The Growing Season
Its 2021, our 4th official year growing British flowers on our working farm here in Hoggeston, north Buckinghamshire. The season starts with a wonderful spring crop of tulips, we have put down another 4,000 tulips this year, planting over 100 different varieties as they were so successful last year with fantastic response from the local community. Tulips can be scented and come in a tremendous range of colours, shapes and sizes.
We are also growing Italian ranunculus, sweet scented narcissi, and anemones this spring, followed by masses of scented sweet peas and a huge variety of country garden annuals and growing collection of perennials, fragrant English roses and currently a limited range of foliage but plenty of foraging can be done on the farm in hedgerows as a never ending source of greenery.
Our sweet peas will crop from early June through to late summer with a 60ft run in the polytunnel followed by a later outdoor crop. Late July is when the dahlias spring into action with the most absorbing colours and see us through with later flowering annuals and roses until Mr Frost stops us in our tracks. Time for a rest then.... well not really but that's what we tell ourselves!
We do not use chemicals but follow an organic approach so all our flowers are natural, scented and free to move and develop once in the vase taking on their own unique look as nature intended. Looking after the health of the soil and using companion planting to give plants the best opportunity to be strong and healthy is key to what Rosie believes is vital for encouraging biodiversity without compromising on quality and beauty. We are fortunate to have hedgerow and wooded areas on the farm to forage which compliments the cut flowers for a more wild and country style.
From April until October we sell our flowers direct to the local community for their homes by the bucket, handtied bouquets for special occasions which we also delivery locally, weddings, funerals and other celebrations. We also stock The Farm Deli in Winslow with a weekly selection of seasonal bunches of our freshly picked flowers.
