Collage picture archive: ‘tired of London, tired of life’ – http://wp.me/p2CnX7-1wt
Archive for July, 2016
The Walled Garden is really moving into overdrive and looks fantastic. My latest session- a short one- at Blickling was another warm day.
I began the session an hour earlier than usual, and it was a good plan, because by midday the heat was pretty oppressive. Digging over an area next to the runner beans saw some serious weeds removed and I followed this up with some hoeing around the beans themselves.
My fellow volunteers were also involved in weeding and one or two were harvesting- there’s plenty of stuff for use in the restaurant and some will be packed up for offering to visitors, in return for a donation. My ‘pea tunnel’ created last week seems to have survived, though the peas themselves are not looking so good.
The rest of the gardens are also in full splendour and I chatted to Assistant Head Gardener, Steve about the hours of work he put into the parterre garden removing bindweed earlier in the season- he told me it was the equivalent of ‘triple digging’! The double borders and White Garden are also looking vibrant in the sunshine.
Elsewhere, Norfolk Peter was working with a colleague from a local firm to weld together the arches that will sit across the main path in the walled garden and eventually provide a wonderful ‘tunnel of fruit’.
I finished off my morning with some serious hoeing around the dahlias that are just about to flower alongside the east wall of the Walled Garden (see picture below). Next week will, I hope, see them in their full glory, and I’ll try to capture them in my next post.
Further Information:
Blickling Hall website
Blickling Hall Facebook page
A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall
Old School Gardener
Back to the future: how London’s new mayor can reconnect children with nature — Rethinking Childhood
With a new Mayor and a new Government strategy for children and nature on the way, it’s time London made its children an ‘indicator species’.
via Back to the future: how London’s new mayor can reconnect children with nature — Rethinking Childhood
By Alice Marks, @alicemarks0 On 19th July, the first annual report on the progress of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was launched as part of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016 is designed to set the benchmark for […]
via Finding hope in a gloomy view: the state of SDG 2 — One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?
Picture by Karen Nuttall
An occasional series exploring Winterbourne’s weeds (yes, there are a few!) through the work of cyanotype artist Anne Parouty…
Following up on the last post, here’s a run down of the blooms in the rest of the garden: the Left Bank (the smaller part of the front garden that lies west of the driveway) and the shady back garden.
Picture by Michael Whitaker
Following the recent turmoil caused by the Brexit vote and so many upsetting world events, we need cheering up. And Blickling volunteer gardeners don’t disappoint. Sitting down to a well-earned lunch break, Tressa announced she’d brought in a ‘Reconcilation Cake’…..we didn’t need to be asked twice.
My pea tunnel finished
Prior to this I’d spent the morning putting in a stick tunnel for the peas in the walled garden. It’s always nice to work with quality materials. The chunky hazel sticks went in at an angle along along both sides of the double row, and then I wove the tops together…
After lunch (rather extended due to the cake and chat) I went over to the side border and worked with Aussie Pete and Jane in weeding the various border so veg. Then I turned my attention to the garlic; I carefully dug up eight different varieties, none of which was overly impressive I have to say…down to weather I guess.
Garlic being dug…
..some of the results…
..elephant Garlic- always impressive….
..the bed cleared, dug and raked ready for the next crop
Having cleared this area- during which I had a little banter with ‘Norah Lindsay’ (one of the volunteer garden guides dressed up to look like the famous 1930’s garden designer who made such an impact at Blickling)- I dug it over and raked it off, in readiness for some more lettuces.
The Walled garden is really looking splendid at present, especially with its lush borders of Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii) and the full growth of so many different plants. Project Manager Mike had started to dig the potatoes (he tells me he thinks we have 33 varieties) and was selling these and some of the other veg off for a donation. Methinks next year that even with supplying the kitchen here, we’ll need a shop to sell off the bounty to come.
The other joy of this time of year is the number of visitors around the place and many with questions or comments on the gardens and gardening it’s so nice chatting to these people who really appreciate the efforts of everyone involved here.
Project Manager Mike waterign in one of the glasshouses
Further Information:
Blickling Hall website
Blickling Hall Facebook page
A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall
Old School Gardener
By the middle of July it feels like we have reached the gateway to high summer in Chicago. Let’s see what’s blooming in the garden, starting with the main part of the front garden: the Driveway Border, Sidewalk Border, and the Island Bed. The remainder we’ll cover in a second post.
Old School Garden 