Spring is finally here, and the daffodils have brought some longed for colour to the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the front of the house beside the driveway, we have an area that I call the woodland garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we purchased the house it was full of brambles, following years of neglect.  What we discovered when we cleared it, was a rather large area that was scattered with trees, quite shady with poor soil.  It's taken a few years but now it's one of the prettiest parts of the garden, especially in Spring, when all the daffodils wave in the wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The front of the house has a more formal garden with lawns to either side and a central path to the front door.  Originally I planted lavender either side of the path and it was spectacular.  It grew so huge that you could hardly open the gate and it almost met in the middle of the path.  The Postman refused to deliver the mail because there were so many bees visiting.  A couple of years ago, I got a little over ambitious when pruning the lavender and killed great areas of it, so it has been replaced.  I chose a miniture lavender this time, with a white flower and it's just starting to get established.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the front path is also lined with tulips.  I absolutely love tulips, especially white tulips; the first place that I head for each year at Chelsea Flower Show, are the tulips in the Flower Pavilion.  I am obsessed with the white tulips in the huge iron pot on the Bloms Bulbs stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, I could resist no longer - the order form was calling out to me every time I visited the stand (quite a lot) during show week.  I ordered white first, then decided I had to have black as well.  When they arrived I realised that I had gone a little bit overboard, especially after the back breaking job of planting them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So on either side of the front path, down the driveway opposite the woodland garden and in a Chiddingstone planter or two, are black and white tulips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect neat little rows of alternate black & white / white & black, some that flower in April and some that flower in May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot wait until they come out in bloom, I am checking them everyday and today I began to see signs of colour, now for the nerve racking moment - did I get alternate colours or not?

Samantha x

Really excited today as we get to visit How Green Nursery in Hever, Kent.  This is the nursery that I told you about who are going to grow all of our plants for Chelsea Flower Show.

 

I have known of How Green Nursery all my life, at one stage I even lived just down the road.  What I hadn't managed to do  however, was join up the dots that they could help us with the very stressful issue of the plants for Chelsea.

Amazingly, social media made me call Simon at How Green.  I had seen a tweet that said that How Green rented Topiary and I kicked myself - only a few months ago I had spent a small fortune on topiary for a photographic shoot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nursery is six and a half acres jammed packed with plant loveliness.  Offering nearly 4000 different perennials, grasses, alpines, herbs, vegetable plants, soft fruit, patio plants, potted bulbs and topiary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon gave us a guided tour of the nursery, explained what plants were housed in each area and at what stage of growth they were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon's dog Tonto is the official welcoming committee, be warned - do not visit with your best suit, as you will get Tonto'd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We discussed my plans for Chelsea, this part is always fun - is what I have planned, possible?  Do we have enough time?  What about other options, etc.  Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomatoes are definitely going to be this years 'Challenge (in the absence of Anneka) Simon'  Come on Simon we know (hope, pray) you can do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kent has some wonderful old barns, like this one in the background belonging to one of Simon's neighbours.  I wonder what treasures are inside.  I can spend hours looking round old buildings, especially old farm buildings.  Ooops sorry, back to the plants!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the tour is almost over, our order has been placed, the sun is shining and I can almost feel the plants growing, my thanks to Simon and his team, I am supremely confident that your plants will look amazing.  I will keep praying for a little more sunshine however, just to be sure!

Samantha x

This year at Chelsea we have much less space on our stand than we have ever had before.  As you know our products are not small and deciding what to take and what to plant has been a challenge.

When it comes to the planting for Chelsea, there is instantly a great deal of pressure.  You are surrounded by Show Gardens that have extraordinary amounts of money available to them in order to have the best plants available, some show gardens are years in the making and plants are brought from all around the world.

Even though we are are not a show garden, and we are a trade stand, visitors to the show see everything on the same level, so your plants need to be able to compete with that gold medal winner.

Added to that, your plants need to withstand some rough handling, firstly they have to be at their best for a whole week, during that week they will be pulled and prodded, if you are outside they will be exposed to all kinds of weather; will it be a heat wave, will it be downpours, maybe this year it will be snow!  If you are inside how will the plants react to the artificial lights, the shade.  The criteria is endless ...

In previous years we have used a variety of methods to source our plants, we have grown them ourselves, we have bought plants and we have had some specially grown for us.

Every year the plants and the planting are far and away the most stressful part of exhibiting, and every year the process has been difficult.  This year we are doing things a little bit differently and we are taking a leaf out of the show garden designers book.

We have teamed up with a fabulous wholesale nursery, right on our doorstep in Hever, Kent.  How Green Nursery have taken up the challenge to grow all of our Chelsea plants for us, hoorah.  Simon Sutcliffe and his team have an invaluable amount of expert knowledge about all things horticultural and Simon’s passion is Herbs, so be prepared to see some unusual plants at Chelsea this year.

We know we are in safe hands, as Simon is also growing plants for Chelsea Gold Medal winner Roger Platts the garden designer of this years M&G Show Garden, called Windows Through Time.

Simon has a brief, to grow plants for our -

Tomato Garden

Living Larder Raised Planter

Kitchen Garden Living Larder Raised Planter Std & Lrg

Beehive Planter

Cold Frame

Chiddingstone Planter Lrg

Hever Planter Std

Groombridge Planter Rectangle

Apple Pickers Ladder

A-Frame

Window Box Herbs

Next time on The road to Chelsea Flower Show - Visiting How Green Nursery.

Samantha x

Getting ready for Chelsea Flower Show is always a little bit stressful, okay a lot stressful.

Although we are a trade stand and not a show garden, there is a lot of pressure to look perfect, it is not enough to just turn up with your products and set them out, you have to be as green and planted as possible.

 

 

 

 

Our last two Chelsea stands have been what are described as ‘open-ground’ which means that you are allocated an agreed amount of space and when you arrive it is bare earth.  You have to turn it into your trade stand, literally from the ground up.  This type of stand requires the most amount of physical work and normally involves being on site for at least a week before the show, building your trade stand, before you can even think about displaying your products.

 

 

This time around we are doing things a little bit differently.  We have applied for and been allocated a ‘shell-scheme’ stand, which is a stand with walls, a floor and a roof (hoorah my own little home away from home).

I am beyond thrilled to have my own little tented world, however, this is not quite as straight forward as it seems, first of all you do not have any flexibility with a shell-scheme stand, it is what it is and you have to work with it.  Often space is limited, fixings are difficult, and everything from the colour of the walls to the floor coverings is down to you.  What you get is space, empty space, no lights, no electrics, just bare walls and a floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I like a challenge, I also like getting creative and this year I can do that without nearly so much help from the workshop (did you hear that collective sigh of relief).  There is even a wonderful man at the company that build the stands, that will help you with securing walls, erecting shelves, building cupboards painting and laying new floors.  So you can pretty much design your stand, approve the quotes (best to close your eyes when you do this) and then turn up on a designated day and set out your products.

Easy, I hear you say?  Oh no, not so fast - that might be the bones sorted but there is still that itsy bitsy teeny weeny issue of planting and being as green as possible.

Before this however, you have to decide what you are going to display on your stand, this involves graph paper, scale rules, sized cut-outs of all of your products and lots and lots of patience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, everyone has an opinion - nobody wanted anything to do with the stand design, but now that it comes to products, we all know best.  What should go at the front, what should go at the back, on the left on the right, what shouldn’t go at all, you get the picture, and just when you think its done, start all over again and then again.  As I said the word here is patience, oh, and the odd sleepless night.

So once the products are decided, and yes there does come a point when the collection is decided.  We move on to the planting.

This year our stand is looking directly at a show garden on main avenue, even though we are not a show garden and we have not been designed by a famous garden designer you still need to look as if you have.  My intention at Chelsea is for the look of a show garden to flow seemlessly into our trade stand.

As well as judging taking place for the show gardens, trade stands are also judged, and although we all pretend it doesn’t matter if we win or not, we secretly want to our hard work to be recognised, after all there is no other show quite like Chelsea Flower Show.

Next time - On the road to Chelsea Flower Show, I will tell you all about the process of growing the plants and of achieving that green and planted stand we’ve been striving for.

Samantha x

Be prepared, some jobs you will need to do before you can start planting.

Buy your seeds, if this is your first time growing an edible garden, check our Hertitage Seed Collection for recommendations of what to grow.

Think about what to grow, its easy to get overwhelmed when choosing seeds, start with the things you like to eat, its so much more exciting growing something you know well, especially when it tastes better than its ever tasted before  You can move onto the exotic and unusual later.

Calculate your sowing dates, a little planning here will set you up for a successful season ahead.

Organise your supplies so that you are ready to plant.

What you'll need, my top tips.

Containers, seeds can be sown in a variety of containers, but our Living Larder raised planters are the best.

Soil, the best material for germinating seeds is a high-quality organic compost.  Prepared compost is free of disease causing contaminants often present in garden soil.

Labels, don’t forget to label what you’ve planted to avoid confusion, especially if you need to transplant your seedlings, I use lolly sticks for mine.

Seed Covers, you will need to cover your seeds after planting to retain warmth and moisture, essential to help delicate seeds germinate and thrive.  Our Cloches are designed to fit your Living Larder raised garden or can be used as a row cover in your vegetable garden.  If you are planting indoors a sheet of clear plastic will speed up the germination process.

Water, room-temperature water is best.  Watering needs to be gentle so that you do not disturb the seeds or damage seedlings.  A watering can that has a spray nosel is ideal.

Light Source, growing seedlings calls for steady, consistent light.  Choose a sunny spot that has bright sun for most of the day.

Jump start your seedlings, and beat the great British weather.

To give your seeds a jump start on the growing season you can start them indoors in containers or if you have a conservatory sow directly into your Living Larder raised planter and lift it outside when the weather warms.

Sowing

Fill your container or Living Larder with compost lightly packed and moistened.

Use a pencil to press holes into the compost at the correct depth for your seeds (you will find this information on the back of the seed packet).  If you have been given seeds and don’t have instructions, a good tip is to cover the seeds to a depth equal to four times their diameter.

Then add one to two seeds per hole spaced about 10cm apart.

Cover lightly with compost.

Label each row with the plants name and the sowing date.

Now carefully water the compost.

To speed up the germination process cover the compost with a plastic sheet, if you are using a small container you can place the whole container into a plastic bag.

Place your container into a warm draft free place until the seeds germinate, you don’t need a light source until they begin to sprout.

If your containers are well insulated you probably won’t need to water them again until your seeds sprout, when you move them into a sunny area to continue growing.

It typically takes 7 to 14 days for your seeds to sprout.  When you see sprouts emerging, remove the plastic and move your containers to a draft free place where there is plenty of light.

If you are using a Living Larder raised garden now is the time to use your Cloche.

If your containers are too far away from the light your seedlings will have to reach for the light and this will cause them to be leggy and weak.  Rotate your container from time to time to ensure the light is reaching them evenly.

Check your seedlings daily to make sure that the soil is moist (not wet).

When your plants are well established and the weather has warmed you are ready to move them outside.  If you are using a Living Larder raised planter then move the complete garden outside to a sheltered sunny spot, you can keep using your Cloche until the days are warmer, and even then it is a good idea to use at night.

Samantha x

 

The Barbecoa

Darren loves his Barbecue, I personally can take it or leave it, but it is his area of cooking expertise, and he is if I am honest, very good at it (We won't tell him that though...). We don't get the usual burnt offerings, or boring burgers, he has a wide repertoire that includes fish, vegetables as well as beautifully grilled meats. My one bugbear though has always been the barbecue itself. I am sorry, but they are just plain ugly, and no matter how you try, they do not look pretty in the garden. His challenge to my griping was to design him the ultimate grill. Well I like a challenge, and to be honest I am in the perfect business to be able to do just that.

I have spent last year looking at the way people barbecue a little more closely. What I have realised was that barbecuing is a very social way of cooking, and is normally a shared experience, especially when entertaining. There is normally a few different types of cooking going on at the same time, be it burgers, chicken, sausages, vegetables, kebabs etc. Most grilling spaces I looked at were quite small for the number of people being fed, which means food has to be cooked in batches. Being one sided meant whoever was cooking normally had their back to the other guests, defeating the object of a barbecue being a social activity. My other observation was as the evening wore on, especially in our changeable weather, people gathered around the dying embers of the fire in the evening to keep the chill off. This gave me the information I needed to produce, what I feel is the ultimate barbecue/ fire bowl.

My first idea was to make it circular with a large grilling area. This means that a lot of people can grill at the same time. you can almost all cook your own! This circle makes the whole cooking experience much more sociable, you can cook wherever you want, only having your back to your guests if you want to (When you drop someones sausage into the flames for example!). The large area also means you can cook many different things at the same time, using different temperatures for different foods. Being a charcoal grill, you simply move the charcoal where you want in the bowl to give direct or indirect cooking to the area you choose. This also removes the need to lift the grill up or down if the cooking needs more or less heat. You simply move the food around. Secondly, I made it worktop height. Many barbecues I looked at were not quite tall enough, meaning the chef was bending over slightly, not a good posture! The part I really love about my design though, is when the cooking is over. The grill lifts off, throw in a few logs and you have a beautiful fire bowl. Perfect for toasting marshmallows and staying warm if it gets a little chilly in the evening. The size and thickness of the bowl means you can even lean against the edge and it is nice and warm, not hot! Again being worktop height it becomes the perfect place to lean against. Like all of our products, it is made to our usual high standards. It is very heavy (a two man lift!), as I wanted it to be extremely stable, not be too hot at the edges, and to last a lifetime. They are made only to order by a local blacksmith, so each one is lovingly made by hand.

Finally like all of my designs, it had to be beautiful. Now I really had my work cut out here, I mean after all, how do you make a barbecue beautiful? My decision turned out to be simple really. Metal is a new material for me to use, and it does not have the softness of painted wood. I therefore decided to design it to look like a piece of art for the garden, a fountain or large planting bowl if you will. So when it stands on the lawn, or on the terrace with its flowing legs, it is beautiful to look at, and not immediately obvious as to what it is.

Well, now to the the most important opinion. Darren loves it, and so do our friends. It works perfectly, everyone gathers round to help or offer their opinion on the cooking, it actually makes a barbecue more sociable an occasion . It cooks beautifully, and does indeed cook the different foods at the same time. It even mass caters, 50 burgers at once we have had!! I love the evenings though, leaning against the bowl with a glass of wine as it gets a little chilly is lovely. I love an open fire, I am a big kid at heart, toasting marshmallows, it is a lovely place to be.

Click here to see it on our web site

I hope you all love it

Samantha x

Heres an introduction to the two most important members of the Sparrow & Finch Management Team. You’ve seen a lot about them but you’ve not heard very much from them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Libby Red & White Border Collie, 13 years (although we tell her she is 9) and Luna a Parson Russell Terrier, 5 years (although she tells us she is 6 months).

I am passionate about dogs, I used to have four border collies (Charlie, Jamie, Todd and Libby) and two golden retrievers (Amber and Cassie), yes all at the same time!  I competed seriously in Agility and Obedience for many years and my love of dogs has never wained.

We had a collie when I was a baby and I had my own first dog when I was nine, a lovely blenheim and white cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Bess.  Famous in the town where I grew up, because I left her behind at our local sweet shop - walking out of the shop and all the way home, and not noticing I had left her behind until the shop called to ask if I had ‘forgotten something’.  That’s why I now have collies - impossible to leave behind, affectionately called velcro dogs.

 

So let me tell you a little about Libby, firstly she is stunning - probably the most beautiful red and white border collie, and she knows it!  She walks with the cutest little wiggle, just like a super model and has a bit of temper, just like a redhead.  When all the other dogs were alive she was in the background, but since they passed away, she has come into her own personality, and just loves to be the centre of attention.  She is ball mad, like most collies has to be with you all the time, and I mean all (bathrooms are not off limit to Libby).  She is with me all day, except for when I have to go for meetings but even then she sometimes comes along.

 

Luna, loves everything and everyone, she gets up in the morning with a smile on her face and goes to bed at night the same.  Although she is five, she gets away with her cheeky ways because everyone thinks she is a puppy.  She is a typical terrier, loves a cuddle, wants to be involved in everything, turns a deaf ear when it suits and runs like the wind.  Luna adores Libby, they play and play.  In the office Luna curls up with Libby in her bed when she’s cold and loves to visit the workshop with Darren.  She rides shotgun whenever she can and loves to go to meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So whats a typical day for the two, four legged bosses of Sparrow & Finch like; it normally starts with an early morning walk on Ashdown Forest, followed by a morning meeting in the office, Libby and Luna take up their usual positions at each end of the office sofa, and often don’t have a lot to bring to the meeting, except perhaps a few snores.  Mid-morning brings breakfast, late morning means a progress review in the workshop.  Afternoons are normally busy, greeting the couriers and overseeing the dispatch of todays parcels.  Before going home its a quick ramble round the six acres at the workshop, exhausting if you are Luna, as there are an awful lot of rabbits, deer and other wildlife to say hello to.  Then its home in time for tea.  Evenings are spent in front of the telly, Libby flings her toys around, loudly over the telly and Luna tries her hardest to get on the other end of the toy Libby is flinging.  Now its time for bed, and Luna has to be tucked in first, she has a terrier tunnel, but can’t possibly get into bed herself.  The tunnel has to be properly positioned and held up, just so, so that she can climb in.  Libby likes her bed made fresh each evening, blankets have to be nice and flat, no ridges allowed.  A kiss goodnight and were ready to dream about another day of high powered decision making.

 

I get one question over and over - Where do I get my Inspiration?

Over the last three years that question has nearly always related to our Garden collection and my answer nearly always is ‘For me, I follow the traditions of Gertrude Jekyll arguably the most influential gardener of 20th century England. She popularised the herbaceous border and planning a garden based on colour schemes. This built on the tradition of the 'Cottage garden', with its profusion of flowers wherever space permits, and climbers on trellises and walls. Jekyll saw the house and garden as part of an integral whole, rather than the garden as an afterthought to the building.’

But what you don’t know about me is I also have a passion for interior design, and recently I was interviewed by a magazine Editor from China, and I was expecting the usual  questions that everyone always wants to know.  But instead the Editor asked about the inspiration behind Sparrow & Finch; what she wanted to know, was the Why?

Well this got me thinking, inspiration is a complex subject and perhaps not something that can be so easily summed up, as I have in the past.

What I realised is every single element of Sparrow & Finch has a story, and that story is the inspiration.  It may seem obvious but it’s all in the detail, those little things that don’t get noticed but make the world of difference, sometimes that difference is only to me, but it’s what sets us apart from everyone else, and drives everyone in my team mad, on a daily basis.

So it’s really not just about the inspiration behind Sparrow & Finch, it’s about the inspiration for each and every product we design.  What I have learned from this process is; I will try to always tell you the story behind the product.  That way hopefully, you will understand a little more about the, Why?

Samantha x

I would like to introduce you to Sophia Cottier, our wonderful PR Manager at Profile Public Relations.  Sophia has kindly agreed to be our guest blog writer to announce our Autumn / Winter 2012 collection ...

Samantha x

 

Sparrow & Finch’s stylish handcrafted planters, birdhouses and beehive storage boxes have graced many a stylish garden since their launch in 2009 – I myself have enjoyed many meals of delicious home-grown salads and many cups of fresh mint tea courtesy of the wonderful Living Larder Kitchen Garden at home.

As well as working with Sparrow & Finch, we at Profile PR are huge fans of their beautifully designed accessories, so we were delighted to hear about their latest Autumn/Winter launch from Samantha … The Kitchen Collection.

It’s the very first time Sparrow & Finch have come indoors – and, like the outdoor garden accessories, the new kitchen products all feature Sparrow & Finch’s signature English style with a contemporary twist.

For the last several months the team have been working very hard behind the scenes on the new products – designing, handcrafting prototypes, painting them, and photographing them. And we’re delighted to officially unveil the new products here on the Sparrow & Finch blog!

The new collection features an Egg Trug, a Cutlery Holder and Cutlery Tray, a Butler’s Tray Set, a Utensils Holder, and the crème de la crème of the new collection – the very elegant Spice Cupboard.

The Spice Cupboard offers very flexible storage – not only can you keep all your spice jars in here, but there is also space for a variety of bottles too. Best of all it also means the end of rooting around in the back of your kitchen cupboards trying to find that lost jar of basil for your quick pasta dish; all your spices and jars are neatly on display and easy to access.

My personal favourite is the Egg Trug – so simple, yet such a chic way to store your eggs before you eat them. Eggs are best stored at room temperature (not in a fridge), and this little trug is a great way to show off your hens’ produce. The design will suit any kitchen too – contemporary or country.

Each product is handcrafted in the Kent workshop from quality FSC certified woods, and finished using the Farrow & Ball colour, French Gray.

The new Kitchen Collection will be available exclusively on the Sparrow & Finch website from tomorrow, 1st September 2012.

Sophia Cottier, Profile PR

Earlier this year we received an exciting telephone call from the Berkeley Hotel, London - they had a project beginning and they wanted us to be involved.

So a meeting was arranged at the wonderful Berkeley Hotel, (officially one of my favourite places) where we would talk through the ‘secret project’.  Very James Bond indeed!

So what did I learn at this meeting?  Fifteen balcony rooms were being designed by Robert Angell and his London based studio, all these rooms faced south and had the most wonderful beige granite balconies, and this is where Sparrow & Finch come in.  The hotel wanted to make a feature of such wonderful and rare outside space and thought that as the hotel faced Hyde Park, it might be a prime spot for wildlife.

Of course at this point a visit to the rooms was necessary.  The inside corridor to the balcony rooms had been sealed off from the rest of the hotel and was accessed through a clever false door, full construction was underway with an army of tradesmen going about their business.  Any surface that was either complete or not going to be touched during construction was covered in a thick seal of plastic sheeting.  A room was chosen that was nearing completion and even covered in plastic it was breath-taking, from the choice of warm tones of grey and ochres to the hand-stitched leather headboard and the suede-wrapped wardrobe doors, you could see this was British elegance at it's best.

I guess by now I was not expecting that the balcony would be an extension of the room, but the attention to detail here is exquisite.  The hotel is built of the most beautiful honey coloured granite, and the first thing you see when you enter the balcony is the tower of the stunning St Paul’s Church Knightsbridge, one of London’s most beautiful Victorian church buildings, elaborate and highly decorated an example of British architecture at it's finest.  Looking to the right, you see Hyde Park, majestic trees rising out of the center of an urban landscape.  The balcony rooms are a tranquil oasis observing the chaos of London below.

So how could Sparrow & Finch enhance such a wonderful setting?  With a Berkeley bird house of course.

Photographs were taken of the rooms, of the balconies and of the surroundings and the ideas began to form.  Next a tour of the hotel was necessary.  (Any excuse!) The Berkeley bird house had to reflect the personality of the hotel.

Back in the office the design process begins.  My designs are always influenced by the elegance of Britishness, I begin the process with a with a mood board, then with sketches.  I wanted the design to be unique, it had to be wall mounted and scaled to suit the balcony.

The sketches are then passed to the workshop, and the process of turning a design into a product begins.  Does the item function?  How big should it be?  How will it be mounted?What materials are to be used?  How many are required?

After design and development, a prototype is made by the workshop and presented back to me for feedback, hopefully without too much swearing!  After any adjustments, colour is chosen.  This is a process that can take forever, however on this occasion colour choice to me had been obvious from the start of the project, it had to be Bone.  Bone is a wonderful colour that picks up on it's surroundings beautifully, with honey coloured granite, dark green screens and green planting, I had no doubt that Bone would look simply stunning.

The Berkeley bird house in bone was presented to the team at the hotel for comment.  (Always a nerve racking moment)  They loved it!

We are very proud to announce that the Berkeley bird house now has pride of place on the fifteen balcony rooms at the Berkeley Hotel, London.

If you would like to purchase your very own Berkeley you may do so exclusively from our website.

Samantha x