So last weekend I was away for one of my brothers' 40th birthdays (I have a big family and I'm the youngest). Anyway, we went camping in the New Forest and did the lovely riverside walk between Bucklers Hard and the really pretty village of Beaulieu.
Jan and I stayed in the New Forest a few years ago on a holiday with her family and I remembered we discovered by accident this amazing community veggie garden called Patrick's Patch. So, whilst the rest of the gang were milling around (as large groups of people tend to), I nipped up the road to see the garden again. (Jan wasn't there this time round, still too poorly with the thyroid problem).
They have quite a large site, a mixture of very smart raised beds combined with open rows, plus planting around the perimeter too.
Trained fruit trees along one side
Seedlings coming along well. I love the pea/ bean structure to left right, made with hazel poles. They have a big fruit cage in the background too
Good use of mesh, which looks easy to get under when you need to weed
Really good lettuces, so jealous (I have none at the moment!)
More delicious looking lettuces, there were several raised beds of these
There was even an olive tree! Plus you can just make out some pea /bean wigwams in the borders at the back
Well, it was a bit of a rushed visit of just a few minutes, so apologies that the piccies aren't better. I was really pleased to have seen it again though, I didn't expect to ever go back!
And I couldn't leave out a piccie of the New Forest ponies. They roam about everywhere freely and this was at the campsite. Some of the kids from our group were enjoying watching them (though they did get wet bums from sitting on the damp grass)
Hope you enjoyed a whirlwind visit to Patrick's Patch!
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The New Forest is gorgeous isn't it, so nice to see the ponies. And the veggie garden is wonderful, exactly the sort of place I'd like to have a look round as well. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThanks CJ, yes the new forest is really lovely. The train journey from Norwich was pretty straight forward too, just a change in London, and the station was right next to the campsite, very handy.
DeleteYes it was a shame I didn't have longer in the garden but it was really good to see it.
I could definitely have spent quite a lot of time puttering around that veggie patch - I never fail to learn something new or see something I would like to try out at home.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, yes I wish I'd had longer to look around. They had a lot going on considering it's still quite early in the season, good use of row covers etc.
DeleteThe lettuce, in particular, looks amazing - but really, the whole complex looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteMmm, Susie, iMagine that lovely lettuce on your plate, yum. Hmm, yes I could quite see myself working in that garden (it would be a lot messier though). They had of lot of planting and structure for wildlife too, which was nice.
DeleteLots of lettuce there,
ReplyDeleteMy three tiny lettuce seedlings ( which you virtually need a magnifying glass to see) pale in comparison sue! It's funny because when I first started growing things a few years ago I had really good lettuces. I think now because I'm growing a much wider variety and bigger quantities of veggies and am growing over a bigger area I don't give the humble lettuce the attention it deserves.
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