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: 2014

  • The strawberry beds

    As part of the continuous improvement and renovation of the Fruit Gardens, the strawberry area beside the fruit stock beds has been transformed, and new permanent raised beds have replaced the metal benches and compost bags. I have helped in this development over the last couple of monhts. The design was agreed before my arrival,…

  • Tractors!

    My first tractor and  trailer I first drove a tractor, with a trailer, on 24th May 2013. And, for some curious reason, I really really loved it. Since then, I have driven two other tractors: a middle sized one with trailer, and (quite a lot of) a ride-on mower. Compact Kubota with mowing deck Old mid-size agricultural John Deere Over the last…

  • Two women and a Cottage Garden

    I was fortunate enough to have our intern working with me today again on the Cottage Garden, so the two of us managed to go through a lot of weeding and we took up two bigger tasks that had revealed themselves by spending more time in the area: tender Pelargonium needed lifting and the existing…

  • Tree planting “the RHS way”

     “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is now” unknown Growing a tree is a long term investment, often a conspicuous one, so you want to ensure it will thrive and perform its function in the garden by planting it in the appropriate way. It is a fact…

  • Implementing complex designs

    As I am working on the cottage garden design, today’s short masterclass on how to implement complex designs came in quite handy. The new winter display for the Walled Garden, a grass and white gravel knot design, was being finished after a month’s work (as narrated by my colleague who could see from his window)……

  • A rambling rose

    Surprisingly challenging task for me in the herb garden today, where I was asked to prune a rambling rose to fit on an arch. I had never done that and my colleague explained we were cutting back 1/3rd of the older branches to the ground, then arranging the remaining ones on the arch and shortening…

  • The very special veg garden and gardeners of Wisley

    Today it was the first time I ever managed to work in the veg garden and I was so excited! In the flurry of activities that the start of our traineeship was, combined with Garden events, staff leave and who knows what else (time flies here!) I never managed to get to work in the…

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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