spot on and we’re delighted to see local parents acknowledging that. What’s really great about this survey is that all the nominations were made by local families which make the results all the more real.”
EatScotland award for the cafe at Merryhatton
We're delighted to announce that the cafe at Merryhatton Garden Centre has achieved the EatScotland award standard, VisitScotland's highly regarded quality assurance scheme for food and drink establishments.
In its report VisitScotland said:
"With the resting place of Concorde on its doorstep, the cafe should be visited by all who want well cooked, quality light meals."
Some of the areas highlighted by the award assessor, include:
- Merryhatton's friendly and welcoming staff, who were quick to serve and willing to help
- Our use of fresh ingredients from local suppliers
- Our mouthwatering range of cakes
Click here to see the cafe at Merryhatton's entry in the EatScotland foodie guide.
Merryhatton café voted one of best in Scotland
The café at Merryhatton Garden Centre has been listed as one of Scotland’s favourites in a Visit Scotland search for great places to eat around the country.
The East Fortune café was recommended by customers for its ‘wonderful home cooking’ and for being ’affordable and value for money with friendly warm staff’.
Helen MacDonald, owner of Merryhatton Garden Centre, said the whole team at the café was delighted to have received the recommendation: “We were thrilled to hear that our customers had ranked us as one of Scotland’s great cafes. We’re always reviewing and developing what we do because it’s important to us to know that we are getting things right. So it’s great to learn that both the food and the service in our café are clearly hitting the spot!”
pop in for free one-to-one advice: click for dates
