End of trials

Trials ended on a rather chilly note.  Most of the week was spent waiting for the frost to melt so we could do some work.  Most of the mornings were spent inside cleaning and sorting labels and just general clean-up which was nice because you were out of the cold.  We did a lot of weeding this past week when the ground warmed up enough to do it.  On Friday it was a cold day and the frost lasted all day so the other trainees and I went to the seed department where we helped package the seed they had collected.  Seed was scooped into individual labeled packages so they could be sent out to RHS members who wanted it.  It was nice and cozy in the seed department.  Trials was a fun department it but the weather was chilly and uncooperative. 

Ripley

 

For something to do this past weekend with the relatively nice weather I decided to get out of the house and go for a walk.  I went back to Ripley since I knew pretty well how to get there from the last time I walked there for the festival.  It took me about 40 minutes to walk there I took the public footpath past the gardens by the stream which is quite high as you can see from the photo.  We have been getting a lot of rain lately and some places are dealing with flooding.  It was a nice Sunday morning walk though it was chilly it was nice and sunny.  Because it was Sunday most ofthe shops were closed but I scoped out some I would like to go back too.  I also checked out some of the yards while I was wondering around some of the people had quite nice gardens.  All in all it was a nice walk on a very lovely day.

Trials

I just started my second week on the trials team so far the weather has been very dreary being rainy and very windy.  Much of my time has been spent tying the hybrid berry trial that is going on.  We are tying them into a wire and post system to train them into a fan shape for astetic and fruiting value.  It gets quite cold on the hands tying the twine around the stems but a nice cup of hot chocolate is waiting for you at break time.  Another task I have been working is removing the chrysanthemum trial.  The trial is finished so we had to remove the plants as well as all the posts, fencing, and plastic mesh, and irrigation used for the trial.  It took all day and we still did not finish the project everything went fast until it came to ripping out the plants which took forever and was tiring work.  This week started out with putting a new edge on the national rhubarb collection bed.  We used a string line to make sure we got a straight edge since the beds are so long it would be tough to get a nice line otherwise.  I got to use an electric leaf blower today pictured below.  It also comes with another attachment an electric hedger.  The unit is very expensive though between the battery and the attachment it cost around one thousand dollars.  It is very powerful for being electric I was quite suprised and the battery will last you all day.  Quite the piece of equipment!  The bed looks so much better with the new edge on it now we just have to finish filling the holes where some of the rhubarb plants had been removed to plant elsewhere.  So far trials has been great except for the exceptionally bad weather!

A very special thanksgiving

Even though I was away from my family for this thanksgiving I was able to still celebrate.  With a lot of help from my amazing boyfriend Dan I was able to have my own thankgiving here in the UK.  Neither of us wanted to clean a turkey so we opted for some nice chicken.  We also had green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, squash, diner rolls, and baked beans.  For two beginners we did very well.  I attempted to make an apple pie for dessert.  The pie was ok, but the meal was amazing. As we cooked we listened to some holiday toons on my computer to help get us in the holiday spirit.  I was so thankful to celebrate thanksgiving with Dan, the holidays just aren't the same if you're not with the ones you love.  Our first thanksgiving was a huge success and after the meal we treated ourselves to a night out at the cinema.  Being the huge James Bond fan that I am I wanted to see the new Bond movie Skyfall which was awesome!  We took the train to the next town over and caught the show which was in a shopping center that was decorated for the holidays.    They had put up their trees and strung them with lights which signaled the begining of the holiday season for me. 

Garden Museum and Kew

Last weekend I went to London again there is just so much to see and do there.  On this trip I went to the museum of garden history as well as Kew gardens again.  The garden museum was very interesting to see they had modern exhibits as well as some historical exhibits.  They had quite the selection of old tools which was very interesting to see.  They had everything from hand tools, knives, gentlemens walking sticks with various tools built on the end, apple pickers, and lawn mowers.  The modern exhibit focused on new techniques that are being thought of to beautify the public transport of england like the rail system lines as well as more effective ways of using their space to grow ornamental and food crops.  The museum also had a small garden in the back which featured a very nice box hedge knot.  I really enjoyed the garden museum to see how the profession and the tools have changed over the years. 






























The trip also included another stop at Kew botanical gardens.  It was nice to see it later in the season when the trees are changing and starting to drop their leaves.  It is such an amazing vast garden that there was areas I saw this visit that I missed before.  They had also installed the formal bedding in front of the glasshouse which was not done when I visited last time.  The rock garden was looking amazing as well with its fall color. 

A waffle a day keeps the doctor away?

Last weekend I went to Belgium and had an amazing time.  I went by train on the eurostar which took about two hours traveling from London through Paris and up into Belgium.  The entire time was spent in Brussels wondering around seeing all their was to see.  I stayed in a hostil which was almost right on the grand palace square.  The grand palace is the heart of the city where there is lots to see and do.  It was quite the site during the day as well as at night.  The architecture there was beautiful so many old buildings.  I visited a lot of old cathedrals as well as some museums.  My favorite parts of Belgium were the public gardens as well as the royal palace park and the royal palace gardens themselves.  There was so much to see in such a short amount of time but the trip was amazing.  I tried some of the local fair.... waffles and chocolate my favorite.  I bought some chocolate to bring back with me so I am still enjoying it.    As for the waffles I went with the philosophy that a waffle a day keeps the doctor away if only that were true.  So needless to say I had a few waffles on my trip ranging from the plain waffle and powdered sugar which was a nice breakfast treat to the waffle with chocolate and strawberries on top which was a nice late night snack.  The trip was a huge success with no major issues I got all my trains on time and had little problems finding my way around.  It was nice that most people in Belgium spoke several languages either Dutch, French, and quite a few even spoke english which helped me out a lot.  Belgium was a blast and I would go back in a heart beat.  On my way back home from Belgium I decided to stop in and take a ride on the London Eye.  It was dark out by the time I went on so it was magical seeing the London city all lit up at night.  Big ben and the houses of parliment were very clearly visable and it was just an amazing experience.  I put my fear of heights aside and had an awesome trip around the london eye.

Fruit and Veg

This past week and a half has been spent on the fruit department doing a wide range of things.  The week started out tying in raspberries which you can see from the pictures a certain knot was used to keep the canes tied in for the winter.  Other tasks included preparing the bed that the national collection of rhubarb will be planted into.  We propagated new root stock and removed the old root stock from a bed that is being replaced.  During the week I was able to go to a talk put on by the fruit specialist as well as another member of the fruit department.  The talk was on trained fruit  which included both apple and pear trees.  They talked about different patterns for pruning like fans and espaliers as well as pruning techniques and timing.  Toward the end of the week we did some apple picking as well as the beginning of this week.  We also raked the apples out from under the trees into the windrows so they could be mashed.  So far fruit has been amazing and I can't wait for the rest of the week!