Hello, welcome to my blog. What a beautiful day it is to start sharing my frantic and busy life with you. Here's a little taster just to get things going and fill you in on a little of my background and why I'm here.
About twenty years ago I was working as a PA in London but in my heart I knew I wanted to do something more creative in my life and so embarked on what was to become a lifetime of study and passion for plants and gardens. It all started with an Access Course in Nutrition, Biology and Environmental Sciences at Lambeth College. I was hooked, school had never been a particularly rewarding environment for me but this was different. It lead to the decision to embark on a course with Hadlow College and I gained the RHS General Certificate in Horticulture two years later.
My gardening career started as a trainee with English Heritage working with the Curator at Down House in Kent. Down House in case you don't know is the former home of Charles Darwin. What a fantastic opportunity that was and I stayed for 18 months, six months longer than I was supposed to! I particularly enjoyed working in the glasshouses there learning to care for some very special and rare plants including orchids, carnivorous plants and climbers. If you haven't been you really should!
I left Down House to work as a gardener at The Owl House in Lamberhurst where I spent 9 happy months and then an opportunity came my way to apply for the position of Head Gardener at Michelham Priory in Upper Dicker, East Sussex. Michelham Priory is one of a few important historical sites owned by the Sussex Archaeological Society and covers 21 acres including a Cloister Garden, Physic Garden, Kitchen Garden, herbaceous borders, extensive lawns, a moat and meadows beyond. I got the job and stayed with them for four years. It was the best job I've ever had.
Sadly, illness meant that I had to give up my position there and I left with a very heavy heart. Having fully recovered today I am taking my experience and knowledge to the next level and studying an HND Garden Design with the University of Greenwich which will lead to a BA (Hons) in the third year. We are approaching the end of our first year and WOW what a year. I'll be sharing more of that with you later.
I also work as a volunteer Assistant County Organiser (ACO) for the National Gardens Scheme in East Sussex. This is a fabulous organisation raising money for charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Parkinsons UK and Perennial to name but a few. You'll get to hear more about my work in this area but as ACO's we basically support all those wonderful garden owners who give their time freely to open their private gardens to the public to raise money for charity. We get to see beautiful gardens along the way, a never ending source of inspiration. Have you got your NGS Yellow Book for 2014?
I also work part time two days a week to help fund my studies and there's also my own back garden which is being re-designed as we speak. I've lived in Peacehaven for about two and a half years, one of which was spent renovating the house and now I've turned my attention to the garden which is an on-going project as all gardens are.
So as you can see I'm a busy bee which is great because I'll have plenty to say here, I hope you enjoy my meanderings and would love to hear your thoughts on any subject, I'm sure I'll have an opinion too.
Bye for now.
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