Easton Walled Garden

We had a lovely day at Easton Walled Gardens at the weekend: 12 acres of 'lost' gardens in a beautiful valley in Lincolnshire, between Grantham and Stamford. The gardens have been restored and there are walks, meadows, roses, a kitchen garden supplying the tearoom, and a cottage garden.

Sweet Peas are a particular focus. Whilst it is a bit late in the season now they grow and collect the seed from around 60 varieties. I feel that a return visit in the height of summer to see and smell them at their best will be a must.

This is a place where children are actively encouraged to play, and there is lots for them to do. Half-term activities included a Fairy and Acorns Trail (we didn't do terribly well, but as you can see, we did find one on the Potting Shed door). A particular favourite was Pumpkin Rolling down the steep, terraced slopes into the Lower Garden. This was great fun even for those whose pumpkins split, leading to automatic disqualification.

Details of these activities and lots more are on their website at http://www.eastonwalledgardens.co.uk/.

Well worth a visit!

Self-sufficient. For a while at least

We are at that happy time of year when we are briefly self-sufficient in fruit and veg. It feels good and I feel that I made the right choice in keeping the lottie. There have been lots of times when I have struggled to keep up with things but I guess anything worthwhile requires a bit of effort.
Over the course of the year we have enjoyed lots of lovely things to eat. I'm sorry if this seems self-satisfied, but I couldn't resist a tally:

Grown in the garden:
Not just in the little patch shown in the photo here, but also in pots, in the back garden, in the ground and up trees and trellises too...
Apples - from our two traditional Lincolnshire heritage trees
Victoria Plums
Tomatoes - took ages to ripen but finally abundant
Beetroot
Courgettes
Spring onions - still going strong
Radishes
Salad leaves
Blackcurrants - just a few as I have just one young plant
Red cabbage
Chives
Strawberries - those the dog didn't eat!
Sugar-snap peas - grown in pots. A great success.
Herbs: mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme and basil.

From the lottie:
Potatoes
Onions - now all plaited and hanging in the garage
Garlic - ditto
Purple sprouting broccoli - just starting
White cabbage
Spinach
Raspberries
Fine green beans
Broad beans
Runner beans
Almost ripe: pumkins
And coming soon...sprouts.