Our New Arrivals

Last October saw the untimely death of our eight chickens following a midday visit from our resident fox. These urban burglars are consistently checking to wait for us to restock. 

On Tuesday we went and collected six point-of-lay pullets, three pairs of the breeds: Speckled, Black Rock and Leghorn.

We have increased our security for those dull days when the garden visitors are low and the fox may want to try its luck. We have built an inner sanctum, which allows the chickens to come out of their penthouse accommodation into a 3.6m x 2m wired enclosure.

The penthouse 

The car journey home all boxed up individually 

The inner sanctum, partly built, and on the way to the chicken enclosure
  

Many hands make light work

The first chicken to venture out of the house (Leghorn)

James English comes third in the final of The Young Horticulturist of the Year - 2012

I wrote a month ago that James, our Historical & Botanical  Garden Bursary scheme trainee, was successful at the Eastern regional final of the competition and that he would go on to the grand final, held in Edinburgh. Since then James has been working on expanding his already diverse horticultural  knowledge. We are all so proud. Congratulations and well done!

Physic-al team work

A few weeks ago the Myddelton House Gardens team travelled to Chelsea Physic Garden. With the the launch of their new development, The Garden of Edible and Useful Plants imminent, we offered our labour to help the garden in preparation for their big opening day.

We spent the day mulching along with the staff and volunteers of Chelsea Physic. Twenty of us in total tackled the large pile of horse manure which we managed to distribute and spread. Once the manure was spread we spent the afternoon lifting turfs and transforming an area of shaded lawn into a bed.

Mr Bowles served as Vice Chairman and later Chairman of the Chelsea Physic Garden Management Committee. In correspondence with Dick Trotter, he described the advantages of being a committee member:

"a key to the Garden, and he could take friends 'at any time'; the chance of seeing and getting very unusual plants not obtainable elsewhere in some cases; an interest in one of the oldest and most attractive small gardens in London".

This was a very rewarding day for us all. The Chelsea Physic team will return the favour at Myddleton House Gardens at a later date.