Successful Plant and Seed Swap!

Lots of people turned up to share their plants and seeds today over a cup of tea and a chat

- a really nice idea!

Full Bloom Ahead!

Our orchard is looking lovely with lots of blossom and new signs for the different apple varieties. We are also very busy potting up tomatoes, planting peas, broad beans, sunflowers, carrots and onions!

Moving on with Incredible Edible

We have made further progress planting up our forest garden and have also put some bean tepees in flower beds in preparation for planting up!

Simon

It was standing room only in the garden room last week when we all came together to give Simon our congratulations & best wishes on his new job at L’enclume.  At L’enclume he will be part of a team of five  growing fresh produce for the restaurant in Cartmel & also for the new restaurant at Claridges. He will of course be missed at Ford Park especially by Sarah who gave a fitting tribute to Simon, before the all important giving of the leaving presents.  It was then time for the cake which was made by Ali and looked gorgeous and tasted even better. While we all tucked into the cake, Simon told us that working at Ford Park had been an amazing experience which had enabled him to apply for the job at L’enclume.  He thanked everyone & gave special mention to Sarah & Kim. I am sure that he will be very successful in his new position and we look forward to his continued visits to keep us all updated on the new job.

Interpretation

We now have lots of beautifully designed signs in the kitchen garden describing the different areas-we get hundreds of people waking through and so this communication is very important as we are not always there to answer questions!

Excitement!

Lots going on with new volunteers joining and lots of digging in green manure, weeding and preparing veg beds for planting, sowing seeds (pumpkin, herbs, raddishes etc), protecting wild garlic, planting onions and shallots and forest gardening! This time of the year is always exciting!

Dora

Recently I spoke to Dora who as I’m sure many of you will know works in the Coach House Cafe as a Front of House Supervisor & Events Manager. Dora who is originally from Budapest & studied Tourism & Hotel Management at Budapest University, came to work in Ulverston as part of her University course. The course was run in English and when a friend suggested working in Ulverston it seemed to be a great opportunity. Arriving in 2006 she has worked in various hotels in Windermere & Ulverston.

Considering herself to be a city girl it was quite a change at first but after working at the Coach House for over a year she now  thinks of herself more of a country girl. I asked her about the garden and she told me “of course it provides fresh fruit & vegetables for the cafe which is wonderful” but also that she likes the fact that it is organic and that Ford Park embraces a fair trade ethos.

As for her job this entails organising various events from weddings to parties of all types to corporate events in the function room and you can tell how much she enjoys it by the joy in her voice when speaking about it. Job satisfaction is gained by ensuring everything goes to plan and that ultimately anyone using the conference room can be guaranteed excellent service.