Well it seems no time at all, but I am afraid the last up-date on here was way back in March so, apologies to all those watching the site. Such a lot has happened I hardly know where to begin. There have been some ups-and-downs, which are inevitable, on a project such as this. However I think we are beginning to be able to see the wood from the trees now.
The garden is really taking shape, and we have had some wonderful days; in particular, like the one when the fountain was switched on, or the one when we switched over to our own well water for the mains water for the house.
We got so used to looking out on a monochrome scene something akin to bomb-site, it was quite magical when the turf for the cloister garth, went down in a day it made me think of colouring in a picture. The straw bale wall is amazing it looks older than the house it’s self, which is quite something when you think the house is nearly 900 years old. The apothecary’s garden is looking good we are gradually making the willow wattle fences to surround the beds, and the plantings done so far seem o.k. We have had the roses in bloom, so far I have planted Rosa alba ‘semi-plena’, and Rosa alba ‘maxima’, to grow up the chestnut cloisters. There is some debate as to which one is ‘The White Rose’ of York, so I have planted both. In the cloister beds I have so far planted Rosa Gallica ‘officinalis’ , ‘The Red Rose’ of Lancaster, and Rosa Gallica ‘versicolour’, otherwise known as ‘Rosa Mundi’. The roses have been supplies by ‘Peter Beales’ and on September 20th, we are kicking off our season of talks and workshops, with a talk on Roses, by Simon White, of Peter Beales Roses. Simon will give a slide show and talk about the history, propagation, and pruning of roses, see the workshops page for more details.
We do have something of a problem someone out there might be able to help us with. We have been very careful to use traditional materials and skills wherever possible, and to this end we have been re using a lot of cobbles found on site, to re-create cobbled paths all around the, cloisters and the apothecary’s garden. We have however just run out and we have had to stop work until we can find some more.
The vegetable potager has done remarkably well surpassing all expectations, especially as the raised beds were only completed in April. We have had the joy of eating our own: Broad Beans, Peas, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Courgettes, Chard, Lettuce, Rocket, and radishes.
The landscaping of the ‘Textile Garden’ is now complete, and the lawn in these areas has been laid with turf, I am gradually researching and sourcing the plants to go into the beds. A white mulberry tree has been planted in the centre and will soon have a tree seat made to go around it. The idea behind the textile garden is that when we begin to run our needle-work and textile workshops, it will be possible to sit out amongst the plants which were use for the designs and for the dyes and fibres, not to mention the tools and the preparation, of historic tapestries and embroideries.
Inside the house the bathrooms are finally beginning to take shape after many delays and teething problems. Hopefully we will soon have some pictures of these to show.
The kitchen is also progressing well, the replica mediaeval tiles are being laid as I am typing this, and they look fantastic. If you are passing please stick your head in the door and have a look. They were made by Trinity Court pottery, and are made in exactly the same way as they were always made, more on that at a later stage. There is so much more to say but it will have to wait until the next news page, which hopefully will not take me so long to get around to....