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!