The kitchen garden lies adjacent to the Glasshouse, and has been producing good harvests for almost two years now. Before that it lay dormant as a grassed area with pear trees for several years, but thankfully the decision was made to restore the plot back to how Lawrence Johntson had it in the 1930’s when it was providing food for the manor. After LJ handed Hidcote over to the National Trust the remaining gardeners had been entrusted to get on with things and keep the place ticking over, however from various letters in the archives they, at times, seemed more interested in tending the Kitchen Garden than anything else! In December 1950, leaf-mould destined for the Red Borders had instead been mulched onto the vegetable beds, leading to this stern missive from the Trust: ‘no leafmould will be put on the kitchen garden unless instructions to that effect are given by the committee’. Today no such shenanigans take place, one of the supervisors Sarah looks after these plots and is allowed to do as much mulching as she sees fit! Produce here goes directly to the restaurant kitchen, and any excess is sold off to visitors.
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| Self-seeded poppy action in front of Asparagus ‘Stewarts Purple’ |
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| A winter root-crop, Celeriac. My sister has been wittering on about this so I will give it a try at harvest time |
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| A bit of brightness to attract the hoverflies and pollinators in |
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| Last year the brassicas were decimated by caterpillars, this year a netted structure has provided protection. In the nearby Rose Walk, Crambe cordifolia (Brassicaceae) has taken a battering with lots of female Whites landing here to lay their eggs instead |
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| There will never be a day when I’m not in the mood to eat beetroot |
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| The raspberries this year have been incredible! Apparently back in the day, boys employed to pick fruit had to whistle as they worked so the master knew they were not gorging themselves. I work under no such constraints… |
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| George the pig waiting patiently for his breakfast |
