Orto di Casa Cecconi

My first allotment, and then one thing leading to another…

L’orto di Casa Cecconi Plants Recipes Me & Kew One Year at Wisley

Year: 2013

  • Planting out in the nursery beds (Week 13, Wednesday)

    Today we planted out a few small trees and shrubs in the nursery beds, where they will grow on for some three years before they are ready for their final destination. They will be watered with a drip line and fed once a  month from March to October. For this task, I was joined again…

  • Cuttings for the Temperate House (Week 13, Tuesday)

    The Temperate House at Kew is closing on the 4th of August for restoration, and will stay closed for 5 years. On account of that, some of the plants will be propagated to be ready when the House re-opens, and the arboretum nursery is taking care of part of the collection. So today I had…

  • In the arboretum nursery (Week 13, Monday)

    So today was my first day in the arboretum nursery. July is the month when the Kew Diploma students in the 1st year finish their classes and go back into the gardens, so with me was also a student, new to the nursery. We were shown around, and then assigned an area to take care…

  • It’s raining on prom night (Week 12, Friday)

    Coming to work to Kew has made me want to sing, something I had not done for a long while. Since I am driving for a minimum of 1.5 hrs/day, that’s been a good opportunity to practice in an isolated space, where my out-of-shape, shaky voice, that could not reach up to high notes any…

  • The work experience lad (Week 12, Thursday)

    Back from my study leave and RHS Level 3 exam (that was a long day, as I was taking the first part early in the morning and the last one in the afternoon) I knew I would have to take care of a work experience lad for the day. My main objective for the next…

  • Tipping the trailer (Week 11, Friday)

    The reason why you may not see all the diary entries published online yet is that I am preparing for my RHS Level 3 exam next week, not that I am working or learning any less (or having less fun). I am still clearing the middle bed of dead wood and overgrown plants, so that…

  • Gallium aparine (Week 11, Thursday)

    While pulling the Alliara, I found myself covered in cleavers (Galium aparine), another weed whose name I have just learnt, despite being familiar with the plant from the plot at home. Amazingly effective, cleavers, in, well… cleaving to whatever is at hand. Seed are not the only part of this plant of the Rubiaceae family endowed…

About Me

M.Paola M.Paola, that’s me

I got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started gI got my first allotment in the UK in 2007 and started growing my own food. Learning as I went along was not enough, so I studied horticulture. Faced with the horticultural warfare, I became a conscientious objector: I use no chemicals and support organic principles and regulations.

Brexit gave me a new life in the Netherlands, three new plots by a nature reserve and an MSc in sustainable food systems.

I write in my personal capacity and, as a language perfectionist and a non native speaker, I keep reviewing my entries’ text for clarity.

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