Today some of our team have left their wellies and gloves back at Holme Grown Eastby HQ for the opening day of RHS Wentworth Woodhouse. Watch out for Abby’s amazing dress….looking very fitting with carrots and beets! Don’t they scrub up well!
The team have been working hard in the heat this weekend, helping Chris bring his vision to life with the plants grown here in Eastby.
Find out more about the show here RHS Flower Show Wentworth Woodhouse 2025 / RHS
There’s a real buzz in the garden this week…..we were approached by garden designer Chris Myers to supply plants grown here in our Community garden for his exhibition garden at RHS Wentworth Woodhouse. Read more about Chris’s garden in the link below….and if you’re attending the show take a look at our amazing plants grown by volunteers featured in his garden.
Here at Holme Grown Eastby our wildflower meadow is providing essential food and habitat for butterflies, bees and other pollinators which are crucial for both wild plant reproduction and food production. It is supporting a wild range of wildlife too.
The following have been spotted by a local visitor….can you see and name any more?
Common knapweed, Yarrow, Oxeye daisy, Ribwort plantain, Yorkshire fog, Yellow rattle, Common bird’s foot trefoil, Red clover, Creeping buttercup, Meadow crane’s-bill, Scabious species, Mallow (musk), Dandelion, Betony, Eyebright, Cat’s-ear, Meadow buttercup, Common ragwort, Dock (broad leaved or curled), Red fescue, Spear thistle, False oat grass, Sweet vernal grass and White clover
This year has most definitely, been the most difficult growing season. The wet spring and early summer, the lack of warmth, the strong winds. The only real winners on the plot were the slugs. Copper rings, planting plugs rather than directly into the ground, broken egg shells – all failed. The only thing that seemed to help was cheap lager. Eventually covering the plants with mesh and constantly topping up the cups, finally got things growing…
The lost battles meant that some veg seeds had to be sown 3 times before they outgrew the pesky molluscs! This led to delays – we probably lost a month this year, being ready with veg boxes by July. It’s a real shame, as on so many other levels, we really had made progress. Lois, Rachael and Jess were able to put in time and organise the plot, and us volunteers. The beds were carefully prepared, Roger’s compost applied, weeding carefully undertaken. We have all learnt a lot.
As two of the new projects for the year, we have started to build some of the lovely, and very durable, recycled plastic raised beds, either side of 8 trained apple trees. We’ve already filled the beds with 30 asparagus crowns – we only need to wait another three years until we can harvest them!
Like so many on Friday night, we were mesmerised by the light display of the Aurora Borealis which resulted from one of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years to hit Earth.
Having my arm twisted to be part of a podcast by Pete Leeson of the Woodland Trust, was a daunting prospect. He visited the site on a wet and windy Autumn day, and recorded our chat. The result was a pleasant surprise and his podcast is really worth a listen if you want to hear about good news stories in nature.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tree-amble/id1693567978?i=1000650023110
After 30 years working to restore nature in forests and on farms, Pete Leeson takes time out to revisit the people he’s met along the way. Throughout the series, Pete discovers how land managers are adapting and responding to the nature crisis we all face, while navigating the economic challenges within farming today. People are at the heart of this podcast, holding the potential to do some incredible things. We meet farmers, ecologists, rewilders and more to find out how communities are building a future together which respects and supports nature.
April has been sooooooo wet. It’s the wettest we’ve ever known the plot. So bad, in fact, we made the decision to add some drainage. The bridge made from railway sleepers, was pretty rotten, so we decided to lay a pipe to carry the water into the main channel and across the neighbouring fields. We also need to add pipes to the area around the polytunnel that at present, reminds me of walking on a bouncy castle.
Looking on the bright side, there are signs of spring that make us all smile, not least the emergence of the daffodils planted in the autumn.
As part of our ‘Let Nature Thrive’ project, we have been busy making various willow features around the plot – from domes to tunnels. Both mindful and challenging in equal measure. These kept us entertained for some time.
