Gold Star Winners!

We were inspected last year by the Green Tourism Business Scheme - the only auditors that visit tourism-based businesses all over the UK to complete a green audit. After scoring 89% we were short-listed with 9 other Bed & Breakfasts for their Gold Star Award. Last week Chris and Sally went up to the Award ceremony in Edinburgh, where they were delighted to receive the award.

Below is a snap-shot of what we do here at The Old Rectory:

We aim for food self-sufficiency for our family and guests by growing 70 types of fruit and vegetables, served all year round for breakfasts and evening meals. We also rear hens, ducks and pedigree rare-breed sheep and pigs. Our 3 honeybee colonies help pollinate our crops and produce delicious honeycomb.

We believe in energy resilience and have designed an 80 panel solar system that harnesses more of the sun's energy. We grow and cut our wood for heating the house and last winter we planted over 400 trees, with donations from our guests going towards the project and to local and international charities.

Our delicious organic dairy products come from Helsett Farm 2 miles away and we buy locally made bread, cheese, pottery, apple juice and smoked fish. Guests enjoy our refillable Faith in Nature shower products and all cleaning and laundry products are from Ecover and BioD. 

Guests enjoy the history of the house and the beautiful natural surroundings we have to offer and we hope they leave here with new ideas and a sense of peace.

As one of only 3 Goldstar winners in England, Malcolm Bell from Visit Cornwall came to look around The Old Rectory last month and congratulated us for continuing to showcase Cornwall as a sustainable holiday destination.   

We would like to thank everyone's who's helped us along the way, especially our suppliers and referees and here's to an even greener 2012!

Our little Rocket!

Introducing Rocket - possibly the most photographed duckling in Cornwall! He's certainly been charming the socks off our guests and loves to come and 'help' in the garden!

And the name? Rocket was the only duckling to hatch from a clutch of Aylesbury eggs and since propelling himself with great speed out of his egg 3 days ago he has been running about entertaining us with his antics ever since!

Rocket lives with Anna & Beiran in the woodshed and will most likely join the other ducks when he's no longer tempting to the sparrow hawks - unless the life of a house duck suits him (or her) better!

Watch him grow on the St Juliot Blog by becoming a 'Follower' ...

To everyone who has fallen for Rocket during their stay - Hasn't he Grown! He is now head slugger and still prefers humans to ducks!
 

The Freshest Flavours of May...

April & May are a time of preparing for the summer's growing season - we've been planting plenty of salads, runner beans, french beans, parsnips, carrots, beetroot etc., but generally it's a poor time of year to be reaping a harvest from the garden.
Thankfully we have some late winter veggies such as purple sprouting- still full of flavour and the first Spring Cabbage with delicious buttery new potatoes. All seasoned with plenty of fresh herbs and chopped wet garlic (no, it's not a leek!).

Our fresh duck eggs with asparagus and rocket have been going down a treat, and for main course we are currently serving Cornish Lemon Sole, Local Wild Venison Steaks and our own Glazed Pork with Roast Vegetables.

Got room for dessert? Mostly rhubarb based, including pannacottas and crumbles, or Eton Mess with the first sweetest strawberries of the season!

We'll make sure we keep up the hard work in the garden so are guests can enjoy it's fresh flavours all year long :)

A home-grown Cornish Breakfast!

It's called Bed & Breakfast for a reason and we know how important the first meal of the day is for our guests, especially those with a big day planned!

The growing season kicks off here in May and guests love our freshly poached rhubarb with a good dollop of Organic pro-biotic yoghurt from Helsett Farm's pedigree Ayrshire herd just 2 miles away.

This is generally followed by a wholesome full Cornish breakfast - 

a large sausage made with our lean home-reared pork mince seasoned with our own sage, Cornish sea salt, black pepper, 5% breadcrumbs (from Boscastle Bakery) and natural casings, 2 slices of our own dry-cured bacon, 2 fresh eggs from the ducks or hens, a slice of Hog's Pudding from the local butchers, and the most local veg we can get - in the summer & autumn it's all from the garden!



Our choice of locally caught and smoked fish is also popular - on offer we have trout (from 1 mile away), mackerel and kippers (Cornish in season). Served with eggs and vegetables of your choice.

For vegetarians, we offer a full Veggie breakfast with plenty of egg, potatoes and vegetables, or alternatively try our French Toast or Davidstow cheese on toast. Guests can help themselves to a range of cereals, locally baked bread and Cornish apple juice and are offered cafetiere Fairtrade Coffee and a range of Fairtrade teas. Yum! 

Bees + Apple Blossom = Apples + Honey!

It's worth giving a thought to the bees out there every so often, pollinating our food crops, busily going about their own business for the good of the colony. We often hear on the news that our bees are at threat and we like to promote natural beekeeping to anyone that wants to learn more during their stay with us. 

After a wet April our beehive is simply humming once again, with thousands of bees bringing in pollen for the young brood and nectar for their winter stores. 

We think our bees have it pretty good here - a huge variety of forage, they're loving the fruit blossom at the moment (especially the apples and pears - see photo). But with such a rich local habitat  - mature trees, diverse hedgerows and a wide range of annual and perennial borders there is something for any bee taste bud! Most importantly, we are fortunate to be in a livestock rich area, which means less agricultural spays and fewer neonicotinoides, a damaging pesticide that effects the nervous system in bees and other insects.

The bees live in an un-conventional 'Top-Bar' hive. It offers a more natural home for the bees who can build their own comb (no foundation), and the queen is not excluded from any part of the hive. We open the hive as little as possible, but when it is open they suffer much less disturbance - and consequently show little aggression, to the extent that we never use a smoker.  

We hope you enjoy seeing your local bees out and about this spring and summer.

Have Faith in Nature

After a lot of thought and research, we have chosen the award winning suppliers 'Faith in Nature' to supply our guests with the best naturally sourced hair, body and hand products available on the market.

All their products use naturally sourced ingredients, packed with essential oils and contain no SLES, parabens, artificial colours or perfumes. They are made in the UK and approved by the Vegan Society.






Instead of providing guests with tiny single-use bottles of beauty products, we think it makes sense to use larger refillable bottles, and Faith in Nature help us further reduce our packaging waste by supplying 5 litre refills.


For more information please visit http://www.faithinnature.co.uk/index.php

Walking Week 2012

 Despite the less-than-perfect weather, Boscastle Walking Week 2012 proved a big success with over 100 walkers taking part in at least one of the organised walks in the local area.

After a hard day's walk, there were plenty of evening activities including a pub quiz, with special meal discounts to our deserving walkers!

On Friday Sally took 11 walkers on the Hardy Walk, from Boscastle, up to The Old Rectory for lunch via the church, then out to Beeny Cliff and back to Boscastle, luckily accompanied by some sunshine! 

Our four resident walking week guests are already booked in for next year and we look forward to seeing everyone from the 15th-19th of April 2013. Boat trips have been arranged with the tides so you can go out and see the bits of coastline you have walked - plus stunning views of big caves and hopefully a seal or two. 

Many thanks to Denise for co-ordinating walking week and fingers crossed for good weather next year!

*Spring Update*

After ten solid days of blue skies and hot temperatures, Spring is truly here and we are all trying to keep up with it in the garden...

The first Asparagus head is up and looking rather delicious. During April we offer freshly cut asparagus with our own scrambled eggs and or smoked trout from the fish farm three fields away. A great way to start the day! We have just planted another row of asparagus and although we can't harvest it for 3 years we know it's worth the wait!

Our new potatoes are looking fab, with the first picking expected soon after Easter, we serve our freshly dug new potaotes right through the Spring and Summer for evening meals.

It's all looking rather peachy up under the stone fruit cover - our apricots, peaches and nectarines are in full bloom and it promises to be a good crop. These stone fruits can suffer from a disease called Peach Leaf Curl and instead of spraying them we put covers up during the Spring. This year we have underplanted the fruits with a Bumblebee mix of Phacelia and Borage so when the covers come off in May it should look a picture!

This week one of our old beech trees had to come down as the top branches were dying back. This beautiful wood will be used for making long timber planks, a couple of traditional beehives and the chippings will be used in the garden as mulch. The 5ft stump has been left to provide a bold support for a small deck overlooking the house and garden. We have a Strawberry Tree and a Crab Apple to plant in it's place.

Talking of apples, we have been busy restoring a local orchard and have taken some scions from there and our own orchard to graft 35 of these heritage varieties on to a mixture of rootstocks. Most of these will go into our forest garden next Winter.
The pigs have been taking the warm weather in their stride, by mostly, sleeping. And occasionally trotting over for a scratch and a turnip or two.

Gertrude, our pedigree Oxford & Sandy Black, is almost full size and will be off to the boar next month - fingers crossed for midsummer piglets!

Forest Garden Frenzy!

The pigs have been doing a fine job turning over our forest garden site over the past year and as they look on, we have begun planting a range of coppicing and wind break trees.

Today was a glorius warm March day (note short sleeves!) and it was a joint effort by three generations, with over 40 trees planted.

Once these trees are providing some protection we will plant more tender trees and an orchard.

Thanks again to everyone who has dedicated a tree, it may not look much now but in a couple of years time this muddy field will be a brilliant space!

This place is buzzzzzing!

The mild Spring has been great for our honeybees who are already out collecting nectar and pollen. Our heather and rosemary bushes are buzzing and they are enjoying the crocuses we planted n mid-winter. We love our friendly bees and avoid the use of smoke and artificial treatments. We are hoping to expand our apiary this summer and increase the number of bee-friendly plants in the gardens. If you're a bee fan we have a spare bee suit and we can see how they are getting on during your stay if the weather is settled. For further information on natural beekeeping visit www.biobees.com

Green is the new Gold...

The Old Rectory has just been shortlisted for the new 'Gold Star' Award run by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), which is awarded to just 2% of its participating businesses. During our recent inspection we scored nearly 90% for our green credentials (and that was before our tree planting and solar panels!). We have been 'Gold' rated since the scheme began and are constantly striving to reduce our footprint on the Earth. The Award's will be presented during Green Tourism Week in late May - we will keep you posted!

The St Juliot Flock!

In addition to our spotty pigs we have now gone totally dotty with the arrival of 4 Jacob sheep. Our four girls will help us keep the grass down, provide us with gorgeous wool products and we're all looking forward to some lambs next Spring! They are very tame and guests are welcome to give them a good scratch and a handful of hay.

Enjoy a Free-Range Breakfast

Our business is breakfasts and as we serve up several hundred each year we know it’s important you know where your breakfasts come from.

We have been rearing pigs for nearly a year and many guests have been enjoying our own homemade meaty sausages. Our pigs have freedom to dig, wallow and run about in their field (they even have sea views!). If you would like to come and meet the pigs during your stay you are welcome to join us during feeding time!

For vegetarians we have plenty of home-grown organic fruit and vegetables (including raspberries, peaches, asparagus and tomatoes in season) and free range eggs from our happy hens.

St Juliot Continues to Grow!

Sally and Anna have just finished planting up our newly-banked Cornish hedges and an area of coppice woodland. We have planted over 350 whips of Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Sea Buckthorn, Ash, Beech, Sweet Chestnut, Birch and Hazel. These will soon provide some welcome protection from the prevailing salty winds.


We have one further tree project - a Forest Garden in the Western meadow - coming soon! This will have many areas of interest including an apiary, native bluebell woodland, coppice, deck with sea view, woodland walkways, an orchard and of course our favourite critters- the piggies!


We would like to thank everyone who has made a tree dedication; we have currently raised £340, of which half has been gratefully received by our two chosen charities.