Re-Vamping the Polytunnels

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all good. Well, we had to ‘baton down the hatches’ on Friday. Got more than a bit breezy and we were without electricity for most of the day. Thankfully, all areas are AOK…hope you survived the high winds if you experienced them. I say ‘if’ as it would appear that this Journal is now being read far and wide and I have had it on good authority that we are now being perused in Boston! Not Boston UK but Boston Australia! So, “G’day, Mate!”.

The world is really not that huge if you are a gardener. We all want to flourish, solve our problems, cultivate and grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees. If only the world was full of gardeners. To all who are following along and watching either on Instagram or our new YouTube Channel, I am Ann. I will be keeping you up to speed on how we flourish on our farm which Bob (the husband) and I began to create over eight years ago and the historic Walled Garden we are re-creating from about now.

This week’s YouTube video has another walk and chat with Bob and our talented Michelin starred chef Alex. If you have been in Bob’s company, you obviously know he is a great communicator. This week is a good opportunity to meet the guys and understand the great relationship our Chef and Gardener have cultivated. A prize for guessing who talks the most.

The Farm

The Lovely Lucy has been away this week and we hope fun was had with her family. Graham the Great has plonked himself in Polytunnel 1 with a whole load of wooden planks. (Lucy is just lovely, talented and generous to everyone. Graham is great because he can turn his hand to anything. He has a great vision for solving and solutions.…how lucky are we to have a fab Crew!)

As part of the re set of the farm we are doing some “jiggery pockery” of the Polytunnels. Some are having some TLC, others some DIY, others are having a total revamp. Polytunnels 1 and 2 are being revamped. Before the revamp Polytunnel 1 had asparagus in one bed, herbs in the middle bed and one bed left as an ‘overflow’ for excess vegetables. The asparagus is staying with more asparagus crowns being planted into the other two beds. The herbs have been moved to Polytunnel 2, it previously comprised of two growing beds, it is now 3 beds and has become the inside growing herb garden.

Herbs are a favourite choice of mine to grow. When I see herbs growing and flowering…that is pure Summer…the look, the smell, the taste. They are also really popular with all our lovely customers, particularly the Chefs among them. We have three outside herb beds and now, one full tunnel of growing herbs.

Polytunnel 1 was set up in a completely different way to all our other tunnels as we have raised beds using wooden planks to contain the compost. The original planks are now pretty old and warped. Graham has replaced all the planks with solid new ones. The middle bed has been made deeper than the side beds. We intend to grow White Asparagus in the middle bed. The higher sided beams will help us to cover the asparagus bed (probably with a black fabric) by blocking the light from touching the growing asparagus. Light helps the development of chlorophyll, chlorophyll gives plants their green colour…no light then no green hue.

The Walled Garden

To be honest, there is no change within the walled garden this week. Much of the work is being carried out, by the builders, within the whole Freyja Restaurant Project area. Eventually, we will be involved with the growing area outside the Walled Garden. This will not be until the building work has been completed. However, Bob and I are seeing the shape being progressed. We can now visualise the landscape of the ‘meadow’ to the South of the Hotel is becoming much more apparent. Thank you to John and his team working on the outside garden.

If you wish to understand the scale and challenge of the Freyja Walled Garden and to realise the proportions and design of recreating an historic Walled Garden, please feel free to press the button to watch Bob and Alex chat and wander the grounds. Looking at the guys walking around the garden is probably much more impressive than my words can ever express.

Our YouTube Channel is only weeks old, Instagram is quite a few years in the making. My Journal has been on our Hexhamshire Organics website (soon to be obsolete) for at least six years. It is now also on the Freyja Restaurant website every week.

If ever you want to take a read please feel free. My writings are just my thoughts for that week, where we are at on the farm and the Walled Garden. It is a great reference enabling us to compare week on week and to see how far we have come. It is also interesting to hear from many who actually refer to the Journal. We have been pleasantly surprised to receive analytics from our good friend Ben and his YouTube team. The numbers watching are incredible for a brand new channel. So, thank you for taking the time to read and look, whether you are existing friends or new ones. Welcome.

By the way, I fibbed! There is no prize for guessing who talks the most, just pat yourselves on the back if you said “Bob”. Well done!

Till next week, take care,

Ann