Who doesn’t love the wonderfully versatile spud; chips, roasted, baked or in a salad.

But they’re no longer quite ‘as cheap as chips’ these days. So we’re on a mission to help everyone from 8 to 80 years to grow a plateful… in your garden, window sill or on your front step.

Whether you’re a seasoned allotmenteer or a curious young digger, join us at the Gardens on Sunday February 15th.

There’ll be a selection of different seed potatoes to buy in small quantities as well as a few ‘grow in a bag’ free kits.

Change Kitchen cic, the community food company, will be cooking up a range of savoury (and sweet) potato dishes to savour and there’ll be delish recipes to take away.

We’ll take the mystery out of growing your own too, with expert advice to find what on earth ‘chitting’ is and the difference between ‘earlies’ and ‘maincrop’.

We may also tackle whether there’s any truth in the traditional ‘potato planting day’. Now is it Good Friday or St Patricks Day ???

And we can’t have a Potato Day without some potato printing and Mr Potato Head….. free family activites

York Supplies Community Coop will be selling – at really reasonable prices -a range of seed potatoes – from earlies to maincrop. You don’t have to  buy load… dip in to growing by buying just one or two and see your single potato become a whole plateful of mash, roasties or chips later in the year.

Catch up  with what’s on here https://www.castlebromwichhallgardens.org.uk/calendar/we-love-potatoes/

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The HSL is a ‘living collection’ which has rescued and preserved more than 800 unique seed varieties which have disappeared from commercial cultivation, ensuring irreplaceable strains are not lost to history.

Preserving heritage seeds is about far more than simply growing rare or unusual plants; it’s a crucial act for the future of biodiversity. Each variety saved and sown represents a chapter in our agricultural history, adapted through generations to local soils and climates. Every time these seeds are planted and grown on, they become stronger and more resilient, evolving in response to the environment and continuing a cycle that underpins the future stability of our food and crops.

By saving and sharing these seeds we are helping to protect our food system from the risks of monoculture and climate change. This collaborative effort keeps traditional flavours, colours, and stories alive, The HSL has become the largest community seed initiative in Europe.

As we at the Gardens know well, the changing climate and seasonal disjunctures are already having a direct effect on our plants. This is not confined to our major problems with Box Moth. Wet and warm winters may challenge our 60 or so heritage varieties of apples and pears. We have already seen less predictable blossoming and harvesting periods.

A changing climate and a decline in insects, especially pollinators, makes our food security more precarious. Conserving the widest variety of food seeds may help protect future home grown food. Add to this worldwide food shocks caused by pandemics, wars and disrupted trade routes saving seeds seems to  be more urgent than ever.

Our Gardeners Denise and Tanya eagerly opened the golden Relay envelope and chose an old tomato variety to grow this year alongside others in the Batty Langley Kitchen Garden. Terri- Ann from Garden Organic was on hand to  get the Golden Envelope moving again on to it’s final destination at Ryton on Dunsmore.

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UPDATE on the BoxMoth issue

Over the last six weeks –  aided by some strong and willing corporate volunteers- the Gardening team has finished grubbing out about 40% of our 1.2km of box hedging and topiary. 

The visual shock for visitors is great.  We are all experiencing the sadness – all the Gardeners especially.

The hedging is a fundamental design element for our early 18th century Garden. As our Head Gardener, Denise, says ‘in 1720 there was no Box Moth so historically accurate responses arent really possible.’

Taking advice from other heritage sites and working practically together the Gardeners do have a plan for the short term as well as the longer term. The first takes a lot of effort, work and time, the second will depend on us raising more money for replacement planting (we reckon about £40k).

See below for some of the mitigation work our marvellous team are involved with as winter approaches… Please be kind to them if you  catch them at work (we’re making sure there’re lots of supplies of cake and biscuits for their morning breaks) and please be patient with the changes that will have to be made in the Gardens we all share and love.

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REEP runs a number of international horticultural scholarships and partnerships across Britain, Spain and Morocco. Over the last five or six years we have hosted some trainees here for a short while, helped with an online English language learning programme for budding gardeners in Spain and Morocco and, more recently with REEP’s help, our assistant Gardener Tanya, has made a number of trips to Morocco to support and learn from projects there.

REEP supports three gardening projects for young women in mainly rural areas of the country. Over the past years Tanya has got to know many of the girls in the Foyer des Jeunes Filles and she is scheduled to go again in November this year.

On Sept 8th we were distressed to hear of the earthquake in Morocco which killed so many people and made many more homeless. We have been assured that all the girls are fine, but many have lost family members or have become homeless.

The Foyer (school building) is currently being used as temporary shelter for local homeless familes.

Fundraising for the girls, their families and community.

All of our staff and volunteers are keen to help out, even if it is just a little. We hope some of our visitors will help too.

During October, to help with fundraising, we will be doing a ‘drink deal’ in the cafe.

The deal:

Cup of Tea and Biscuit : £2.80

Cup of Coffee/Hot Chocolate and biscuit £3.30

30p from every purchase will go directly to our ‘Morocco Appeal’

and will be passed to the director of le Foyer de Jeune Filles via our friends in REEP

So, we hope you will come and enjoy a sunny morning coffee in the Courtyard Cafe this month and you’ll be helping not just one, but two, charities

Many thanks in advance

more informaiotn about REEP is here https://reepinfo.org

and about the gofundme appeal here  https://www.gofundme.com/f/provide-shelter-to-moroccos-earthquake-survivors?utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2B4803-donation-alert-v5

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This year’s main focus is on the edging as the wood had rotted away over time. We re-edged the bottom beds in wood as a straight replacement but due to the increased activity around the entrance of the site chose to use reclaimed bricks for these beds. In the Melon Ground we have chosen to edge the entirety in brick as this space will also be used more in future and a flat defined space for planting is required.

Ollys  outdoor cooking shed was also built this year . TheHotel steps have had a makeover as has the fencing next to the main garden entrance gate. The Anne Kenrick Gates needed rehanging in the spring, as it  had failed.

The shade tunnel had had to be re-covered due to sun light degradation  The wood store also had to be re-roofed as it was letting in water.

There are new fruit trees in the orchard and we experimented with No Mow May in places.

Currently we are in hedge trimming season. Which can take up to 2 months to complete as during this time we still need to water, mow harvest and weed. All tasks that are time consuming in a garden that has been designed in this way.

Last year’s unpredictable and very changeable weather has continued into this year. Trees have been very strained and some have been lost this year too. With the massively rising costs of plants we are moving to growing on more of our own as well as moving away from so many annuals and bulbs towards perennials. The annuals and bulbs costs are currently reaching thousands of pounds.

The Orchards

Failing trees have been replaced with the help of both Solihull and Balfour Beatty Vinci donations. We hope to return to harvesting and juicing the apples this year, but we are unable to predict the size of the harvest… every year surprises us.

Batty Langley Kitchen Garden

We have returned to our ‘normal’ range of pre 1760 vegetables and plants in the garden this year, adding skirret, kohlrabi and some other vegetables and increased the flowers, both to encourage pollinators and for human visual pleasure. The community growing classes have taken over one or more beds this year.

Box Caterpiller moth

Unfortunately, this moth has reached us, finally. This is potentially devastating for all our many metres of box hedging.

We will be investing in both biological and natural ‘solutions’ to the problem (parasitic wasps and ‘thymol’ ) as guided by the current science… and hope.

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Every Day you can …welly wang… make pinecone birdfeeders… make a noise and explore why Percy the ParkKeeper’s shed is full of animals. Half Term fun from 16th – 26th, No need to book £5 adults £2 for children 3years+ #halfterm #schoolholidays #outdoorfun

Of course you can just come for a walk too (the Snowdrops are looking particularly lovely) and to have a cup of something at our outdoor courtyard Cafe.

As well as our 10 acre historic formal gardens dont forget to visit, explore and follow the Nature Trail on the adjoining Historic Parkland (free to use)

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Nothing completes a warm summer evening like a refreshing glass of sparkling Elderflower. With the fragrant plant occupying hedgerows and woodland greenery across the English countryside, why not try making it at home!

Here at the Gardens, we went for a wider wander through our gates and into the Parkland next door to pick our elderflower, but the plant is widespread and easily identifiable, so do keep an eye out on your next walk wherever you are.

Before foraging for any plants it is important to be certain of what you’re looking for.

From the beginning of June Elderflower can be identified by its flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers and the knobbly texture of its branches. Make sure to brush up on any toxic plants of a similar appearance and check whether harmful pesticides are used within the area (avoid picking elderflowers that grows right next to roads- all those petrol fumes and particuants).

Pick your Elderflower from knee height upwards – this is above the height of any passing rodent or other animal. As always take only what you need, always leave enough for regrowth and for others to enjoy too!

If the fancy takes you, it may also be worth asking the tree for permission to pick; folklore relates that Elderflower trees are guarded by spirits. If you do not ask permission to pick the flowers first, the spirits may place a curse on you!

We made sure swe picked our Elderflower on a bright and sunny day after exposure to direct sunlight. It is the warmth and light of the sun that draws the flower’s pollen out, this is the part of the plant holding the famously delicious flavour. Avoid washing the flowers as this will rinse away the pollen and result in a weaker cordial- so avoid picking immeditately after a rainfall too.

On the hunt for Elderflowers, we came across many other plants like Cleavers ( commonly known as ‘sticky weed’) which have been used to treat scurvy due to their high vitamin C content. We also spotted the purple-flowered Rosebay Willow Herb which can be infused to make a herbal tea usually served with lemon and sugar.

Recipe

Elderflower in hand, we returned to the melon ground to begin our cordial.

Firstly, it is important to separate the flowers from their inedible stems. The flowers and berries are the only edible part of the plant but are mildly toxic if left uncooked. Luckily cooking the plant removes the toxic chemicals, leaving it safe to enjoy!

While separating the stems from the flowers, heat up 1 litre of water in a pan before adding 500g of sugar. Maintain your pan at medium heat, avoiding boiling the water. 

Peel and slice up three lemons while the sugar water is heating up. Both the sliced lemon and the peel can then be added to the water, along with the de-stemmed elderflower.

The pan should be left to simmer on low heat for around 40 minutes before then sitting off-heat for between 4 and 48 hours. The longer the mixture is left to sit, the stronger the flavour of your cordial. After two days, we strained the cordial through a muslin (just like a jam strainer)and it was ready to enjoy!

In Poland and other European countries, citric acid is added to help conserve the cordial for longer periods and storage. Citric acid can also be used in other preserves like jam making. Although it can be found in most Polish supermarkets, it is harder to find in the UK, demonstrating how traditions of making certain preserves from scratch remain alive in Poland.

The sweet and enjoyable flavour of Elderflower is versatile and can be used in many recipes. Why not use yours in this Lemon and Elderflower cake, or a cool Elderflower and Raspberry Spritzer!

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