Category: This and that


Harvest Continued…..

Filed under: Historic landscapes, This and that, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment
30/09/2013

gressenhallfw's avatarGressenhall Farm and Workhouse

Following up from my last blog explaining how we had been harvesting the rye, oats and barley down on the farm, (I hoped you all liked it) I thought that as my latest blog coincides with our potato harvest, I would explain a little further.

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 Richard with the horses

The way we harvest the potatoes here at Gressenhall is through the use of a horse drawn Ransomes potato spinner. The spinner we use is a later model dating from around the 1940s.

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Spinner

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 Bottom blade and tines

As you can see from the picture above, the spinner works by the bottom blade cutting into the ridged row of potatoes and then the spinning tines pushing the crop out to the side. As the blade digs into the row, the soil that is pushed up cushions the potatoes from being bruised and broken during the harvesting process. The spinner is powered…

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Norfolk September Morn

Filed under: Historic landscapes, Norfolk in poetry- Jack Kett, This and that, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment

IMG_7411I recently featured a poem by a former neighbour, Jack Kett. I’ve now picked up one of the books of his poems and thought some of these are so evocative of the landscape around me here in Norfolk, that I’d feature a few more. So here’s the first as we end September…..

‘September morning, with the warm sun growing

In warmth and brightness, scattering mists of pearl,

Which round the waking village flow and furl.

And see, the top of the church tower is glowing,

Splendid, sunlit, above the misty sea,

Now ebbing  fast to set the morning free.

Along the hedgerow countless dying weeds

Show one last beauty in their feathered seeds.

The chattering sparrows wheel, and wheel again

Across the stubble field, and by the lane,

Among the dew-drenched grasses hardly seen,

Yet showing rarely a sun-gilded sheen,

A silver maze of gossamer is spread,

While all around hang berries, richly red.’

‘September Morning’ by John Kett from ‘A late lark Singing’ (Minerva Press 1997)

Related articles:

The Church in the Fields

Old School Gardener

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Gressenhall Wildlife Garden on ‘Garden Party’ from Radio Norfolk!

Filed under: Heritage Gardens & gardening, This and that, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment
27/09/2013

 gressenhall wildlife garden

The ‘Garden Party’ on BBC Radio Norfolk (28th September) went off to Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse for a look at a garden, designed (by me) with wildlife in mind. Plus your questions to the expert panel – Alan Gray, Ian Roofe and Joe Whitehead. Hosted by Thordis Fridriksson. Listen to the programme on iplayer until 5th October – the pieces about the gardens are 25 minutes and 1 hour 35 minutes into the whole programme.

Old School Gardener

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What is in a name? – The Ouses of Britain

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26/09/2013

chrisatousewasheslps's avatarOuse Washes: The Heart of the Fens

Heritage Lottery FundIf you thought that there was only one River Ouse in the UK you are going to need to read this article as I think you may be surprised to learn of all the different ‘Ouses’ around. To understand the reason why there are so many rivers called Ouse, it is the name that gives it away: the name Ouse is thought to have Celtic origins, meaning ‘water’; therefore when saying the River Ouse or the Great River Ouse you are actually saying the ‘river water’ or ‘great water river’.

There are 5 ‘Ouses’ around the UK, from high up in Orkney to the Ouse River down in Sussex; from north to south, these are:

  • The Ouse Orkney
  • The Yorkshire Ouse
  • The Great Ouse
  • The Little Ouse
  • The Sussex Ouse

The Sussex Ouse itself is 42 miles long, but with all its tributaries runs over 140 miles long…

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“A different point of view”- improve your garden

Filed under: Design, This and that — Leave a comment

934746_10151676747891970_1023613447_n“A different point of view”- tools to help you assess and get more from your garden.

13 October 2013, 10.00 – 4.00

Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, Norfolk

Is your garden in need of a revamp or complete makeover, but you don’t know where or how to start? This workshop will help you assess your garden and what you want from it, grasp some of the basics of garden design and how to apply these to your own space.

I’ll be leading the workshop, which will be a mix of presentation, practical exercises and group discussion. Examples and case studies, together with the gardens at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, will be used to illustrate key points and inspire you to develop ideas for your garden.“A different point of view”- tools to help you assess and get more from your garden. 13 October 2013 10am - 4pm<br />

£32 per person / £28.50 for Museums Pass holders (including tea and coffee)

For more information and a booking form go to Gressenhall Adult Learning

Old School Gardener

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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25/09/2013

gwenniesworld's avatargwenniesgarden

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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The Store-y so far….

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shinealightproject's avatarShine A Light

By Ann-Marie Peckham

Heritage Open Day (Sunday 15th September 2013) saw the Shine a Light team opening up the Superstore at Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse to the first ever public tours.

Our tours, which ran twice every hour (from 11am – 4pm) gave visitors the chance to look around the store, see inside some of the packed crates and view a wide range of objects including the ‘Norwich Snap Dragons’, an eclectic selection of furniture (including a gout stool!), 19th century fire ladders and a 20th century Archimedes screw.  The half hour tours were very much a ‘taster’ session, letting the public see our working environment now and informing them on the future look and function of the store planned for March 2014.

With the success of this day (nearly all of our 10 ‘taster’ tours were full!) I thought it would be interesting to let you…

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Waddeston – not my style of garden but …….

Filed under: Great Gardens, Heritage Gardens & gardening, This and that — Leave a comment
22/09/2013

greenbenchramblings's avatargreenbenchramblings

We went to Waddeston by default! We were planning to visit another garden in Oxfordshire, but as we got close we decided to check the details of the garden, especially how to find it. The trouble was the garden details also showed that we were visiting on a day when it was closed. Oops!!

Plan B quick! Luckily we found another garden literally a mile from where we had parked up to get directions to our original destination. From the description in our book, the garden at Waddeston did not sound my style of gardening but the architecture of the house itself sounded interesting. So we decided to go and have a look.

We arrived to discover Waddestonto be an architecturally fussy building in the style of a French chateau. I admired it but didn’t like it. Jude, the Undergardener liked it a lot.

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There were lots of fussy little…

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Filed under: Play, This and that, Wildlife and Nature — 2 Comments
21/09/2013

Project Wild Thing- showing at Picturehouse Cinemas!

project wild thing‘The roaming radius of British children — i.e.. the distance they wander from their home — has shrunk by 90 per cent in the last 30 years

It’s a disheartening statistic, but one that has inspired award-winning filmmaker David Bond, who, keen for future generations not to miss out on the magic of the great outdoors, dreamed up PROJECT WILD THING.

The film itself is only one part of Bond’s campaign, which enlists a number of scientists, nature experts, sociologists, as well as the National Trust, to set about selling nature to kids.

Conscious that it will take more than eulogising to prise them away from their TVs and games consoles, Bond also recruits a marketing team to lend their branding savvy and repackage the countryside.

A charming exercise in creative, socially-minded activism, PROJECT WILD THING is a grass-roots triumph..’

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Your Garden by Design- a new course in Norfolk

Filed under: Design, This and that — Leave a comment
15/09/2013
Want to improve the attractiveness and functioning of your garden? Then read on...

Want to improve the attractiveness and functioning of your garden? Then read on…

The Reepham Learning Community, here in Norfolk, offers a range of courses in the evenings and during the day in a wide range of topics. I’m hoping to run my second course on Garden Design, commencing next Monday, 23rd September, 7pm – 9pm at Reepham High School & College.

It’s a six session programme using a mixture of discussion, presentation and surgery – type advice to individuals who want to apply some design thinking  to their own gardens. The course will help you:

  • think about what you want from your garden
  • use different ways of appraising and surveying your current plot
  • with an introduction to different garden styles
  • understand what is meant by strong garden structure and appropriate, attractive planting, and
  • how to put this all together in a scale drawing of your future plans.

It also features a garden visit to see some of the principles of garden design in practice and encourage a critical approach to assessing gardens.

The first course involved 9 participants, a good-sized group allowing for a healthy level of discussion and individual attention. I know those that took part felt better equipped to tackle their own garden development after sharing issues and ideas, seeing examples of well designed gardens and picking up some key skills and tips along the way.

The next course is close to achieving a viable number of participants, so if you or someone you know is interested in getting some help in designing their own garden then please see more information at www.reephamlearningcommunity.co.uk or call Sandie Athow on 01603 308133.

Oh, and by the way, later in the coming week I’ll be starting a new series of articles focusing on design  tips to improve your garden. The series-  called’ Design my Garden’ –  will start with a few thoughts about designing a garden for someone who has some sort of disability.

Old School Gardener

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