| Gardening and Horticulture | ||||
|
Gardening, including animal husbandry, has been my principal work for over 20 years. My introduction to it came in 1979 at the 12-acre Sherborne House estate in Gloucestershire. This included formal grounds, a walled vegetable garden with greenhouse, and pastures with flocks of rare breeds of sheep - there were also chickens, turkeys and pheasant to look after and breed. After two years here, I worked on a number of private gardens plus had a spell running my own gardening service business in the Scottish Borders. In 1985 I was invited to caretake the Chisholme House estate for the summer and ended up staying for ten years. |
| Chisholme | ||||
|
Chisholme House, a listed Georgian building, is the home of the Beshara School and is surrounded by its own estate. In 1985, when I arrived, the estate was 12 acres of ornamental grounds, walled vegetable garden, and a small lake, but by 1986 successful land re-purchases had increased it to 187 acres - the extra land being all pasture or shelter-belts which needed re-planting. The estate had originally been planned and executed in the 1700's, and is an example of 18th century agricultural reform thinking. Summers are short and winters raw, with heavy gales generally in January, but the longer daylight hours compensate for this and it is possible to produce good vegetables and flowers provided the ground is well prepared by early spring so that sowing and planting can happen as soon as the warm weather comes. This is a busy time because there are also the duck, geese, turkey and chicken eggs to incubate and raise. Roe deer inhabit the timber areas, and there are badger, fox, pheasant, rabbits and hares. Boundaries are either high-tensile fencing or dry-stone walls, and the whole place is surrounded by heather moors. This makes the shelter-belts especially important because they are the first barriers to the prevailing winds that generally come from the west in winter. |
||||
 |
||||
| An overview of the Chisholme Estate in winter showing the Borders hills
More about the Chisholme Estate can be found in this section of the Beshara site. I stayed there for ten years before involvement with the Kogi led to university and Australia. After that, I returned to the Borders but my next work was in the Hebrides where I worked a privately-owned walled garden for 3 years. |
||||
| Oronsay | ||||
|
Oronsay is a tidal island separated from the larger Colonsay by the Strand, a mile-wide stretch of sand only uncovered twice a day at low tide. The island is tiny, but was once very important because of an Augustinian Priory that survived until the 16th century, and which played an influential role during the Lords of the Isles period. The remains of the Priory are still there, Like most Hebridean islands, Oronsay benefits from the Gulf Stream affect which keeps the islands relatively warm over winter. Frost, for instance, is not a problem - but winter gales, and the salt precipitated by them, are. Exotic tropical plants such as palms and Australasian species, and other tender plants such as fuchsia, are a feature. The soil is very fine, being 'machair', a sandy soil common in the Hebrides, plus, of course, this particular garden has been worked for centuries. The Augustinian monks were fine gardeners, being especially interested in the medicinal properties of plants - it is interesting to think of travellers passing through from Italy and France each bringing some new seedling or idea to it. One of the contemporary gardens is the Medieval, or Monk's, Garden which still concentrates on herbs and has a centrepiece of Rosa gallica officinalis and versicolor - both roses common in the Middle Ages. |
||||
 |
||||
| The Paps of Jura from Oronsay | ||||
and what once was the monks' garden now belongs to the main house on the island, Oronsay House. Surrounded by the original stone wall, it was re-designed in 1989-90 by Penelope Hobhouse and is maze-like, being a number of discrete gardens, each with a theme, separated by privet hedges. (These hedges have another purpose, being necessary shelters to protect against winter gales). Themes include:- Spring, Medieval (mainly herbs), September, Paeony and so on.| Wildlife | ||||
|
The island is a haven for wildlife, especially birds. The RSPB has a base there and farms its areas with bird conservation in mind. There are chough, buzzards, and, most importantly, corncrake. Sea birds nest around the coast - unlike some Hebridean areas there are no mink or fox to disturb them. Barnacle geese are migrants and Canadas stay the year round. The RSPB also maintain herds of cows and flocks of sheep, including the small, black Hebrideans. In the ocean there are Minke and Killer whale, dolphins, porpoise and both Atlantic and Grey seal. |
||||
 |
 |
|||
| The Grey seals pup in October. If you approach the nursery grounds, all adults including the bulls will rush to the water, turning to look at you from about fifteen yards out. The pups themselves seem helpless but still have quite an intimidating hiss/growl. | ||||
 |
||||
| This mother had been snoozing in a rock-pool someway from the sea as I approached. She stayed with her pup but was obviously nervous and I left quickly. | ||||
There are more images of Oronsay here
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| home |