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Ordered some pennyroyal mint plants they arrived in no time at all, very well packaged. The plants are excellent. Great value for money.
First rate outfit.
Highly rate this company.
Very pleased thank you.
Philip P., South Yorkshire
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Scarecrow Members
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Ordered some pennyroyal mint plants they arrived in no time at all, very well packaged. The plants are excellent. Great value for money.
First rate outfit.
Highly rate this company.
Very pleased thank you.
Philip P., South Yorkshire
Whilst The Wind Blows
So April wasn't quite the wet and cold month that we first thought it was going to be - in fact quite the opposite! This has knocked all our schedules and plans for six as we have struggled with plants coming on too quickly and all our bare root bits and pieces coming into growth earlier than expected - which coupled with the additional load of watering has made April quite a struggle of a month. And now for the first few days of May the continued dry spell has continued - only with strong wind to contend with as well. While its the norm for us gardeners to moan or blame the weather, at the moment we think its justified in lots of ways!
But enough of the moaning, let's look at the positives!...
Possibly one of the best things about May is that it heralds the start of being able to harvest your previous efforts - gardening becomes 'worthwhile'! (if it wasn't already) - whether that be cutting a few early flowers for the house, or harvesting some young crops that you have nurtured under cloches or other protection.
And of course May is the month of Asparagus! - It's Asparagus every day in May! For those without an Asparagus bed May is a wonderful time for planting and we have some lovely plants of Jersey Knight, Connovers Colossal and Purple Pacific perfect for popping in now.
Asparagus growing (and eating) is nearly as old as civilisation; it is rumoured that Emperor Augustus (who died just under two thousand years ago) had a phrase for "doing things quickly" - velociius quam asparagi coquantur - which means "more rapidly than asparagus will be cooked"; so the Romans knew how to cook Asparagus (quickly) - and probably appreciated eating with the Seasons more than the Supermarkets would like us to!
As we said earlier, the coming of the warmer weather has seen an end to the bare root Season; working as we do with the weather - not with a set inflexible timetable like so many other nurseries - this means we are now finishing our fruit containerisation for Summer sales as well as getting trees into the ground. Anyone who has missed out on their fruit plantings hasn't got long to wait as come mid July we will have potted trees available.
So here on the nursery May is a very busy time - releasing our back-orders for Spring vegetables, producing plants for Spring and Summer sales, potting fruits for the Summer - and planting for the coming Autumn and Winter. Couple that with getting on top of the vegetable garden, our soft fruit area, our flower and cutting garden and our new vegetable tunnel (or should that be fruit tunnel as most of what is in there is technically a fruit) - there simply aren't enough hours in the day! And so we offer a huge welcome to two new members of staff - Rachel who is now working on our mail order processing as well as helping out with nursery and 'shop' duties on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Jim who has risen to the challenge of joining us as full time gardener - what he lacks in experience he certainly makes up for in enthusiasm. Additionally we welcome Claire (who started with us as a one day a week school mum) as a full time member of the team. So hopefully with these few extra hands we will start to catch up!
For the home grower things are probably the same - but push, push, push, now and your efforts will pay off for the rest of the year to come.