Snowdrops from our walled garden are for sale at Uncle Henry’s.
Nicky, our Head Gardener, has lovingly potted our snowdrops, giving you all the chance to take a little piece of Uncle Henry’s first signs of spring back to your own garden.
Pop in store to collect your pot of snowdrops
Recommened by BBC Countryfile, loved by Uncle Henry’s
Spring Shopping Fair – Saturday 6th March
Come to the Fair…
and celebrate Spring in Style
With the cold winter days soon coming to an end, a visit to the Spring Fair is the perfect excuse to indulge in some much needed shopping therapy.
It’s a fantastic place to find gifts as treat for yourself or your family, or hunt for the special things to add the finishing touches to your home and garden.
With Mothers Day and Easter just around the corner the Fair is also a great oppurtunity to find the perfect gift and added extras to make this Spring extra special.
Entry Free of Charge 10am – 4pm
all in aid of
Here are just a few photo’s taken by Nicky, our Gardener… it’s lovely to see the first signs of Spring in our garden.
FEBRUARY 2010
What’s been going on!
According to the Oxford Popular English Dictionary the definition of a ‘gardener’ is; ‘a person who gardens; a person employed to tend a garden’. Nowhere does it mention cleaning, pot washing, structural modification or waste disposal!
Confused! I shall now explain. Since the welcome retreat of the snow and sub zero temperatures, it has been full steam ahead with the preparation of the garden and poly tunnel in readiness for the new growing season, this has involved removing the entire contents of the poly tunnel to enable it to be vigorously scrubbed from top to bottom, this was needed as a thin layer of green algae had grown on the lower parts of the polythene and if left would seriously reduce the amount of light allowed through the cover.
The next job was to wash all the seed trays, pots and modules, using a mild washing up detergent, this not only allows you to recycle but it helps prevent any pests or diseases being passed on to future planting.
As the poly tunnel is 20ft long by 10ft wide its area is far too great to heat on its own and as seeds require consistent temperature for germination and continual growth, I decided to halve the poly tunnel using long lengths of large bubble wrap (sourced on the internet), this will enable the paraffin greenhouse heater to keep the temperature above freezing during the night.
After a few consecutive dry days focus turned to the garden and in particular preparation of the runner bean trenches. Runner beans are greedy plants so you can’t be too generous when it comes to providing them with a nutrient rich soil. The intention this year is to have 2 runner bean rows, that meant more digging, four trenches in total about a foot wide and a spades depth, these were then lined with cardboard and then filled with ample helpings of vegetable peelings, both these items are in plentiful supply from the shop and kitchen at Henry’s and nobody seemed to mind me helping myself to either! After that it was just a case of replacing the soil and letting nature work her magic.
Talking of nature, we have put up several bird nesting boxes to try and encourage more native species of birds into the garden, the sites were chosen carefully ensuring that they weren’t positioned in direct sunlight and also where they wouldn’t be disturbed by people or within easy reach of cats. We eagerly await the flutter of tiny wings!!
Well, I believe that’s all the news for now quite a varied and unusual few weeks but, that’s the beauty of gardening, endless diversity!
Nicky Greenwood
What to be getting on with!
Walking round the orchard and garden over the past week it is apparent that the welcome signs of Spring are beginning to show themselves in the delicate form of snowdrops and golden yellow aconites, why not take a closer look in your own garden!
A good time to start chitting first early seed potatoes, these can be planted in early Spring and will be ready for harvesting in late June/July.
You may find that Brassicas and other crops may still need to be protected from pigeons using fleece or netting. Also wrap rabbit guards around the base of fruit trees to protect the bark.
Cut down dogwoods (Cornus) this will encourage plenty of new colourful growth.
Sprinkle fertilizer around all fruits, including strawberries.
Sow sweet peas in a glasshouse, cold frame or indoors in a cool room.
Cut back deciduous ornamental grasses.
Why not put up a nesting box for birds, remember to continue to provide food for the birds until Spring.
What to sow now!
Under cover - Spring cabbage – Cauliflower – Brussels sprouts –
Celery – Celeriac – Onions – Leeks
Indoors - Aubergines – Chillies – Sweet peppers
FARMHOUSE BREAKFAST WEEK
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how many of us really take the time to enjoy it? So why not join us at Uncle Henry’s between Tuesday 26th & Saturday 30th and treat yourself to a range of breakfast specials in our cafe.
We have some great deals in our butchery with our £6.50 Breakfast Deal which includes half a dozen eggs, 6 slices of traditional home reared bacon and 6 Lincolnshire Sausages. Top your toast with a great range of preserves or try our delicious Stokes Tomato or Brown Sauce with the quintessential British bacon and eggs.
What’s on
Our events programme in 2010 will be full of old favourites and new ideas. The annual Spring Fair will be taking at the beginning of March, our Open Farm Sunday event offers a family day out in the glorious landscape of the farm, and we will have further mysteries to reveal in the launch of our Food Lovers Club later this year.
As usual, we will also offer everything from cookery demonstrations and behind the scenes tours, to special gourmet occasions, floral workshops and special taster days.
Cookery Demonstrations
24th February New Year, Fresh Start
24th March Sweet Favourites, desserts & baking
28th April Spring Entertaining
26th May Alfresco, outdoor for family & friends
£25 each or book all four and save £20
Paper Crafting Workshops
20th March The Perfect Present
10th April Spring Paper Crating
£15 each or book two places for £25.00
To book
Tickets are sold on a first-come first-served basis. Please ring the office on 01652 640308 to confirm availability of places. Please make a note of the booking code and title for your chosen event/s.
What’s on offer for groups
We are happy to offer a range of event programmes for groups of 15 or more, offering something for every taste and interest
It’s business as usual at Uncle Henry’s…
Hatty is still hungry….
The turkey at the top of the drive has come down with a little help from the boys on the farm….
Even the Postman made it down the drive…
Uncle Henry’s Team x
What’s been going on!
First things first, Happy New Year to everyone.
To say that snow stopped play within the garden these past few weeks would be an understatement, coupled with the freezing temperatures has meant it has been pretty impossible to do many of the jobs scheduled for this time of year. Luckily, I managed to get the majority of the digging of the vacant beds done before the onslaught of the snow, although there are still a few areas left to do, but these cannot be attempted when the ground is snow covered or indeed water logged.
A lot of time has been spent pruning the apple trees in the orchard, as the majority of these trees are old they required thinning of branches to allow more light in and to cut down on overcrowding, this is to prevent contact between the branches and try and inhibit disease. All trees were then cleared of weeds around the base and then given a liberal layer of manure to provide the trees with food and nutrients for the coming growing season.
We have a large and very ancient wisteria which travels virtually the entire length of the garden wall, this again required some quite radical pruning and also reattaching at various points along the wall to keep it trained and under control.
As well as the fruit and vegetables we have decided to have an area designated to flowers within the garden this year. This meant new flower beds had to be developed (yes, more digging). The display will include oriental poppies, stocks, marigolds, dahlias, cosmos, sunflowers and sweet peas (which proved to be a huge success last year and provided the restaurant with an endless supply of fresh flowers everyday for the entire summer).
It was also time to cut down the Autumn raspberries to ground level, these amazing plants require very little intervention just a good helping of chicken manure will enable them to produce the most fantastic tasting fruits come autumn time.
As the garden and orchard are bordered by a multitude of mature native trees I decided to utilize the masses of fallen leaves to create leaf mould. To do this I created some large cylinders out of chicken wire which I then filled to the brim with leaves, simplicity itself! Over time the leaves will rot down and produce the most amazing organic matter which will be used as a soil improver with the vegetable garden.
Well, that’s all to report for this month folks! Keep warm!
Nicky Greenwood
What to be getting on with!
Even though the weather has proven to be more than a little challenging it’s still possible to get out and about when the sun breaks through! If you however, can’t be persuaded outside why not stay indoors and curl up with a few good gardening mags and plan for when the weather is a little kinder to us.
It may be advisable to carefully brush any snow off greenhouse or poly tunnel roofs, this applies especially to the polycarbonate greenhouses as the weight of snow may cause the panels to give way.
If you still have your old Christmas tree hanging about in the garden, why not take it for recycling, many local authorities provide shredding facilities.
Don’t forget the birds! Many will struggle to find fresh unfrozen water this weather, and also remember that if you put food out continue to do so until at least the Spring as they will become dependent on you.
For early pickings of tasty rhubarb in March and April, cover clumps now using either an old upturned dustbin or a forcing jar.
If you have a petrol lawnmower it may be the ideal time to get it serviced ready for the new season.
What’s in season now!
Winter cauliflower – parsnips – leeks – spinach – chard – winter salad
Why not start the new year, and the new decade…
…with great value fresh vegetables
NEW FOR JANUARY
UNCLE HENRY’S VALUE VEG BOX
ONLY £4
fresh, local, great value vegetables
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR
from everyone at Uncle Henry’s
