Eden nurseries continued

Been a bit slack on this front, so here goes:

Thursday 8th July:

Today I was posted up to the main site to help another Emma, who is head of temporary displays (anything that isn't permanent, funnily enough, both plant and non-plant), to clear her workshop. We were joined by Gill and Tiana - Gill formerly worked on the veg gardens (she gave us a talk back in November) and Tiana is a volunteer, originally from California. We spent the morning clearing out the workshop and getting everything shipshape (sorting plastic potatoes from plastic lemons and halloween props from christmas ones) and then after lunch we went for a wander up to an area of the outdoor biome that has been planted up with species from Chile and then on to the meadow areas to pick wildflowers for the Big Lunch press launch on Friday. Emma is clearly a forager and has an encyclopedic knowledge of wildflowers and other plants, fungi and all sorts. It was a fascinating and very fun afternoon - we stood at the top of the hill looking out to the sea and all thought we were pretty blooming lucky... Had a quick chat at lunch with Kevin - he was asking if I would be WWOOFing but I don't have time - maybe next year...

Friday 9th July
I got started weeding part of Steve's polytunnel this morning - a long and laborious task as it hasn't been done for ages, then Roger came over and asked if I would clear the Venlo greenhouse of some of the old plants, so I spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon organising pots and plants and composting the majority, though I did keep some (ok, about 20 plants) basil back to use for pesto etc. It all looked much better once I'd finished, though I felt a little guilty chucking all the plants on the compost - better than in the bin, I suppose. The horseflies were really going for me today - they seem to be concentrated around the compost heap, which was pretty unpleasant...

Monday 12 July
Planting goji berries - all 70 of 'em

Tuesday 13 July
Main site - cut flower beds with Emma, Gill and Tiana, Paolo Nutini's tourbus

Weds 14 July
Potting up plants from winter hanging baskets - hellebores, ivy, cyclamen, carex

Thurs 15 July
Hort Day at Golant Youth Hostel. Presentations on sustainable use of water, fertiliser, compost and suchlike; walk around field, cake aplenty; Kev says to start with his team on Monday as no sign of Paddy who's organising my rota!

Fri 16 July
Deliveries to main site with Steve - replacement plants for street, watering in afternoon - last day! Sayonara horseflies

Mon 19 July - Fri 23 July
Working with outdoor crops team. Weeding and harvesting in global gardens, weeding and harvesting in Cornish Crops, weeding and planting in Crops That Feed The World - sloping potatoes :) Trimming back Tagetes, feeding tomatoes with viscous black liquid, stocktaking herb garden under canopy, cutting down Allium giganteum, harvesting blackcurrants in the rain, pulling out Fiddlehead, biggest beetroot competition with Corin, plaiting shallots, planting up white border with Rosie (snapdragons and violas), watering in nemaslug, planting out chillis and aubergines under canopy with Kevin, shallot plaiting competition.

Mon 26 July - Fri 30 July
Mon-Wed in med biome with Rose and Shirley, feeding citrus trees, weeding beds, staking tomatoes, watering upstairs (covering cork pigs) and also orchard area (stinging nettles ouch). Tuesday afternoon with Emma and Jill, painting labels for display and popping out to play with Kevin's dogs, Thursday morning with Darren's team, cutting down Gunnera round the back of the Core and then weeding in spiral garden, thursday afternoon with Emma, Jill and Tiana, weeding cut flower garden and planting out various things. Friday all day with Darren's team, working in 'Japan' to clear Coltsfoot and other weeds, then a walk round the various areas with Jamie and Julie, off to Kevin's smallholding in the evening for a nosey.

Mon 2 Aug - Fri 6 Aug
Heligan! Mon-Wed with Carly in Flower Garden, weeding perennial beds and deadheading cosmos, cutting flowers for drying (Statice, Nigella, Gypsophila), potting up Erigeron. Thurs in productive garden with Carol, planting out rows of cabbages (Savoy 'Winter King' and 'Ormskirk', before collaring to ward off cabbage root fly. Knees knackered. Friday day off to finish freelancing.

Mon 9 Aug - Fri 13 Aug
Mon-Tue with Nicola in productive garden, thinning grapes in vinery while rain pelted down (see Heligan blog post http://www.lostgardensofheligan.blogspot.com/), digging up Antirrhinums to be replaced with Sweet Williams and Wallflowers, hoeing between rows of chard and beet seedlings (and the revelation that visitors have taken photos of Ren's arse). Collaring more cabbages. Weds with Carly in flower garden, collecting more flowers for drying and potting up rare heritage violas (accidentally squishing a wasp, thinking it was a horsefly). Back with Nicola on Thurs and Fri to take down old peas and the brash and pea sticks that supported them before Clive takes down the wires. Odd bits of weeding for Carly. Carly gave me a beautiful posy on my last day. Looking forward to going back in November!