Introduction to the Freyja Kitchen Garden

Hello Everyone,

This is the very first photo I took of our new venture. It is of the walled garden with an almond tree on the right of the entrance gate and my husband to the left of the gate. It was taken back in February when the garden was oh so new to Bob and I.

Since then we have had quite a few months to establish a relationship with our new garden. All the walls were cleared of ivy and weeds (although this will be an on going task by the looks of it, after all the walls have been around for three hundred years with well rooted growth within).

Major weeds have been removed from the grounds and a plan of the beds was created with rope and posts. A laurel hedge was planted to mark a dividing line half way along this enormous walled garden. 252 fruit trees have been planted around the Southern and Westerly walls and an orchard square created. We are in the process of making very large growing beds using wooden beams and compost. The plan is slowly coming together.

Bob, who will be the Head Gardener, is one of only a handful of gardeners to take on this role for the garden. After some research, we found that "Joe" was the first to hold this position. His name popped up after consulting the Northumberland Archives at Woodhorn Museum. However, we also discovered, in ‘The Lit And Phil’, that our Joe won first prize for his prize pears. Our Bob has a challenge to live up to!

Beyond the wall and gate a brand new, "super dooper", top notch restaurant will be constructed - it will be called Restaurant Freyja. This will be part owned by our very own local Michelin starred chef and his wife. Alongside the restaurant there will also be a twelve roomed hotel for patrons of the restaurant. Alex, the chef, has a dream…to own a Michelin starred restaurant with its very own garden. The Fresh Local Organic Seasonal Produce will be grown soooo close to his kitchen that the goodies arrive on his guests plate within hours of harvest…food metres not food miles! 

Alex is Swedish. Ally, his wife, is from the Tyne Valley. A mix of both cultures will give you the ‘feel’ of this new venture for both chef and gardener…minimalist yet homely…contemporary yet cosy. After looking at the plans and listening to the ideas we are going to have an amazing new venue. This will take some time to complete but should be worth the wait. ‘Freyja’ is a very exciting project for us, the owners and the North East. 

Thank you to you all for reading the updates in our Journal,

Take care, 

Ann👩🏻‍🌾