Asthall Manor

**SPACES LEFT**

Kitchen Garden Workshop: Seed Saving – Closing the Loop on your Food Growing

Thursday 5th September - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

If you are interested in joining us please see the link in our bio.

Kitchen Garden residential course: Gardening Leave

Friday 20th September to Sunday 22nd September

If you are interested please see the link in our bio.

Photo credit Tim Mitchell

We are so lucky to have some prickly friends with us today 🦔

Check out hedge funds Instagram to learn more about the amazing work Sarah does⭐

https://www.wrfm.co.uk/on-air/podcasts/community-matters/episode/wrfm-community-matters-cotswold-lavender-and-asthall-open-gardens/

Rosie Pearson did a little interview! Thanks WRFM- Radio for Oxfordshire & The Cotswolds and loved learning about the lavender too!

WRFM - Community Matters - Cotswold Lavender and Asthall Open Gardens - Community Matters WRFM - Community Matters - Cotswold Lavender and Asthall Open Gardens

**SPACES LEFT**

Kitchen Garden Workshop: Making Compost and Natural Fertilisers – Turning Waste into Gold

Tuesday 25th June - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

If you are interested in joining us please see the link in our bio. Click the ‘What’s on’ to be taken to our website for full details.

It’s Love Our River Day at Asthall! Come and wander through the garden, down to the river where you’ll find , , and others who LOVE our river and, in their different ways, want to restore it to a healthy state at the heart of our community.

We’ll be telling you a bit more about the charities we’re working with over our summer open month. Last but by no means least BEAGles (Burford Environmental Action Group).

BEAGles was formed in 2021 to build local resilience, fight the climate & nature crisis and support our fellow creatures, human or otherwise.
We meet regularly (3rd Monday of every month at the Prince of Burford pub) and we also organise informative and inspiring talks and events, looking at nature recovery, energy reduction and the health of our rivers.
And it’s not all talk! Action days include litter-picking, tree-planting and working on the community allotment. Future plans include setting up a swift group to protect these endangered birds by logging their nesting spots in the town.
During Asthall’s open month, the Love Our River Day on June 15th will be our main focus, but we will also leave a signup sheet and some more information about our work in the Ballroom, and you may find us out and about in the garden.

Pressto flower pressing workshop dates 💐💐

Pressto will be running taster sessions during our open month (every Thursday, £5 cash). If you would like to attend a full workshop please see our website for details. Link in bio.

'Light on the Windrush’ a painting workshop with Kieran Stiles

5th July - 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Learn how to experiment with many different ways of creating the effect of reflections and light on water using oils on gesso primed board.

We will be based outside at the Kitchen courtyard at Asthall Manor and working from direct observation by the lake.

All materials included except for an A4 hardback sketchbook which you will need to bring for notes and preparatory studies. Please be aware that this workshop will be run during Asthall Manor open garden. Please arrive early to ensure you get parked and can find your way to the courtyard. It is also a perfect excuse to have a walk around this beautiful space.

This workshop is payable in advance and non-refundable or transferable after 5 days before the event date.

To book, email: [email protected]

We’ll be telling you a bit more about the charities we’re working with over our summer open month. Next up, Kissing it Better.

Since 2011, Kissing it Better has worked with thousands of young people across the UK, encouraging them to use their special skills to lift the spirits of older people in hospitals and the community. Since the start of the pandemic, the charity has connected with young people across the world, many of them through 'The Medic Portal': using Zoom, the students can share stories directly with older people in hospitals, care homes and those living alone.

Kissing it Better also runs a range of teaching courses for schools and colleges across the world.

We’ll be telling you a bit more about the charities we’re working with over our summer open month. Next up, Wychwood Forest Trust.

The Wychwood Forest Trust is a conservation charity that works on a local level to champion nature in West Oxfordshire. WFT owns 4 nature reserves and manages a further 3, a total of 160 acres across different locations in the Wychwood Forest area. We have transformed these places from degraded land into flourishing havens for wildlife.

In addition, we work with local communities in a variety of ways to protect and restore habitats:
• We advise local landowners and other organisations on matters of ecology and conservation
• We provide training and courses to help people learn traditional rural skills like hedgelaying and dry stone walling
• We offer regular volunteering opportunities on our reserves, and our groups help monitor wild flowers, plant and maintain hedges, and repair dry stone walls across our region
• We run guided nature walks, events and outdoor gatherings to encourage people to connect with the natural world on their doorstep and to celebrate the unique cultural identity of the Wychwood Forest area.

Come and check out the WFT stand in the Ballroom, or find us out and about in the landscape on a Thursday.

Charities we are collecting for during our open garden:

Refugee Resource work to relieve distress, improve well-being and facilitate the integration of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants in Oxfordshire by providing psychological, social and practical support. We celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2024 and are looking forward to taking part in Asthall Manor’s Summer Open Month!

Refugee Resource will be with us on Thursdays & Fridays during the open month.

org.uk

Our resident fern aficionado Neil Frame will be down at the lake between 11am - 12noon every Thursday during our open month! Neil is looking forward to meeting fellow horticultural enthusiasts and discussing how he keeps the ferns at Asthall in tiptop shape.

This event is not ticketed. All are welcome to join the conversation 🌿🌿🌿

Head Gardener Owen Vaughan is going to delight with his garden tours! Guiding you through this spectacular oasis he and Rosie have created.

Owen’s talks are free but you do have to book a place and numbers are limited to 20. This ensures that those on the tour can ask questions and enjoy the immersive experience.

Please go to our bio and follow the link to our website to book 🌿🌱🌻 🌺

Peter Cowdrey .peter, who led walks around the Asthall grounds during our on form exhibitions and open gardens, will be back with more insight into the secret meanings and musicality of birdsong.

Walks are approximately one hour long and all proceeds will go to The Planet Birdsong Foundation.

Peter’s walks are ticketed. Please go to our bio and follow the link to our website to book 🐦🎶

cowdrey.peter

We belatedly join in celebrating . Levens Hall is home to the world’s oldest topiary garden, designed by Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont and established from 1694.

The topiary at Asthall is quite modern in comparison, a mere 27 years old.

The sharp wedges of yew were designed by the exceptional mind of in 1998.

The great waves of Asthall, sculpted from yew, are a creation of Rosie’s, loosely inspired by Hokusai’s famous Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Topiary at Asthall is important; its formality provides a contrast to the wilder and more exuberant areas.

Please come and see our topiary – and more - during our summer open month; all details on our website.

Asthall Manor is announcing a screening of the eagerly anticipated documentary film, Six Inches of Soil. The film tells the inspiring story of young British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, our health and provide for local communities. The screening will take place on Wednesday 22 May at 7pm.

Six Inches of Soil follows three new farmers on the first year of their regenerative journey - Anna Jackson, a Lincolnshire 11th generation arable and sheep farmer; Adrienne Gordon, a Cambridgeshire small-scale vegetable farmer; and Ben Thomas, who rears pasture fed beef cattle in Cornwall. As the trio strive to adopt regenerative practices and create viable businesses, they meet seasoned mentors who help them on their journey. They’re joined by other experts providing wisdom and solutions from a growing movement of people who are dedicated to changing the trajectory for food, farming and the planet.

Claire Mackenzie, Six Inches of Soil Producer adds, “Community screenings are a hugely important part of our impact campaign. We’re so excited that Asthall Manor is hosting this event, it’s really important that people have discussions at a local level to find ways to move forward to create profitable food systems that benefit the community whilst looking after our soil and the environment in the best possible way.”

Head to our linktree to book 🌿🌿🌿🌿

Wild wednesday - .topia take over

Is there a more truly wild plant than the humble fern?

Ferns are found in the length and breadth Britain (and all over the world) being able to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions from exposed rock faces, to saturated bog lands and everything in-between.

They belong to the plant family known as Pteridophytes. This word has Greek origin, Pteron means a feather and Phyton means plants.

Ferns come in all shapes and sizes. From the simple strap like fronds of the Harts Tongue fern (pic 2) to the much divided, "frothy" fronds of the plumose shield ferns (pic 3). The delicate yet extremely hardy fronds of the Himalayan Maidenhair fern (pic 4) and the newly emerging pinky/orange fronds of the Sunset fern (pic 5) .

With all this in mind and along with their ability to thrive in many different environments, the humble fern is the perfect plant to add a touch of the wilderness to any garden.

Wild Wednesday - Organic Ecosystem 🌿

……….

One of the many benefits of organic and ecological gardening are the species rich lawns we have developed over the last 27 years.

Last year we spotted a small number of bee orchids (Ophrys
apifera) in the croquet lawn. This year we’ve carefully marked over twenty orchid plants.

This May we will not cut the croquet lawn for we are excited to see what wildflowers will thrive in the once striped lawns. 🌿🌿