Bonkers About Conkers

I quite like it when it's my turn to use the petrol mower, it's an automatic response as you chug along behind it which leaves your mind free to wander and contemplate as it will. This morning unfortunately I was pondering about how much my feet hurt as I attempted to wear in my new winter boots. Having learnt the hard way last time I had sensibly and slowly accustomed myself to the feel of them over the last couple of weeks, until last Monday my window for wearing the summer ones ran out when I spent the whole day with sopping wet tootsies thanks to a heavy dew. So with the best socks on that money could buy and heavily blister plastered I was plodding along in some discomfort, until that is I noticed that the conkers were ready. Mind suitably distracted I realised that there are few things that can take one straight back into the joys of childhood as instantly as the patina of a newly hatched conker. Better than the art of the most skilled of cabinet makers is the veneer of the humble horse chestnut, its shiny beauty brings nostalgia to the old and a hunger to the young, it's not bad for soothing aching feet either!

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older"
Tom Stoppard

Endings And Beginnings

As the end of September quickly approaches we were treated to a beautiful sunny day more fitting of summer again than redolent of mists and chilly fingers. Giles has now shut his nursery business and his last trading day at Newby Hall tomorrow will see the end of all his commercial plant sales, apart from here at Norton Conyers. So if you are looking for quality unusual hardy annuals next spring you will have to pay us a visit here. We spent the day looking through the stock he has brought with him and tidying it up for storage over the winter, many of the plants were new to me and I await with interest getting to know them better through next years growing season.
We also made a start on the new peony border, having weed-killed the grass a couple of weeks ago it was time to plough the ground over to break up any large underground roots or pans. October is the ideal time to move peonies (Not that any time is really ideal), so we must get a move on as the job will be very painstaking, we must wash each root before replanting to ensure no weeds travel with the move. Plans are afoot to build a greenhouse in the yard where we can propagate plants from the garden for sale next year, continue with the spring garden renovation, fence off and prepare the new vegetable garden as well as managing the woodland and tree planting. We are going to have a very busy winter!

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end"
Seneca

Garden Time

Things happen slowly in the walled garden at Norton Conyers, this is only right when you are a slave to the seasons and each one suggests its own work schedule. Last year we decided that a sun dial would look good in the centre of the round garden and so we installed the plinth and started to search for something suitable. Finally Alyson came across a perfect match and today brought it in to see how it looked, it is certainly in keeping with our very own style of elegant neglect and even managed to get tea-break time spot on! Our main task today was making a start on renovating the spring garden, this is also an ongoing project from last year, now that areas of it have been weed-killed we were able to dig it over and remove any bulbs for re-location. The idea is that both paths will be widened to allow wheelchair access and a rectangular paving area complete with bird bath will grace the central bed, watch this space for future developments.

Finally today we harvested the crown prince squashes, they have been merrily swamping last years compost heap with its rich bed of horse muck and have given us a bumper harvest, 57 at the last count! Including one that has wedged itself against the pig crates and is impossible to free. I think the horses deserve a few apples as a treat for their Stirling contribution. See below for the picture.

"Clocks slay time.....time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels. Only when the clock stops does time come to life.
William Faulkner

The Big Cut

Well somebody answered our prayers for some decent weather today, thankfully it remained dry even if it was a bit on the blustery side and we were able to crack on with cutting the yew hedges. We were at full strength in the garden for once with the usual crew plus Adam wielding an extra trimmer, and Susan one of our volunteers who worked as hard as any of us gathering up the clippings. No photographs of the proceedings I'm afraid though as I was just too busy to stop. I'm not sure how many trips with the wheelbarrow I took but I'm guaranteed a solid nights sleep! Everything went very smoothly this year and we even finished with time to spare, just enough in fact to pop up to the clock tower for the last half an hour to do some weeding. I'm so glad we did as I spotted some giant puffballs on the south lawn, I've seen small ones before but these were beauties!

"Those who can do. Those who can do more volunteer"
Anon

Butterfly Blessings

All day today there have been clouds of butterflies around the garden, I wonder if they know the bad weather is coming and have been making the most of one last warm sunny day. They  certainly cheered us up as we went about pruning the plum trees, a long and rather laborious task that took us most of the day. Luckily we were working in the sunniest place against the old walls so it almost felt like summer again, maybe we were enjoying a swan song too before the autumn storm with gales and rain arrives tomorrow. We dug the last of the potato harvest first thing and were pleased with the results, Setanta did especially well with large well formed tubers, although that does cut down on our fun of the 'who finds the oddest shape' competition!
Monday will be one of the busiest days of the year as we cut the yew hedges, the clippings must be bagged up and sent away to be turned into a cancer busting drug, so big breakfasts will be needed to help us last the pace and prayers for a dry and not too windy day please!

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued is always just beyond your grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you"
Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Obstacle Course

Cyclamen hederifolifolium in all its glory at the moment

Nikky's daughter completed a tough obstacle course at the weekend and was understandably proud of herself, but after the day I had at Norton Conyers yesterday I began to think it would have been more of a challenge to spend the day gardening! It was my turn for the tractor again and despite the sunny start it was feeling surprisingly chilly, good job I'd remembered to bring a jacket I thought as I started the mowing. By break-time all was going well the temperature was rising and the only real problem I'd encountered was avoiding the cascades of apples falling on my head as I negotiated mowing under the trees. Back at work afterwards I noticed the sky darkening in the distance but assumed the weather would probably pass over, gritting my teeth I started another sortie onto the HaHa, this time making it all the way to the end. Just at the crucial moment as I attempted the three point turn the heavens opened. Now at this point I am the furthest from help anywhere in the grounds and the rain was so heavy I needed to wear my hood, but that meant I couldn't see to reverse, so I confess I gave up again. By the time I'd trudged back to the others I wasn't just wet I was saturated, that meant spending the rest of the afternoon in a pair of plastic over-trousers whilst my own attire dried off in the greenhouse. I couldn't do much about my sodden feet though, not the most comfortable few hours I've ever spent! Still every day is a lesson learned and yesterdays was that it is now time to carry all my clothing whenever I go to work so all eventualities are covered, as they say in Game of Thrones "Winter is coming!"

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all"
Helen Keller

A Day Of Variety

The tasks in the September garden are as many and varied as the flowers in the borders, sometimes you don't know just where to start. This morning we let the temperature dictate to us and as it was feeling pretty chilly we decided that digging up potatoes would be a good place to start. It certainly warmed us up as we dug and uncovered part of the crop, luckily there wasn't too many rotting ones to deal with, there is nothing more unpleasant than a stinky potato! We still have two more varieties to harvest but have cut off the foliage and left them in the ground for now, this stops any further blight worries. After a change of pace with some routine hoeing, we went to collect the bumper crop of cob nuts that Alyson had noticed last Monday only to discover that the squirrels had noticed them too, we could only salvage a meagre punnet, teaching us that next year we must pick them as soon as we see them. In the afternoon we cut back the willow hedge which was threatening to engulf the vegetable garden and iris border with its monstrous growth, we still left plenty of the more upright stems in place for their winter colour of vibrant red though. Right at the very end of the day comes the good part for us workers when we can help ourselves to whatever is ready, a bag of rosy red discovery apples, a swede and a shiny red cabbage all made their way home with me, a good contribution to tomorrows Sunday dinner.

"No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety"
Publilius Syrus

Winged Irritants

As September starts the garden is pretty quiet, we content ourselves with a little pruning and harvesting as the settled weather continues. Sometimes the harvest is wild as we found when venturing onto the Ha Ha to cut back the buddlejas , globosa and alternifolia are both pruned at this time of year as they flower on the wood produced the previous season, unlike davidii which is done in early spring. Anyway intertwined with a very large specimen were some luscious blackberries, so we had to pick them first. Two good punnets full all for free, sold to raise funds for keeping us in gainful employment through the winter! We nearly paid for them in other ways though, halfway through we had to abandon our task as a swarm of hornets descended to check us out, so we hoofed it back to the garden until they had dispersed. Nature doesn't mind if we take our share, but we must remember other creatures need some too! I must admit one of the things I look forward to about autumn is a few less winged critters, the flies were terribly bothersome that morning driving poor Nikky to wear a hat despite the heat.

I think my lens is fogged here but it does give a rather interesting effect

"Restless thoughts, like a deadly swarm of hornets arm'd, no sooner found alone, but rush upon me thronging"
John Milton