We’ve been squelching in the garden lately, the rain has been streaming down in gusty sheets. October's mild weather, heavy rains and bursts of sunlight have brought out the need for wellies and raincoats. The kitchen garden is rich with autumnal reds, yellows, ochres and oranges, leaves toss wildly about as we work before settling over the ground in thick piles. This week I’ve finally decided to construct a leaf mould compost bay. It makes a fantastic mulch, reducing rainfall runoff and therefore making more water available for plant growth. Leaf mulch keeps the soils cooler in hot weather and warmer in cold weather and decreases water evaporation from the soil. It takes about 2 years to decompose properly, but it’s well worth the effort.
November is a month of tidying up. Days spent reorganising the beds, moving plants around that have overgrown their space and cutting down spent, flopping or falling-over foliage to the base. This allows air to be let in and prevents rot around the stems and other fungal issues. We move those that have seeded in the pathways, split older crowns and fill in areas that have become bare. We’re still transplanting seedlings that have sprung up in the polytunnels and tiny tree saplings that have snuck in between the hedges unnoticed, that have now been spotted since summer's die-back. I look forward to reorganising the glamping beds, now that the glamping season is over.
Clearing the vegetable beds of weeds, edging the borders and putting down a good layer of manure has finally been done. With all this mild weather, the asparagus is shooting up again, the beans are still flowering and producing a small crate a week, even our nicotiana plants have produced flowers. Garlic bulbs were split and put into a couple of small beds in the last couple of days and I’m already looking forward to seeing those first few spikes poking out of the soil.
I’m excited about our Orchard Fire Fridays with chef Darren Broom. A day of foraging around the garden, learning the art of butchery and cooking seasonal produce over the fire in the orchard promises ruddy cheeks, tingling fingers, warm bellies, enlightening thoughts of how we can connect with the earth. How to gather what we need sustainably, prepare, cook, eat, and share what the garden has to offer. (See Orchard Fire days on our website)
Thoughts of next year's sowings, and the excitement of receiving the seed packets in the post, make me pick up my pen and notebook, like writing out a Christmas wish list for the kitchen. I need to sit down with Darren and talk about what he’d like on the menu for next year and perhaps try out a few new cutting flower varieties for the PYO.
As I walk around the garden and make a short list of jobs for the week, I think of winter foliage for the restaurant. Rosehips and ivy, branches of cotoneaster, spindle berry, pheasant berry and pine come to mind. I gather bits as I go around to give to Mae, who is as creative with her floral arrangements as Darren is in the kitchen. I adore sharing what I grow in the garden with the team, to adorn tables and laden our shelves with bottled produce. The other day I was presented with a glass of our apple juice - drinking down that sweet nectar really was quite something. This is what eating and drinking is all about. Growing your own, sharing with others, and being thankful to the earth for providing us with the means to do so.
I wish you all a cosy November.