To Walter Degrasse

28th April 2014

Dear Walter

I hope all’s well with you and Lise and that you’re managing to get out and about in your garden at this busy time. I’m certainly behind where I should be here at Old School Garden. I’ve weeded and dug over about two-thirds of the borders here and managed to mulch the fruit with a mix of horse manure and compost. I edged the lawns for the first time the other day and then cut the grass – all in all it took me about 4 hours! Still it does look the better for it.

The alpine planter I made from ‘Woodblocx’ and planted up a few weeks ago- delightful if getting a  bit overcrowded…

Apart from being behind with the weeding etc. everything elses is pretty much on track. The greenhouse and cold frame (as well as the lunge window sill) are packed full of seed trays and seedlings at various stages of growth. I’ve tried experimenting with a mix of multi purpose compost as a base layer and then some John Innes seed compost on top to get the seeds started; I’m still not very happy with the John Innes, as it seems to get water sodden and so not very healthy, quite quickly, whereas the multi purpose is not really fine enough for the really small seeds. I shall have to try further mixes.

The flower borders are starting to fill out very nicely, and I’m just about to mulch these with old wood chips and put in staking for the larger perennials. The bulbs and other spring flowering plants are also making a good show at present, though I’ve been disappointed with the tulip bulbs I bought in Amsterdam last November. Only one of the three packs I bought has come up as expected, the other two being nowhere close to the blue or violet colours promised on the packaging. So, the best laid colour mixing plans have gone out of the window and I’ll have to rearrange these in the autumn. The other, more established tulips are looking grand; I’m especially pleased with the way some old cast offs from Peckover House, planted 18 months ago, have responded to their new situation. They are flowering very well in the sandier soil here,  perhaps evidence that you can leave tulips in this sort of soil, but in heavier soils they tend to shrivel up and rot- the soil here is a lot more sandy than the siltier, clayey material in Wisbech.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Food crops are coming along, and I managed to spot the stem of an artichoke the other day (just one!), so the roots I put in last autumn may have not been a complete write off. I obviously miscalculated the amount of seed potatoes I needed, as I’ve ended up with s ix rows instead of the planned two! So, the kitchen garden plan has already had to be amended! Anyway, most of the beds are full of growth now; broad beans, mangetout peas, chard, lettuce,chives, calabrese, cauliflower, red cabbage, spinach, carrots, onions and garlic as well as the potatoes and more permanent beds of fruit. So far so good (and pests seem to be under control)!

The Kitchen Garden

Ist Early potatoes poking through

Cold frame full to overflowing

We recently visited my mother-in-law in Devon and I spent a good day or two pruning back a number of over grown shrubs. The cuttings amounted to about 10 big bags, so I must have made an impact! As you will recall, her garden is on a steep slope overlooking the edge of Tavistock and farmland beyond. A lovely setting, but a garden that is just too much for her to cope with now. She does get some gardening help, but this seems to amount to grass cutting and not much more. You may have gathered that whilst there we managed to visit several lovely gardens and other places, so keep an eye out for more articles and photographs in the next couple of weeks.

My Mother-in-Law’s garden in Devon

I’ve continued with my work with the three groups of students at Fakenham Academy and am pleased to say that the three plots are now starting to fill up- we’ve planted a lot of potatoes, some beetroot (grown by the students from seed) and in the next couple of weeks we’ll be sowing and planting a lot more. Hopefully this activity will start to generate more enthusiasm in the students who, to be fair have had not much more than digging to keep them occupied up to now. On Thursday I also begin work on a planting scheme for a border in the grounds of the community centre at Fakenham. This is backed by a lovely old ‘crinkle crankle’ wall which is over 200 years old. The first job- with volunteers assisting I hope – is to clear the majority of the borders of an invasion of Borage and other plants and then to measure up and start to consider a planting plan. The local primary school is also getting involved and we hope to complete the project by the end of May. I’ll do some articles and pictures about this as it progresses.

The Cawston School garden is also looking full, though I haven’t been there for a few weeks, so it must be in dire need of weeding! I think I may have told you that the School has now not only achieved the highest grading in the RHS Campaign for School Gardening (level 5) but has also achieved a gold standard in the broader ‘learning outside the classroom’ that they do. On that note I’m giving a presentation about education for sustainability at a national network of early years landscape professionals tomorrow, and hope to cover a wide range of projects that I’m involved with. I’ll let you know how it goes- I’m particularly looking forward to seeing the outside environment at the Earlham Early Years Centre in Norwich where the meeting is taking place- must remember my camera!

Work to promote my forthcoming courses  has been progressing and I’m going along to Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum for its ‘Going Wild’ event on 5th May to conduct a couple of garden tours and promote the Wild life Gardening course there on 18th May. I’m not yet sure about the numbers signed up for this or the other two courses that are scheduled to begin in early May. Both of these are in the evening at Reepham High School and College and once again I’m covering garden design and growing your own food. Fingers crossed I get the numbers that mean they’ll go ahead.

Well, this is obviously a busy time and so far today I’ve spent the morning on the computer and occasionally looking out at the weeding still to be done and all the other jobs in the garden, so I must get moving! Bye for now, old friend, and all the best until I write again in a few weeks time.

Old School Gardener