Hello - well we have survived another Apple Day for another year - and this one was the very best yet!
Although the weather forecast spoke of heavy rain - we only really got drizzle at the nursery - and the heavy rain stayed inland - and the people came down in their droves!! We had over 120 cars - and over 500 people - we were almost snowed under!
To all of you who came down - a big thank you - for all of your kind comments on how good the nursery looked - thank you.
We sold countless trees - not all apple - and a lot of very happy people played the games and won prizes.
A true team effort - our thanks goes to Brian and Jak for a sterling job parking all those cars - to Max,Janet and Sue for the superb fun that people had with the games - and also to Sue for her excellent 'meeting and greeting people as they came in' - to Liz - the top salesperson of the day for selling and constantly restocking the apples -to Kevin - for being his usual brilliant self - just calmly selling trees left right and centre despite queues of people everywhere - to Graeme for helping me to fend off constant questions and queues of people - to Jill and Karen for battling on with teas and cakes - and to Dick - our superb maintenance man for all his behind-the -scenes work.
Together as a team - we all made the day as special as it was for everyone - a big WELL DONE and an even bigger THANK YOU!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
Sunday, November 1, 2009
APPLE DAY 2009 DAWNS!
Hello - we are almost there - it is very nearly time for our annual Apple Day Celebration 2009!
The nursery has been spruced up - not that it is not always! - and all is ready.
We have put up the Marquee - and we are now just crossing our fingers on the weather forecast - it does not look good - but the apple tasting and games are all undercover - so do come down and see us - we have 80 varieties of apple for you to taste - there are games to play - and prizes to win - our experts are here to help answer your questions - there is a 10% discount on all apple trees ordered or bought on the day - there is ample parking - and tea and apple refreshments will be available.
The day is Saturday Ocotber 24th - 10-4 - signs everywhere!
SEE YOU THERE!
RICHARD
The nursery has been spruced up - not that it is not always! - and all is ready.
We have put up the Marquee - and we are now just crossing our fingers on the weather forecast - it does not look good - but the apple tasting and games are all undercover - so do come down and see us - we have 80 varieties of apple for you to taste - there are games to play - and prizes to win - our experts are here to help answer your questions - there is a 10% discount on all apple trees ordered or bought on the day - there is ample parking - and tea and apple refreshments will be available.
The day is Saturday Ocotber 24th - 10-4 - signs everywhere!
SEE YOU THERE!
RICHARD
STARTING THEM YOUNG - SCHOOL VISIT TO NURSERY
Hello, I had a lovely day the other Wednesday. 12 9-10 year-olds from the local Montessorii school came over to the nursery for the day to further their education on fruit. Yes, at first thought the prospect of 12 9-10 year-olds seemed a bit daunting - and indeed, it was rather noisy at times - but I was so impressed by their enthusiasm and their interest.
They are doing a project on fruit and all had the most wonderfully-illustrated journals of their project so far - they had visited a fruit grower the previous week - and picked a few apples - and now they were at a commercial nursery to learn a bit more.
I started their day with herbs - looking at all sorts of different items - all taken from the companion planting in the fruit sales area - so a nice link in with the fruit. They knew most of them - but again how nice to see real interest in the different types - with Chives and Lemon Thyme definitely the favourites!!
After lunch - we picked a load of Pear 'Doyenne du Comice'- 48 pears picked in record time - and only ONE without a stalk - how's that for efficient picking! A tour of the nursery followed - and then back to the classroom - for some apple tasting. I had picked out 5 very different apples for them to taste - and they had a little chart to rate each one for flavour, juiciness, sweetness e.t.c - great fun - and a very mixed set of results - the boys favouring sharper apples than the girls. The day was almost over - but there was just time for me to show them one or two other fruits - they were all impressed with Quince 'Vranja' - we had found a particularly huge one - but none of them had ever seen a Medlar before! One young lad describing it as a 'tree turnip'!!
After a few photos for their workbooks - it was back to their school. I would like to thank their teachers for bringing them over and looking after them - but mostly to the youngsters themselves for their incredible enthusiasm.
In an uncertain world - it made a refreshing change!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
They are doing a project on fruit and all had the most wonderfully-illustrated journals of their project so far - they had visited a fruit grower the previous week - and picked a few apples - and now they were at a commercial nursery to learn a bit more.
I started their day with herbs - looking at all sorts of different items - all taken from the companion planting in the fruit sales area - so a nice link in with the fruit. They knew most of them - but again how nice to see real interest in the different types - with Chives and Lemon Thyme definitely the favourites!!
After lunch - we picked a load of Pear 'Doyenne du Comice'- 48 pears picked in record time - and only ONE without a stalk - how's that for efficient picking! A tour of the nursery followed - and then back to the classroom - for some apple tasting. I had picked out 5 very different apples for them to taste - and they had a little chart to rate each one for flavour, juiciness, sweetness e.t.c - great fun - and a very mixed set of results - the boys favouring sharper apples than the girls. The day was almost over - but there was just time for me to show them one or two other fruits - they were all impressed with Quince 'Vranja' - we had found a particularly huge one - but none of them had ever seen a Medlar before! One young lad describing it as a 'tree turnip'!!
After a few photos for their workbooks - it was back to their school. I would like to thank their teachers for bringing them over and looking after them - but mostly to the youngsters themselves for their incredible enthusiasm.
In an uncertain world - it made a refreshing change!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
COUNTDOWN TO APPLE DAY 2009 BEGINS!
Hello, well I congratulate the brilliant girls in this blog - Sue and Janet. With me laid low with 'flu - they stopped their usual shrub area work - and picked all the apples in the orchard ready for the apple tasting on Apple Day.
And of course - Janet and Sue have labelled and stacked the Apple Store with military precision - with 78 varieties in - they really have done a superb job - it took them two days to do - but it is a huge weight off my mind as I return to full fitness after the 'flu - well done to you both!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
And of course - Janet and Sue have labelled and stacked the Apple Store with military precision - with 78 varieties in - they really have done a superb job - it took them two days to do - but it is a huge weight off my mind as I return to full fitness after the 'flu - well done to you both!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
NEW SPECIMEN STOCK IN
Hello, - we have had a whole load of smashing new specimen stock in at the nursery recently. Graeme's shopping trips have paid off - and we have stacked our sales area with loads of goodies ready for the autumn planting season.
We have specimen crab apples - Malus 'Red Sentinel' - and 'Evereste' loaded with fruit - we have Liquidambers now starting to colour up - we have some cracking shrubby Arbutus unedo - the Strawberry Tree. There are some very nice bamboos - both in the green and the black variety - just coming into flower is Osmanthus aquifolium - a Holly-like shrub - but not prickly - and producing the most wonderfully-scented flowers at this time of year!!
We have a number of Eucalyptus gunnii cones - nice and bushy with that lovely juvenile rounded foliage - as well as specimen trees. Graeme has managed to get hold of some lovely Magnolia grandiflora - really luxuriant leaves - so glossy - and with that furry,felty brown underside - just gorgeous! Some large specimens of the more usual spring-flowering Magnolias as well.
We have several upright conifers in - from the yellow Cupressus 'Goldcrest' to the blue Juniper 'Skyrocket' - these really come into their own in the winter months.
On the evergreen standard tree front - we have some very large Privets - both the variegated and the ordinary green - these are excellent for providing height without getting too tall - there are just so few evergreen trees - we also have a few Quercus ilex - evergreen oak standards - this is such a tough chap -so we also have these as multistemmed shrubs - rather nice for screening.
On the smaller front - a delicious batch of Callicarpa 'Profusion' - dripping with those peculiar purple berries - and loads of Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' - stuffed with flower buds for a few weeks time - yes, there is a lot to see - why not come and have a look for yourself - if you are looking for instant evergreen screening we can help!!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
We have specimen crab apples - Malus 'Red Sentinel' - and 'Evereste' loaded with fruit - we have Liquidambers now starting to colour up - we have some cracking shrubby Arbutus unedo - the Strawberry Tree. There are some very nice bamboos - both in the green and the black variety - just coming into flower is Osmanthus aquifolium - a Holly-like shrub - but not prickly - and producing the most wonderfully-scented flowers at this time of year!!
We have a number of Eucalyptus gunnii cones - nice and bushy with that lovely juvenile rounded foliage - as well as specimen trees. Graeme has managed to get hold of some lovely Magnolia grandiflora - really luxuriant leaves - so glossy - and with that furry,felty brown underside - just gorgeous! Some large specimens of the more usual spring-flowering Magnolias as well.
We have several upright conifers in - from the yellow Cupressus 'Goldcrest' to the blue Juniper 'Skyrocket' - these really come into their own in the winter months.
On the evergreen standard tree front - we have some very large Privets - both the variegated and the ordinary green - these are excellent for providing height without getting too tall - there are just so few evergreen trees - we also have a few Quercus ilex - evergreen oak standards - this is such a tough chap -so we also have these as multistemmed shrubs - rather nice for screening.
On the smaller front - a delicious batch of Callicarpa 'Profusion' - dripping with those peculiar purple berries - and loads of Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' - stuffed with flower buds for a few weeks time - yes, there is a lot to see - why not come and have a look for yourself - if you are looking for instant evergreen screening we can help!!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
THE DREADED 'FLU STRIKES
Hello, welcome to our blog.
You may well have noticed a lack of blogging on this site lately - primarily down to yours truly going down with a nasty bout of 'flu for three weeks! Apparently it was not swine flu - a very similar thing to it though - and it laid me low for a long time. As many people will know I don't do ill - and I don't do laying in bed - but I was forced to do both!!
Where did I get this? - I had been up in the Lake District on the Saturday before Helmingham -and got very wet on a cruise across Lake Ullswater - but I get wet all the time -so who knows but I am jolly glad to be rid of it - I would not wish that on anyone!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME (HOPEFULLY)
RICHARD
You may well have noticed a lack of blogging on this site lately - primarily down to yours truly going down with a nasty bout of 'flu for three weeks! Apparently it was not swine flu - a very similar thing to it though - and it laid me low for a long time. As many people will know I don't do ill - and I don't do laying in bed - but I was forced to do both!!
Where did I get this? - I had been up in the Lake District on the Saturday before Helmingham -and got very wet on a cruise across Lake Ullswater - but I get wet all the time -so who knows but I am jolly glad to be rid of it - I would not wish that on anyone!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME (HOPEFULLY)
RICHARD
PLANT SALE SUCCESS!!
Hello - well we enjoyed an excllent Plant Sale at Helmingham Hall. The weather simply could not have been better - and several thousand people took full advantage to stock up their gardens for autumn planting.
Interesting though - the topic of conversation remained the same - everybody bemoaning the lack of rainfall in Suffolk. There were over 40 different nurseries attending - and it was surprising that very few people were selling the same thing!! - a definite problem of a few years ago.
The organisation by Helmingham and the NCCPG (Plant Heritage) was excellent - well-advertised in advance - and it did pay off for them. We took a very general range of plants - I got out far more than could be taken of course - but we had a mix showing all of the Crown Nursery range.
And what was the top selling item you may ask? - well there were two really -anything with autumn colour - particularly Viburnum sargentii 'Onadonga' - and Acer ginnala 'Flame - and also Figs!! We sold every fig we took - both Graeme and myself were quite surprised by that.
Most of the standholders seemed happy by the end of the day - and no doubt so were those wives who had dragged their husbands round each stand weighed down with bag and bags of plants!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
Interesting though - the topic of conversation remained the same - everybody bemoaning the lack of rainfall in Suffolk. There were over 40 different nurseries attending - and it was surprising that very few people were selling the same thing!! - a definite problem of a few years ago.
The organisation by Helmingham and the NCCPG (Plant Heritage) was excellent - well-advertised in advance - and it did pay off for them. We took a very general range of plants - I got out far more than could be taken of course - but we had a mix showing all of the Crown Nursery range.
And what was the top selling item you may ask? - well there were two really -anything with autumn colour - particularly Viburnum sargentii 'Onadonga' - and Acer ginnala 'Flame - and also Figs!! We sold every fig we took - both Graeme and myself were quite surprised by that.
Most of the standholders seemed happy by the end of the day - and no doubt so were those wives who had dragged their husbands round each stand weighed down with bag and bags of plants!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
