Summer in Dorset
When we reopened in May we had no idea what would happen. The covid rules has meant that we no longer offer one nights, it proved too difficult and exhausting within the time frame. We have had a lovely summer meeting some very interesting people which is why we open our home to guests.
John’s fruit salads have gone down a storm, summer fruits are so delicious and varied that they provide a lovely oral zing in the morning.
The lock down experiments with baked beans and hash browns have also gone down well. Following our ethos of local and natural and nothing loaded with lots of unnecessary sugar, the baked beans were appreciated by vegans, vegetarians and carnivores alike. The only sweetness is provided by balsamic vinegar. It looks like the tomato crop this year won’t be good enough to provide tomatoes for ketchup. The out-door tomatoes were hit by blight and the greenhouse ones have been slow due to the low temperatures in May, but that’s gardening for you.
The swimming early on was wonderful with several guests taking the plunge to enjoy wild swimming alongside the swallows. Lots of the country have had had a wet summer but we have missed out and the water level is the lowest it has ever been since we had it built.
A lot of our guest have been curious about the garden and we have shared pictures of the old Tumblins for them to see the changes, it also reminded us of what e have managed to achieve even if it isn’t finished, but then what garden ever is finished.
This is the time of year when the hedges are cut, the birds have finished nesting so they won’t be disturbed. It takes two and a half days to cut all the hedges and as I write this Jerry is cutting the drive hedge, he cut the long hedge last week and it is looking very smart.
It is going to be interesting to see how long the season lasts this year. Autumn usually sees the end of visitors to north Dorset, even though there is still plenty to do. For us there is always something to do in the garden and we can retreat indoors on wet days.