I went along yesterday to see the Southbourne Spring Show that I mentioned last week and was delighted to see that the children’s entries outnumbered the adults. There were beautiful tray gardens, vegetables made into lots of interesting characters and terrariums to name but a few. It is the hope...
Wishing you and all your families a very Happy Easter. It was lovely to see so many people on Thursday at the shop and those that came to experience the Swap Shop rail. Sue Gilson said she was delighted to meet so many people and the enthusiasm for the rail...
With Easter now upon us, the girls have been busy making some Easter gifts for the shop this week. We try and make items that you can’t find in the supermarkets or put our own ‘stamp’ on seasonal items. Rosie has been creating lovely willow wreaths with the fluffy bud...
On this blustery and cold day, with hopefully the last of this spring’s snow, the growing team is now in full seed sowing production. March is the start of the main growing season and we have lots of seedlings on our propagation beds. These are slightly unique in that the...
It has been amazing the difference in temperatures over the past 7 days and the huge increase in warmth has brought on many of the polytunnel crops. At this time of year during the ‘Hungry Gap’, as is known in the gardening world, we have to be patient to wait...
I’m sure we are all pleased that last week and the Beast of The East has now moved on. It is always challenging at Tuppenny Barn when the snow and ice arrives and last week was no exception. We worked out that we haven’t had weather like what we experienced,...
The hedgerow volunteer party, as guided by Sarah Hughes, has done a sterling job on our Eastern boundary, laying the hedge and incorporating new binders and stakes coppiced from the West Dean woods. Although looking a little stark at present, it will fill out in no time with leafy foliage...
A couple of months ago, I mentioned that we were reviewing the packaging that we use for both the veg bag scheme and the shop. This is obviously quite a topical subject at present in the media which can only be positive. You may be unaware that, as part of...
This Tuesday evening, our growing team and horticulture therapist are getting together to put the final touches to our annual seed order. We will review what grew well, what we might not grow again and also possible new varieties of particular fruit or vegetables. Sonia, our horticulture therapist, directed me...
This coming week, I am looking forward to meeting a representative from UK Harvest and the Community Partnerships Team from West Sussex County Council to talk about how we can work together on a cooking workshop for those in need of basic cooking skills. UK Harvest have recently been established...
