Forget me not: Historically thinking, Sissinghurst 2014

Sissinghurst

This is my final "Chronicles of Sissinghurst" and for many reasons was quite hard to write and as such i shyed away from it for a long time. I hope that ive done it justice and thank you all for your feedback on my previous posts. I'm so glad you've enjoyed reading them and delighted that some of you are now inspired to visit or revisit there. Its a truly fantastic place.
I really hope that in the end we did not only Vita but Adam and Sarah's vision proud.

2014 started in an odd way, the weather for once unseasonably warm, i remember this distinctly as i spent the first week or so moving furniture about and having to have the windows open at home.
The Christmas period had been, well lets just say unsettled shall we. At the Xmas party a good friend had become life threateningly ill, only moments before we had been sat chatting then... thankfully she has recovered. And as the new year got underway i found myself tying up some loose ends of an extremely challenging period of time but although this would take a while to finally settle i felt more optimistic than i had done in ... well, years!

Sissinghurst sunrises

At work, we were forging ahead with work on the fruit, using a method we had perfected over the last 3 years. First we would lay down cardboard, this smothered the perennial weeds, at the base of the rows. Then we would lay a good dollop of manure on top of the cardboard. This not only fed the plants it anchored the cardboard in place. On top of that we would put a good layer of straw, preventing weed seedlings from taking hold and giving a good moisture retentive mulch, cutting down on the need to water through dry spells.

I had a busy schedule of talks lined up as well, starting with a talk to St Leonards volunteer group. Robertsbridge school, who were working hard on establishing a school gardening group had requested a visit. I was also lined up to give an introductory talk to our volunteers on site, well 3 talks! Our volunteers were from across the site and all worked in various positions around Sissinghurst. There had been a lot of changes in the last 12 months both in staff and in operations. This was our yearly review to keep them updated before the season began and for some the only time they may get a chance to interact and become interested with the vegetable garden. From my point of view an important audience!

We were also trialling some lovely new salad leaves in our tunnels, mustard Golden frills and Red frills, I highly recommend

February rolled in wet, horrendously wet and stormy! Trees were coming down everywhere, i remember it well as it was my 40th and i nearly didn't make it to my own party! We had a hedge laying course run on the bottom of the plot in the previously mentioned "soggy spot", i now had put this down to a natural springs emergence as there where others on the same level across Sissinghurst. The course attendants battled hard and won through leaving us with a beautifully laid hedge.

But everything was suffering, everywhere was soggy and muddy, it was impossible to work on the beds, any foot traffic left the site a mess and using vehicles was unthinkable. The entrance to the Orchard became a mire as buggies and tractors continued to use it but on the field there was a vehicle ban, which although inconvenient was necessary.

This year promised us our first real crop of asparagus and each day i would excitedly sneak down and look to see what was happening, I knew we wouldn't get much as this was its second year, the real crop would come in 2015 but this was so thrilling!

Into April, always the busiest month of the year in my book, everything is growing. In the Glasshouse, despite issues with keeping it heated, we had a veritable forest of tomatoes itching to be planted out.

I had started some Ricinis seedlings for our ornamental bed which proved quite controversial with the "oh but its poisonous" viewpoint. Most things grown in a garden are, sweet peas, hollyhocks etc. but we still grow them. I think its incredibly important to take a balanced view of gardening and to teach people about it. One of my earliest memories was of my mum threatening me under pain of death if i was to eat a laburnum seed! I learnt and understood that it would kill me but we never chopped the tree down, unthinkable! Ricinus is the basis for Castor oil, a once widely used remedy. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, it was once used to treat stomach complaints. It is also is the base for Ricin gas and yes that will kill you. The same goes for most medicinal herbs, Salix (willow) is the base for a now widely used pain killer and blood thinning agent, Aspirin, but if placed in direct contact with the skin it can cause severe chemical burns. Know your plants, they're important!
Ok, soapbox moment over!
Back into April, the pea and bean supports were in place and everything was being planted out and the Orchard looked amazing, One of our volunteers had taken over its management last year and he was doing an incredible job with it, pruning, training, mowing and caring for it. It was so good to be able to just relax into trusting someone was doing a great job. I knew that everything was being done properly but i would still walk up there regularly as it was just something wonderful to behold.

I'll admit though, for me, by may although everything looked good it didn't feel it. Various pressures were taking their toll and i was feeling increasingly isolated. I have no need to go into the reasons behind that as they're really not relevant to this story but suffice to say i was coming close to burnout, i was losing my joy. A place that i thought i would stay until i retired was no longer in my mind. Instead i found i looked forward to doing weekend duties where i would get a chance to view the Ornamental garden, it rekindled my desire. This was making me grumpy and short tempered though which wasn't fair on anyone. I realised without some serious support this position was becoming untenable and i would rather change everything in my life than wreck everything Amy, myself and the team had worked so hard to build.

It just so happened that the various outside projects i had said yes to, in the name of promoting the NT, Sissinghurst and the veg garden were not only giving me confidence in myself and my abilities but opening my eyes to opportunities!

I was visiting gardens and receiving a great deal of encouragement from like minded people, I was also given the opportunity to speak at the wealden times fair.

Wealden Times fair, Photo credit - Wealden Times, 2014

This moment was to change the course of my future, little did i know it at the time. I was delighted later that day to be asked to be part of a "gardeners question time" style challenge where i sat next to a real hero of mine Tom Hart Dyke, but more on this later...

Waterperrys, Photo credit - Harriet Rycroft, 2014

Then i received my greatest challenge so far and in the spirit of saying yes that id adopted as my mantra i volunteered the team to help create a show garden for the 3 Counties Show! Working closely with Events and the Rangers team in a ridiculously short space of time we created a fabulous display that reflected all the different aspects of Sissinghurst, its gardens, history, estate and veg garden. I was still in my bossy, stressed out frame of mind at this point and someday i may get a chance to apologise wholeheartedly to the lovely supportive team i was working with but thankfully they knew me well enough and what was going on in my life to cut me some slack. This is a valuable lesson I've learnt and carry with me now as when i encounter others who appear in this manner i think back to how i was at the time and try to view them from that perspective. It helps both me and them, anyway, back to the point!

So the show!!

From my "back of a fag packet" style drawing the ranger team created these amazing false bottomed planters and with a few alterations we created something beautiful. The events team on a shoestring budget created a fantastic backdrop and i raided the gardeners nursery for plants that epitomised "Sissinghurst", I also was able to magic up some lovely examples of our Organic veg to complement the planting. Together we had pulled off something that takes most design teams 6+ months of planning and prep in just under a month! Having done lots of shows in the past i was amazed at what we had achieved and so we drove to the show with laden vehicles for set up....

Kate prepping the plants

Peter creating a laid hedge

James placing the finishing touches

At this stage of the game it was hard to imagine how we would ever be ready on time but that's always the way with shows, all smoke and mirrors...

but gradually it all fell into place....until (and i only found this out after we had left the site after setting up as Kate aware of the pressure i had been under had kindly decided not to tell me. Something i will always be grateful for) the judging commenced!

So on a drizzly grey July morning i arrived outside the tent to see this...

A sweaty, nervous half hour later i was allowed in and....

We had DONE IT!!

Judged by Jim Buttress this was no easy win, so proud.

L to R - Peter (ranger) Kate & James (events) relaxing

Like a dog with 2 tails!

but this was effectively my swan song with Sissinghurst, i wanted to go out on a high and i think id achieved that. I left the plot looking amazing with a great team of volunteers, id achieved lots in my time there. Things had changed so much from when i started and it was time for the next chapter in my life to start. Id made some wonderful friends whilst there, it felt right. So at the end of July i joined a new team but i leave you with a few moments from my years at Sissinghurt.