Autumn days are with us now but with the consolation of harvesting the sloe berries from the hedgerows to make Sloe Gin for a winter or Christmas treat. Sloe Gin is a delicious deep, dark, mellow liqueur, made from the fruits of the native Blackthorn trees that line the farm hedgerows. They just need a little time and patience (and nerves of steel if the truth be told) to penetrate the vicious sharp spines where the glossiest plumpest fruits are to be found. This autumn we’ve (I’m using a royal we there as it is actually Charles project and he has the scars to prove it!) made a batch of Sloe gin and read on for a simple recipe for a warming Christmas treat – allow a minimum of two months for it to mature. Continue reading “Autumn days and sloe gin” »
Tag Archives: cornish garden
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August garden diary
Every year is different in the garden of course which is why I love to keep a diary to follow the season. This August has been a topsy turvy month in the garden, to say the least, with fickle weather and curious light but our Bed and Breakfast guests have still enjoyed the opportunity to immerse themselves in the peace of the garden.
In August the grasses have emerged to fill the garden with their very own special whispering song as they rustle in the breeze. Continue reading “August garden diary” »
This week we squeezed in a visit to Trewidden garden – it is one of the great gardens of Cornwall and it is just outside of Penzance on the Land’s End Road. We found the established arboretum of rare trees gathered by plant hunter Edward Bolitho from habitats around the world, interlaced by a well maintained network of paths twisting and turning under the luscious canopy of green to be still a treat even “out of season” The combination of nature reclaiming the mining grounds from Cornwall’s industrial past links to the aspirations of previous generations are a heady mix to find the real flavour for the gardens of Cornwall. Continue reading “Trewidden Garden – a spring garden visit in the summertime” »
Ah the blousy days of summer – those hot July days that fades into long summer evening. July’s days so full of promises and long forgotten dreams that you hope they will go on for ever. This month the memories formed in the July garden will fill winter musings, as we sit by the fire, pull out a snuggly throw and turn on the telly or find a good book.
If you have been following my facebook posts on our Bed and Breakfast page you’ll have seen some of my snaps taken in the golden glow of those summer evenings that are such a perfect time to explore the garden and the coup of the Agapanthus on the lower gravel terrace. So join me for memories of July’s blousy days and dreamy evening here in the gardens at Ednovean Farm in my latest garden diary. Continue reading “Garden diary – July’s blousy days” »
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June garden diary
June has marked the capricious zenith of summer in the garden – it has been a month in which we have swung from gales to heat waves – until the summer solstice that arrived almost as a surprise. This month the magnificent Echiums that so intrigue our garden loving Bed and Breakfast guests, have started to fade, to be replaced by the emerging flowers of the ranks of Agapanthus that populate the garden. So on with the show and join me for this month’s garden diary as we tweak the garden and appreciating the shadows as the temperatures soar! Continue reading “June garden diary” »
The glorious month of May and nature has woven a silken thread thorough the garden spontaneous reclaiming the carefully planned spaces with flamboyant mischievously places flowers as though she chose to sprinkle a little fairy dust across the landscape. The sea has never glowed as blue as it has this May, to make a perfect backdrop to our days in the garden and we’ve been busy re ordering some of the spaces in the Italian Garden. So join me for this month’s garden diary for the fabulous month of May. Continue reading “Glorious May in the garden” »
It seems almost too late to reflect upon April in the garden now, as the season speeds through at a dizzying pace. The last of the narcissi that I photographed at the beginning of the month, are but a distant memory, as the apple blossom forms a delicate pale pink froth over the once bare apple trees and the magnificent spears of the Echiums make an informal guard of swaying spires around the lawn.
We’ve been lucky this year and nature awarded us a dry Mediterranean-style spring of clear blue skies and cool nights admittedly occasionally interspersed with savagely cold winds drawn straight from the arctic. Continue reading “Reflections upon April in the Garden” »
I finally understood the song “slow down you’re going to fast” as spring sped away from us this year in the garden. It felt that no sooner than the tide of Daffodils had spread across garden than their vibrant yellow blooms seemed almost to look far too bright as the intensity of the light increased with the lengthening days.
This month I have spent a little time working on a garden project that I have had in my imagination for many years and it is finally taking shape in the Italian Garden. So join me for my March diary update with a photo album of Ednovean Farm’s garden for March as the spring garden slips towards early summer. Continue reading “Spring flies and garden dreams – the garden in March” »
We stole a march on summer this month in the garden, working intensely to prepare the Italian Garden ready for its role in a short period film pilot last weekend and did you spot Ednovean Farm’s House and Gardens as “The Garden House” in Sunday’s Rosamunde Pilcher premier? (details below!) I think the garden stole the show from the house but our German guests said “it was like taking a visit again” and “Fairy tale setting!” Thank you to all of our kind European friends who told us about the film and sent the link so we could watch it too!
So join me this month to see my snaps of a few days of hard labour by ourselves and our gardeners and I think the result was pretty good although I say it myself!
Continue reading “Our February garden, stealing a march on summer” »
As I watch the garden mellow this month into the subtle shades of autumn, I can almost hear the ticking clock of the season – louder now with the change in the hour this weekend. But we are lucky here at Ednovean Farm that the garden remains vibrant, with the big clumps of Pampas grasses flower in a last dramatic flourish for the autumn and on the terrace a few Olives are ripening on the trees Continue reading “My October garden – the season’s ticking clock” »