Misty Mornings - October 2018

A blanket of mist hovered across the landscape as I drove towards Norton Conyers. It is the eighteenth of October - days before the clocks go back - and there is a real nip in the air; the first morning of the season where car de-icer has been required! I arrived early and walked towards the house - the crunch of frosted grass underneath my boots. The adjacent fields were atmospheric as sheep continued to graze - seemingly unperturbed by the cold.

Later, the sky cleared and the gardens were bathed in autumnal sunshine, but for now there was work to be done.

With leaves scattered across the drive and courtyard, a clear-up was required before they had the chance to degrade. Leaf-blower, rake and brush were used to gather, and dumper truck and wheelbarrow to convey them to the compost heap.

Clearing Leaves

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The lawns had their final trim of 2018 in late October, after which the machinery was given a little maintenance. A pressure washer was used to clean the lawnmowers, tractor and dumper truck to prevent rusting over the winter. Months of grassy build up and mud were removed. Unfortunately my waterproof boots didn't live up to their promise...

By lunchtime I was already saturated. The lack of wellies was a mistake. But - unfortunately for me, there was more pressure washing to be done in the afternoon (the paving outside the house this time!).

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Yellowing Pear Tree

Dahlias

With the temperature dropping, it was time for the Dahlias to be cut back in preparation for winter storage. The masses of foliage collected held on to glimmers of their summer shades. After depletion over the summer, the compost heap was quickly filling again.

The following week, each plant was easily forked out of the ground before being placed in a labelled crate. The many different varieties are curiously - often amusingly named - 'Chat Noir', 'Sean C', 'Thomas Edison', 'Bishop of Canterbury'.

The afternoon's work was more challenging; the Dahlias in the top border of the garden are not labelled and are mixed in with other plants. Giles' encyclopaedic plant knowledge was required to help identify each variety.
As I labelled up a Dahlia as 'Murky Eye', I sensed Giles' amusement - it is in fact spelt 'Merckii'.

After a full day digging up Dahlias, the Orangery is once again filled with dozens of crates of them - protected from the chill of winter.

Dahlias

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Apple Juice

Apple juice continued to be produced throughout October and into early November - a team effort required to produce the necessary three barrels in a day.

Each batch is a completely unique combination of apple varieties, and so each bottle of Norton Conyers apple juice has its own subtly delicious flavour. 

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The compost heaps rapidly filled with cuttings from this years' growth. 

But the woody stems from the berry plot were taken into the woods to add to habitat piles.

Redcurrants before pruning

On my first day at Norton Conyers, Giles and I installed wooden supports for new plants in the berry plot. But now, some of the older supports - installed by Giles in 1995 - had given way, and so it was time to replace them.

Installing new supports

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It is nearly one month since the first paragraph of this post was written - the fifteenth of November. This time mist overwhelmed the atmosphere on my morning commute. And the temperature was bitter. But, as has become a pattern for the time of year, the sun came out unexpectedly and the temperature rose to give a spring-like feel to this Autumnal air. I wonder for how long we will continue to be pleasantly surprised by the weather?

Pressing On! September 2018

Admittedly, I had been waiting for this moment for some time. But the reality was a little daunting. The 1960s dumper truck would be under my command. The machine is battered, but still sturdy and reliable after decades of service. Giles started the machine, and I drove it towards the woods.

It took a little while to get used to this old engine - the temperamental gearstick, the knack to starting the machine, getting to grips with the (sometimes erratic!) handling - but the feeling when driving it was of liberation and real excitement; this was the dream of my 5 year old self!

Past the house, the pet graveyard and through the meandering woodland, I stopped the machine at the bottom of the slope next to the Ice House.

The Ash tree which had grown atop the Ice House had been felled the previous week. We cleared the leafy debris - building habitat piles, and Giles used his chainsaw to break up the trunk and larger branches. Plum watched on - sitting proudly on the tree stump.

Huge, heavy logs were rolled down the hill and loaded into the dumper truck. I would drive four loads to the wood store on this day, with more to be transferred at a later date. But the Ice House was now ready for restoration. 

The newly, lovingly-restored Ice House

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The plum trees needed their annual maintenance. After some pruning, we looked for the right growth to train upwards and outwards - tying the fresh growth against the wall with tar twine. The trees gave a good crop this year, despite the neighbouring apple trees which tower above them. This process will promote healthy growth next year.

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The remarkable weather this year provided ideal growing conditions for the grapes outside the Orangery - Gargarin Blue. The fruits were harvested in their frosted night-blue bunches, and processed; Giles had brought juicing equipment. The grapes were pulped and then pressed, and a small batch of rich, fragrant juice was made.

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Juicing continued the following week - albeit with a different kind of fruit! Plum and Shandy watched on as different varieties of fallen apples were collected from around the garden. Much of the morning was spent collecting the fruits, and eight or nine full crates were ready for pressing.

The apples were washed, quartered and processed. Two and a half barrels of juice were filled and ready for pasteurisation.

And over the following days, more apples would be collected and stored in the Orangery for future juicing; the smell was intoxicating.

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The paeony beds were now clear of their dead summer growth, and we had forked them over in their entirety the previous week. Compost was even distributed over this patch; a process that is to be repeated every four to five years.

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Whereas juicing apples were windfalls, ladders were needed to fetch apples suitable for storage. Ladders were climbed, and the best apples were picked and passed to a colleague on the ground. The apple store was prepared and the apples were carefully placed - small gaps between - in their varieties. And pumpkins - which had been grown on the compost heaps, and 'cured' in the sun - filled the shelves above.

Autumn really is here.

The Earth's Bounty - Norton Conyers, July 2018

Varied Fortunes in Adverse Conditions

The parched land at Norton Conyers was finally relieved in mid July. Memories of the summer in 1976 had been very much alive in the public conscience, as records were broken week after week. Unfortunately for the gardener, the weather cannot be changed; adverse conditions can stifle and overwhelm. The lawns yellowed, and whilst some plants struggled between waterings, others flourished despite the arid soil:

Passiflora caerulea (Blue passionflower)

Cherry and apple trees were also resolute and unmoved by the lack of rain; both developed healthy fruit during this period.

The Relief of Rain

On a day in which Alan had spent most of the morning watering the vegetable garden, the rain finally came! He had left for home half an hour previously, and I couldn't help but imagine his exasperation at the sheer irony of this. However, the downpour was brief, so the work wasn't in vain after all. However, it was enough to refresh the still and stagnant air.

This was to be the end of the drought; intermittent spells of rain followed over the coming days, with the occasional storm. And remarkable things started to happen...

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The speed of the grass' recovery was something to behold. Mowing had been abandoned for six weeks; the small amount of scruffy growth was left to prevent further damage. Colour quickly started to return to the lawns, and a fortnight after the first rain, it was ready for cutting again. Usual working arrangements fell back into place, with strimming and mowing being completed every Thursday.

However, the success of the vegetable garden was the biggest surprise for me. Whilst the vegetables were religiously and thoroughly soaked during the heatwave, I thought the enduring heat may stymie their success. But a bumper crop prevailed - carrots, cauliflowers, onions, peas and beans to name just a few good crops. 

A barrow full of marrows!! 

The speed of growth in the garden after the drought has been difficult to keep up with. A 'barrow full of marrows' was harvested at the beginning of August - a process to be repeated within two weeks! Similarly, cucumbers growing in the greenhouse were remarkably prolific and fast to grow. 

We have also been blessed with bountiful beetroot - some are now the size of footballs!

The produce at Norton Conyers is well used: it is available to purchase in the orangery and boxes of fruit and vegetables are regularly taken up to the house.

A personal favourite recipe is Gennaro Contaldo's Curly Kale Pizza. It may sound rather suspicious, but it is incredibly tasty, with chilli, garlic, tomatoes, capers, olives and nuts providing the base for the kale topping. Norton Conyers' kale was used, and the pizza was enjoyed in our house on two consecutive evenings!

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This year, Giles planted a variety of salad potato that he has not grown for 40 years; the 'Pink Fir Apple' is an unusually-shaped heritage potato. Blight had started to attack the foliage of a number of the plants; I was tasked with cutting the affected back to the base. Alan and I were to dig up this variety the following week; I was impressed with the flavour and texture of this heritage crop.

Digging up Pink Fir Apples potatoes

Flourishing Willow

At the beginning of August, Giles asked me to cut back the willow hedge adjacent to the greenhouse; I thought back to one of my first days in the garden in early March, where all of the gardeners were involved in pruning and pollarding the previous years' growth. That same hedge had grown with vigour in the intervening months, and now towered above and impeded the pathways to the side. I was struck by the willow's sheer vim and vigour.

Pollarded Willow in March

The same Willow in August

A Time to Reflect

Months of hard work and patience have been rewarded over recent weeks. Whilst work in the gardens never ends, there is a deep sense of satisfaction gained through successfully growing - and harvesting - the earth's bounty.

It is incredible to think of the development of the gardens - both manmade and natural - since I started working at Norton Conyers in February. 

Kevin Woods builders have been on site over the last few weeks; their work consists of restoration and repair - preserving and respecting the past, with a keen eye on posterity.

And this reflects the work in the gardens too - assisting nature, and building on generations of hard work, whilst seeking new opportunities for development and improvement.

Apple trees in March

August

An Apple a Day? - Norton Conyers, 19th March 2018

2018's raspberry supports next to 1995's (left)

Today was a glorious - if brisk start; more snow had fallen at the weekend - the remnants of which still showed themselves in light patches across the garden. My first day in the gardens involved installing huge wooden poles as supports for the new raspberry plants; indeed, Giles later said that one of his first tasks as Head Gardener had been to install raspberry supports in 1995. These poles still stood solid - 23 years later. I looked forward to making my contribution. Today we were to finish the job we started in February using metal wire. The tools - a huge metal hammer, a drill with a huge drill bit and fencing pliers.

We assembled next to the apple trees. Plum was lively this morning. She jumped and barked, taking particular exception to Beth's hands. Giles and I completed the first job - hammering in smaller posts at 45 degree angles to the end posts. The hammer went above my waist when stood on end - it was a big, heavy beast. Giles held the pole and I hammered; my finger promptly got in the way. I concealed my pain - at least until it doubled in size! It's still a little tender as I write this. "I won't do that again." I thought. Well I wouldn't - at least not today. Soon, the supporting poles were all installed. Alyson and Bex marked out the location of the wire with a garden line, and then drilled the holes.

Meanwhile, Beth and I headed to the vegetable garden; an order had been placed by Sir James. There are thin pickings at this time of year, but there was still some wonderful fresh Kale, Leeks and Celeriac. We took them to the Orangery, where they were washed in a bucket of water and trimmed.

Some earlier crops remained in the apple store - we filled up the vegetable box further with potatoes, beetroot and apples.

The view from the top of the Apple Store ladder

A vegetable box for Sir James and Lady Halina

Having filled the box of vegetables, Beth and I returned to the Berry plot. The holes had been drilled and the tensioners installed. Bex and I headed to the Dumper store to retrieve a couple of reels of metal wire; we returned and teamed up to feed it through the poles. The reels had been used before, and were fitted with hundreds of bits of string. My new multi-purpose tool came in use as I used the scissors to remove it. Feeding the wire through the poles was a snug fit. Half way through this task, I discovered that one of the reels of wire was tangled - it took much effort to unravel, and Giles and I were occupied for 10 minutes for this purpose alone. Following installation of the wire, we realised one of the tensioners wouldn't fit properly next to the angled poles when it was tightened. I suggested drilling into the pole to allow further room. Giles did this, and the result was satisfactory. The supports were installed. Following this, Beth and I tied up the raspberry plants with garden twine.

Shandy and Plum accompanied us to our next task of the day. We would cut back the huge, established apple trees. Giles explained that they were towards the end of their lifespan, but would probably last at least another 20 years. Water shoots - or sprouts - were out biggest enemy today; they form when an Apple tree is cut back. In order to discourage this, the shoots had to be cut right back to their base. And there were hundreds of them. We made a start, but it wasn't long before lunchtime.

In the Orangery; a 'Celebrations' box lay on the table. As I sat down, Bex passed the box over to me, along with an envelope. I was intrigued, but couldn't work out what this was about. A birthday cake - baked by the lovely - and multi-talented Bex. Raspberry and honey - it was beautiful, moist and really delicious. And a birthday card too, adorned with a smiling sheep - in reference to last week's adventures. This was signed by all the gardeners too - even Plum and Shandy!!

Given the fact that these apple trees are older trees, it is even more important to cut back weaker branches and shoots to promote better growth and fruits in stronger parts of the tree.

There were four trees to tackle. This took all of us nearly four hours to complete. Tonnes of branches were removed, improving both the aesthetics and the health of the trees. It was an even bigger effort to relocate the waste wood; thinner branches were taken to the woods for habitat piles, whilst the bigger ones were placed in wheelbarrows for firewood. I loaded my car up with them for my woodburning stove! Giles said they would take about a year to be suitable for burning; they are currently airing in my shed. Unfortunately much of the wood had succumbed to rot - the centres were filled with dusty rotten wood and loaded with woodlice. Giles explained this wasn't unusual for trees of this age; despite this they would most likely live reasonably healthily for another 20, 30 or 40 years.

Sawdusty Shandy

View over the Berry Plot

I spent the last hour of work clearing up stray branches; this was satisfying - if slightly exhausting work. But the results were there for all to see - this side of the garden looked neater, healthier and lighter.