The sweetest signs of Spring
Towards the end of this month, we’re all set – ready to welcome and celebrate the start of spring. The landscape takes on some colour and wildlife starts to reappear, ready for the longer days of spring after months of hibernation.
We always look forward to the warmth of spring and its arrival. Snowdrops are replaced with daffodils, brightening up the patchwork parkland; the sap rises, lambs arrive in the fields (racing and playing, something we never tire of watching), and the birds sing from dawn to dusk.
The new season brings a new taste of the estate with delicious, sweet ingredients of spring. It’s an exciting month as the season awakens.
In the walled garden and kitchens, it’s a busy time. By the end of March, the team will be harvesting forced rhubarb, sprouting broccoli and cauliflower for the Coach House and Forge. Seeds are sown for onions, leeks, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and salad leaves; and more fruit and vegetables are grown in the greenhouses ready for planting out after frosts.
Ross Forder and the Coach House team use the estate cherry blossom for cordials, sodas and dessert flavourings, and forage wild garlic, nettles, and jack of the hedge for their estate-to-plate recipes; it’s as wild and sweet as it sounds.
Green shoots, micro-herbs, salad leaves, radishes, garlic, and onions are planted out and purple sprouting broccoli flourishes and is ready to use. As we get further into spring, there’s the arrival of edible flowers to enliven plates at the Coach House.
Spend some time here this spring?
