Fork Handles | The Sussex Gardener's Blog

A brief update on the year so far.

2010-08-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, what a year so far - all the extremes of weather, and all the extremes of gardening; from industrial estate car parks being cleared of years of neglect to caring for one of the most delightful gardens whilst the owner was away. Wonderful to see lawns bouncing back after a pretty ferocious summer, but I expect to be busy with lots of de-thatching, aerating and other remedial work this autumn.

3/4 Acre Bramble Clearance - all dug out, not just cut down - to rescue a much loved orchard that had got out of control!

The delightful garden of Ditchling artist Phillip Dunn before the spectacular display of clematis - sorry, I'll get some photo's of them next year!

Right, off now to build the prototype of our new raised vegetable beds to go on sale this autumn.

More Weather Woes

2010-02-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

I hate to moan, but I'm going to anyway! This is getting so frustrating, being so close yet so far. The ground is just such heavy clay that it has been almost impossible to work on, even having dug in all the organic matter from what was the old goat pen, and a Transit van full of manure courtesy of a local stud farm (that led to the added frustration of having to dig the van back out as that had got stuck in the clay as well)! Still, got a bumper selection of seeds including some of the prettiest chard that has got the new chef very excited. The other plus is the pub now has (as all good pubs should) a fabulous German Shepherd puppy, so in the absence of any photo's of the veg patch progress here's a picture of Louis!

Signs of Life - What a Great Feeling

2010-01-19T01:40:00.000-08:00

Made one of our regular family trips to Wakehurst Place on Sunday (if you haven't been, great place, Kew's place in Sussex - really good value, great walks and wonderful trees, plus some wonderful Himalayan planting). It was such a relief to see the first signs of life after nearly four depressing weeks of everything being under a heavy blanket of snow - yes I know it looked wornderful and the kids love it but it does limit what you can do in the garden!

So, look out for some real progress by next week, meanwhile, a couple of pictures filled with optimism!

Underway At Last

2010-01-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas festivities behind us, school governor duties accomplished, time to get going! Started the clearing of the first plot today - first up was to remove some old stumps that had been left as a decorative feature or something for the animals to play with in their enclosure (yes, the pub previously had a small menagerie - not something we felt was practical or appropriate).

Next task was to get rid of the animal shelter - in surprisingly good condition apart from where the wood met the ground and had rotted.

That only really left half an hour for digging - but, the frozen top made it very easy to remove. A quick session with the mattock made great progress.

The old animal bedding seen at the back should make for good organic matter to dig in. Got the seed catalogues come through - seems like just in time - had to go to the supermarket this evening and the place had been wiped out - threat of a little snow and the whole town has started to panic buy - not a carrot to be had! What are we like? Hopefully, if we don't get too much, I'll be back on Thursday finishing off the clearing and covering with black polythene to warm the ground up and counter this Siberian front which we've now been promised/threatened, could last until the end of February!

Distractions!

2009-12-26T03:58:00.000-08:00

OK, two reasons for no update recently, firstly, just as we'd planned to get stuck in we had the first frosts, making the ground fairly unworkable, followed quickly by the snow. It shouldn't snow this close to Christmas - gives the bookies a real fright! The second problem was that the chef, Dan woke up one morning with a trapped nerve and completely unable to hold anything in his right hand. Following a fairly successful sortie in the kitchen on his nights off I got an emergency call from Nigel - and with the thick snow everywhere putting paid to any gardening I ended up chained to the pup cooker for seven consecutive lunchtimes and 6 dinners.

Really looking forward to getting back to the plot next week - I've sourced a plentiful supply of well rotted manure so by this time next week I intend to have the plot transformed. Meanwhile, a happy and prosperous New Year to all.

Well That Wasn't Too Bad

2009-12-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

A bit like riding a bicycle really - maybe not as fast as I once was but my first appearance in a pub kitchen since 1988 went pretty smoothly. OK it was a Monday lunchtime but there was a wide variety of food on the menu and lots of different techniques involved (no microwaving or boil in the bag stuff). It's also giving me a good insight into what veg to grow and how the plot can support and even influence future menus.

All we need now is to start working on the local stables for some well rotted manure and we can get the plot turned over ready for planting.

What Have I Let Myself In For?

2009-12-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Popped around to the Royal Oak today just to let them know I hadn't abandoned the idea - weather has been so bad and ground so wet it is practically unworkable. Really pleased to hear that the pub and in particular, the restaurant is off to a flying start turning people away most nights - sensibly not falling into the trap of taking too much on and then letting everyone down. Somehow I got talked into helping out in the kitchen tonight - I must have let slip to Nigel that I'd worked in a professional kitchen before - it was over 20 years ago!! Still, always up for a challenge. Will report back how it all went (if I don't, it's been an unmitigated disaster).
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Bad Timing

2009-11-20T03:14:00.000-08:00

Feeling really sorry for those up in the north west, here I am kicking my heels as it's to wet to get rotovating and most of the rest of the clearing has now finished, but at least we don't have any flooding. Had some really good feedback about the veg patch, I think Gemma and Nigel have made a great decision. Next step is to meet the chef and start planning what we all think should go in for the upcoming seasons.

Will have some photo's of progress early next week. There's a break in the weather so off out now!

Starting Out | Organic Veg Patch @ The Royal Oak Pub

2009-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Although in these days of pubs closing on a daily basis they are usually ones run by a leaseholder and owned by one of the conglomerates - I won't pass comment here as plenty of others are doing so elsewhere. So it was still a surprise to everyone in the area when a successful freehouse, The Royal Oak in Wivelsfield, East Sussex, closed its doors.

Fortunately the pub has been bought and the new owners are currently renovating this wonderful 300 year old building ready to open once again on the 27th November. Part of Gemma and Nigel's (the owners) plans are to grow their own vegetables to serve in the pub. Having spotted this story in the local paper I went around and met them to see if I could help. They jumped at the chance and so it is that Fork Handles Garden Services will now be building, planting and maintaining the veg patch at the Royal Oak.

There are lots of great ideas that Nigel and Gemma are working on, including the possibility of opening up a community plot and also planting up a small orchard.

That's all for the future, the priority at the moment is to get the rest of the pub grounds respectable for opening day - it's amazing how quickly nature encroaches when left unchecked, so our work is cut out with back breaking raking, hoeing and digging but the place will look great on opening day.