Ripley Castle

On Saturday  I went to Ripley Castle.  I took a short bus ride and I was there; touring the castle and gardens.  The inside of the castle was very Georgian but there we were able to climb a spiral stair case up a tower.  The tower had old guns, swords, and armor in it which was cool to see.  We had a very knowledgeable tour guide who had lots of interesting info about the house and history that went along with it.  I did a walk along the lakes they made for the property; their was a man fishing while I was there but I didn't see him catch anything.  The grounds has a very large walled garden with a small conservatory. They had a nice size kitchen garden but not much work had been done in it this year yet.  There were lots of bulbs out which made the walk very beautiful.  In the center of Ripley was the stockades which I thankfully made it out of town without being put in them.  As I was waiting for the bus to take me back home across the road there were some guys playing cricket.  I wasn't really sure what was happening but it was fun to watch them. 

Brash 'em Up!!

 I finished the week off with productive I think this has been one of my funnest weeks in the UK.  The weather has finally gotten nice enough to start putting the vegetables into the kitchen garden.  A plus to working with them is that you get to take home harvested crops like rhubarb, lettuce, and other unique vegetables.  Also along with taking home vegetables you are allowed to sample the plants growing in the garden like lettuce leaves and sweet cicely which is a plant who's leaves were used as a sweetener.  This week I also tried the checkerberry I ate one of the small red berries growing on it which tasted exactly like the fluoride cleaning you get at the dentist.  One of my tasks this week was to remove some Chinese artichokes which were spreading beyond their desired location.  The plants produce small root tubers which can be eaten.  I brought a few home and roasted them with olive oil and salt.  They were ok they didn't have much taste but definitely worth a try.  On Friday we redid the productive glasshouse display.  This involved removing pots of display flowers that were going over as well as harvesting lettuce leaves and resowing the pots.  The display was looking very nice when we were done we got some daffodils to add which added some nice color to the display.  We were planting out more plants as well especially broad beans which they support with brash so they can grow on it.  Once the plants are planted we add "brash"  usually hazel or birch twigs around the plants.  So much of my instruction this week was to plant beans or peas and then "brash 'em up" hence the blog title.  The weather has finally started to warm up and we have been seeing quite a bit of sun so the garden is coming to life with loads of bulbs and perennials emerging. 

Rhubarb Crumble and Salsa Posada

Pictured at the right is a rhubarb crumble I made from some of the forced rhubarb I was fortunate enough to be able to take home. I have to say it was pretty good and I was fortunate to have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer to go with it.  No offense mom but this was some of the best rhubarb crumble I have ever had I think that the forced rhubarb makes all the difference!  Tonight after work we had a get together at a local Mexican restaurant Salsa Posada.  There were nine of us that got together to have a drink and share a meal.  I had a plate of nachos for a starter and then a beef burrito for the main meal.. The food was amazing and was totally stuffed afterwards. It was a fun night out with the guys from work talking silly and laughing a lot.   

Productive Team

I stated with the productive team this week; this team covers the fruit and vegetable production in what is known as the kitchen garden.  It is getting to that time of year when things are ready to be planted.  So this week we have been doing lots of planting and sowing of seed.  This week I direct sowed Pak Choi, Swede, and Radish into their planting beds.  We also have been planting out plants like spinach, lettuce, cabbage, violas, cauliflower, and peas.  Also part of the kitchen garden they have a small pen of laying chickens.  So part of the daily tasks is to take care of the chickens feeding, watering, and collecting eggs.  The productive team also have a small display glasshouse where they display some of their sowing plants like lettuce, carrots, and beet.  They also have nice flower displays like violas, narcissus, and hyacinth.  Part of the daily tasks is to tidy up this glasshouse replacing plants that have gone over and watering.  This week the rhubarb has reached harvesting time.  Yorkshire is known for their forced rhubarb.  This is achieved by placing a large terra cotta dome over part of the rhubarb crown in midwinter after they have had a cold spell to break their dormancy.  You can cover the entire crown or only part of the crown.  Covering part is recommended because forcing the plants drains the plants of energy and leaves the plants weak and vulnerable.  Placing the dome over the crown starves the stems under it of light and they will grow fast to try to reach light.  The resulting growth will be long, soft, and a lovely pink color.  Forced rhubarb is of much higher quality than non-forced rhubarb.  However a crown can only be forced every few years continually forcing a plant will cause its eventual death.  Also with mature rhubarb plants they should be divided every five or so years to bring vigor back into the crowns.  Well enough about rhubarb.  When I walked out the front door on Tuesday I heard a strange noise and I looked up and there was a massive hot air balloon.  I was quite jealous it was a gorgeous morning for a hot air balloon ride.  The bit of house you can see on the right in the picture is my house. 

Harewood House

Saturday I was out and about heading to another garden visit.  I was walking to the bus stop and got caught in a random rain shower which soaked me but I did manage to capture a photo of the rainbow that followed(yeah).  I got on the 36 bus in Harrogate and a few stops later I was at Harewood house. 

 Being a large estate I walked down the country lane that lead to the house.  The sides of the road were lined with fields fillled with sheep.  I came around the corner to the first glimpses of the house.  What the house it is!  Great houses like these were built on slavery and usually sugar.  As I reached the house an old car was pulling up it was being rented by a couple who were getting married at the property that day.  It was cool to see the car in that setting. 

 The house hadn't opened yet but I was content to look around the porperty; that was why I was there.  I checked out the back of the house first which was a very formal terrace garden.  Right now it was planted with purple and white hyacinth.  I continued to explore the estate and discovered their bird garden which included several birds including penguins and my favorite flamingos!!!  The path from the bird garden led me to the walled garden which was planted with all the fruit and vegetables.  It was very large and it needed to be to provide enough food for the estate back in its glory days.  After that I wandered back through the himilayan garden where I saw the small waterfall and to get to it I walked across a line of stones that made a bridge which I was quite afraid to falling into the stream below. 

After checking out all of the estate it was time to check out the house.  Unfortunatley I can't show you any pictures as we were not able to take any but believe me it was incredible.  The detail and money that went into that house were incredible.  We were able to walk around the estat upstairs which had bedrooms and dining rooms.  The library was at the back of the house and looked out over the formal terrace garden.  It would be pretty nice to site and read a book with that kind of view outside.  After checking out the upstair we were able to look at the downstairs which was the heart of the house this included the kitchen, pantry area, and china storage.  This was my favorite part of the hosue it would be amazing to see the house run like it was back in the day. 

That brought my day to an end I got back on the bus and it was back to Harrogate.  This is a picture of me riding on the second floor of a proper British double decker bus.  I was able to ride in the front seat for most of the ride back.  So weird but awesome!!!!

Harrogate Flower Show

I have to admit that the Harrogate Flower Show was a bit more impressive than the Cornwall Flower Show.  It was a lot bigger than the Cornwall show with more exhibits and space.  The Cornwall show however was nice that it was at an estate with nice country side where this show was at a show grounds which weren't particularly nice.  Thursday morning at work they asked me if I wanted to go to the show that day because they needed some extra help with one of their booths.  The RHS is involved in several projects particularly those that involve the education of young people about horticulture.  I was helping with the education booth we were teaching kids to make paper pots which are recyclable and decomposable and then planting them with a sunflower seed.  It was a fun morning teaching the kids not at all what I expected to be doing that day.  I helped out at the booth until lunch time and then I had the rest of the afternoon to check out the show.  Fortunately it was a pretty nice day outside so I was able to enjoy the outside exhibits as well as the indoor ones.  Not only did the show have indoor show gardens which were a site to see they also had outdoor show gardens created by landscape companies as well as college groups.  Some of them were pretty incredible there was one that was called the living room which created a family room out of living plant material.  There was floral art again as well; the ideas that people come up with are incredible.  Along with all of this there were lots of booths selling horticulture tools to crafts.  There was also a tent devoted entirely to food which I enjoyed.  In the booth they also had cooking demonstrations.  I sat down and watched one; it was nice to sit down and rest but the demonstration smelled so good and made me hungry.  All in all it was an amazing but unexpected day.

The Main Boarders

Much of my week has been spent doing the spring maintenance on the main boarders.  This maintenance included lifting and dividing plants, removing unwanted plants, and taking back spreading plants.  The main boarders of Harlow Carr are comprised of a selection of perennials.  These perennials are planted in what is known as drifts to create natural flows of colors through the bed.  Dynamic and subtle plants are planted to draw the eye through the bed.  After a few years however plants begin to look tired and often suffer from the doughnut effect.  The doughnut effect is where the center of the crown dies out and the result looks like a doughnut pictured right.  To help rejuvenate the plants they are dug up and then divided removing the dead bits.  The plants are then placed back in the bed and once positioned they are planted back in the ground to produce a lovely show again this summer.