Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The edimental garden and its gardener

@brittarnhild

Exactly one year ago, almost on the day, I visited Stephen Barstow´s amazing edimental garden for the first time. I had dreamed of getting there for a long time then, and luckily, dreams come true.......often. In the beginning of September last year, Terje and I came there with our Nepalese friends, and we helped making a Nepalese dinner, using ingredients from the garden.
(you can read about this visit here)

Today I was back in Stephen´s garden, this time without Terje and without Sharmila, Kamal and Rissika, but with a group of about 20 enthusiastic "green" gardeners. There is a climate festival going on in Trondheim this week, and a tour in Stephen, aka The Extreme Salad Man, was part of the program.

Stephen, who got the name The Extreme Salad Man after he made a salat from his garden with more than 500 different "greens", has more than 2000 different edible plants.

Our 1 1/2 hour tour took us around to learn more about 10 of them, many collected around the world from Stephens many travels.

Though I started to make colourful salads, or rainbow salads as I now call them, many years before I had heard Stephens name, he has been of great inspiration to me over the last few years. 

Today´s garden walk was another inspiration kick.

Thank you Stephen!

By the way, edimental is a word Stephen has created, a combination of edible and ornamental :-)

 

Rosendal Trädgård, the botanical garden in Stockholm

@brittarnhild

When we visited Stockholm and the botanical gardens at Rosendal in March, it was still very early in the seasons, and nothing much were growing yet. I was pretty excited to come back this time, in the middle of August.

What a difference!
Now the colours were sparkling everywhere.

Like a hungry bee I dived into the colour and fragrance feast. Drinking it all, the best I could.

Rosendal is best known for its ecological growth of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.

The plant shop was full of "sweets". How I wish I could take some home.
But as we travel by plane, from one country to another, it was no option.

Ideas do cross the borders though :-)

 

The aloe vera botanical gardens

@brittarnhild

For many years now, a visit to the botanical gardens in La Orotava has been a must while we are on Tenerife. We might go there this time as well, but as we get to know the island better and better, we also seek deeper into its secrets.

Yesterday, quite by chance, we came over some information about Aloe Park. A family owned park and botanical gardens filled  not only with aloe veras, but also quite a lot of other plants, shrubs and trees.

After a long morning sunbathing on the edge of the swimming pool, we decided that a botanical walk would be a perfect after lunch activity.

We found that the Aloe Vera Park is situated only a few minute´s drive from our hotel. We were the only visitors by a very few others, and we had a marvellous time walking around.

Not only aloe vera, but also bananas, dragon trees, prickly pears and a lot of other plants.

I love prickly pear cactuses and the story of the cochinelle trade. Both Terje and I tried to find cochinelles on the cactuses in the aloe very garden, but with no luck.

 

This is our fifth visit to Tenerife. The island is a small one, but still we have only seen a tinly little bit of it.
Oh, the pleasures of coming back to a place, again, and again, and again.......

A fresh walk

@brittarnhild

First a stomach bug, then the flu.......two weeks almost, with helath issues and still a full house of Christmas guests. But when I woke this morning, I felt I had met a turn.......I wanted, really wanted, to go for a walk. Weatherwise we have not had the best Christmas. It snowed on Christmas Eve, but since then we have had rain and wind and rain and wind and....... All the snow in the garden has melted and everywhere is wet and soggy. Still icy and slippery roads and pathways up here where we live, but down near the fjord the walking conditions are better. So while we had a late breakfast, I asked Terje: "Do you want to come with me for a walk in the botanical gardens?"

He did, and soon we were on our way.

When we arrived the rain fell heavier, the wind blew stronger, but we were properly dressed and had a wonderful, fresh walk. Not much to photograph without ruining my camera though, but I managed to shot this lovely Chinese Malus toringoides.

 

I wonder why the berries are not all eaten by the birds. May be they are poisonous.

 Not much winter colours in this shot.

And no birds down near the pond.

 

I am thankful the sun has turn yet again, and we are walking towards longer, lighter days.

 

 

A Nepalese dinner in the edible garden

@brittarnhild

Can you imagine a garden where everything can be eaten. Can you imagine a garden up north, in Norway, where you grow all what you eat through the year? British Stephen Barstow moved to Norway in the 80ies and soon afterwards started collecting edible plants. The other day Terje and I were invited to come to Stephen´s garden together with friends from Nepal, Sharmila and Kamal and their three years old daughter Rissika. Kamal is a botanist, Sharmila is a wonderful cook, and little Rissika turned out te be a perfect colourful salad apprentice.

Unfortunately it was a gray, rainy day, but still it was easy to see what a great view Stephen has among his edimentals.......Stephen has invented the word edimentals himseld, a mixture of edible and ornamental.

The view through the kitchen window. Amazing, isn´t it?

Before starting the cooking, Sharmila and Stephen walked around in the garden, collecting plants. Stephen has quite a few plants from Nepal and Himalaya in his Norwegian garden, and these were what they were looking for.

I would love to learn from Stephen. From time to time he invites people to come to his garden and he will take them on a teaching tour.

Too soon we had to go indoors to start cooking,

but not until we had walked over to look at this plant, an "Allium wallichii from high elevations in Nepal, but feeling quite at home in the lowlands of Malvik!"

Indoors, a delicious smell soon started to fill the house.

Sharmila and Kamal busy cooking, Stephen and I busy photographing. Terje busy looking forward to the meal and Rissika busy running though the house.

Stephen loves to call himself "The Crazy Salad Man", he must have the world record in making a salad with the most different plants. More than 500. I must be quite crazy as well, as I volunteered to bring ingredients for a colourful salad from my garden.

Rissika helped me make it, and she is the one in charge of the decoration :-)

Thank you Stephan, Sharmila, Kamal and Rissika for a lovely night, and as you can see Stephen, I have "stolen" a few of your photos ;-)

 

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You can buy Stephen´s Book, Around the World in 80 Plants from amazon.co.uk. Click on the photo to get there.

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Here is a link to Stephen´s blogpost from the dinner.

 

 

Kew on a Plate

@brittarnhild

When I visited Kew Gardens outside London in September 2014, I came to a part of the garden closed for public. A sign proclaimed:
Apologies for our appearence: You´ve just stumbled upon a film set. We are currently shooting a BBC2 documentary here called "Kew on a Plate", with Raymond Blanc and Kate Humble, which will air in 2015.

In between all the  flowers I found this so exciting, I had to take a couple of photos.......

.......and then I forgot all about it.

A year later I was back in Kew Gardens. Then I remembered that I, the previous year, had seen a new fruit- and vegetable garden. I went over there; Kew on a Plate - hm, wasn´t that the name of the filming.......

I wandered around, fascinated.

Charmed and inspired.

So when I discovered they had a book with the same name in the shop near the entrance, I bought it.

I flipped through it when I came home, but somehow I didn´t find it very interesting, and gave it some space in the bookshelves.

There it has been standing safe until now. Now it is on mt desk, I read from it, I look at pictures, I dream of food I am going to make, I go out in the garden to look at the beetroots, the gooseberries, the apples, the potatoes........and can´t understand why I didn´t discover this gem of a book earlier.

You see, now I have wanted the Norwegian broadcasting two Tuesdays in a row. I have watched Kew on a Plate, with Raymond Blanc and Kate Humble :-)

And my mouth is wantering.

Back in Padova´s Orto Botanico

@brittarnhild

In the autumn of 2007 I spent a week alone in Venice. One day I took the train to Padova, and there I discovered the Orto Botanico, the botanical garden. Since then the memory has been kind of like a fairytale in my mind, and now it was finally time to go back. This time with Terje.

So much has changed over these almost ten years, and still also so many things were the same. Plants live for a long time :-) This Goethe Palm for example, from the 16th century, ten years is noting more than the blink of an eye.

One change for me and my blogging though is the possibility facebook is giving me to have "my own tv show" ie: I did a live video while I was in the garden. As I did it on my facebook garden page, which is in Norwegian, I did the video in Norwegian as well, but even though you don´t understand what I am saying, you can enjoy the flowers :-)

 

A modern, huge greenhouse has been built since I was last there. The air inside was hot and humid and gave life to exotic palms and a lot of other plants.

 

The way I see the details of plans has changed.

Here are the links to my two previous blog posts from Padova:

Visiting Padova

Orto Botanico in Padova

Carpe Diem.......

.......just like this guy does.

 

 

The Handkerchief Tree in Oslo

@brittarnhild

A year ago I had never heard of Armand David, os Pére David, the French missionary and biologist who spent much of his life in China. Now I have been to Woburn Abbey to see "his" deers, I have "his" Buddleja Davidii in my garden, and this weekend I saw "his" Handkerchief Tree in the Botanical Gardens in Oslo.

I have a little book, a biography about Pére David, 1826 - 1900 where I read:
Armand´s second trip to China was his most successful in zoologocal and biological finds: the giant panda, the monal pheasant, the golden monkey and 6000 feet up, a dove tree (the handkerchief tree).

I wrote about the handkerchief tree in my garden blog today, you find the post here.
And here is a link to my blog post from Woburn Abbey and Gardens.

 

Virginia and Leonard´s Monk House

@brittarnhild

Virginia and Leonard. It feels so natural to call them by their first names. I have read Viginia´s books for years and years, I have had Virginia´s diary, published by Leonard after her deat on my night stand for months and on our coffee table we have the garden book, the story of the garden at Monk´s House. It had been kind of real to me for years, though when I finally came to Monk´s House a couple of weeks ago, it was all completely different.

Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard found Monk House in 1919. Siyuated in a tiny little Village, Rodmell, not far from Lewes in East Sussex, it was the perfect weekend home for them.  "That will be our address for  ever and ever" Virginia wrote after they aquired the house at an auction.

Virginia Woolf´s books have followed me almost all my reading life. I have struggled with her books and struggle often leads to love. I have known a little about Virginia´s life, like the fact that she commited suicide by drowing, but for years I did not know much more than than. Then, some years ago I started to read about her more seriously and last year I was lucky to visit an excition about her life at The National Gallery in London. Since then I have dreamed abour visiting Monk´s House.

 

Two weeks ago my dream came true. After having tea with Deborah in her garden and studio, Fran and I drove over to Rodmell. Had lunch in the village pub, and then headed down to Monk´s House, today a National Trust site.

Walking through the house was quite emotional. Here is where Virginia and Leonard spent so much of their lives. Where they entertained, where Leonard listened to classical music on the Wireless, where Virginia wrote her letters, and her books.

Where Virginia had her bedroom with the beautiful view out to the garden, and the little village church. Thoufg they were no church goers, they loved the church.

 I had brought Virginia´s diary with me, and on the train from Victoria down to Lewes I read:
Saturday March 27th 1937........As for the beauty, as I always say when I walk the terrace after breakfast, too much for one pair of eyes. Enough to float a whole population in happiness, if only they would look.Curiously a combination, this garden, with the church, and the cross of the church black against Asheham Hill. That is all the elements of the English brought together accidentally.

Being in all this beauty, after reading so much about it, after reading Virginia´s books for such a long time, felt almost unreal. Hard to take in.

It was real though, and in between flowers, roses, shrubs, trees, I could still meet Virginia. And Leonard, from the years he lived on after Virginia´s death.

 

Autumn had come to the garden when we were there. Just like autumn and a too early winter came to Virginia´s life.

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Last year Fran and I visited Charleston, where Virginia´s sister Vanessa lived.
Next time we hope to walk the Downs between Charleston and Monk House.

Oh, I love dreams.

 

 

The oldest botanical garden in London

@brittarnhild

1673, that´s a long time ago, a very long time, isn´t it. 1673, the year the apothecaries in London started a garden to grow their medicine plants. The garden got the name Chelsea Physic Garden. I don´t remember when I first heard of this garden, but when I did I knew it was a place I wanted to visit. And yesterday that happened.

Over the centuries the garden has had its ups and downs, but today it is a walled oasis in the middle of London, where gardeners, teachers, guides, collectors and researchers are busy taking care of the plants. Taking care of life.

I have bought a book about the garden and look forward to learn more, and also to came back for other visits, may be at other times of the year.

I can imagine frost in the leaves in winter, may be a little snow. I can imagine the first spring flowers, and the full summer with its wide range of colours.

But more than that I imagine living in the garden. Walking. Painting. Drawing. Writing. Gardening. Dreaming.

Living the changes.

With a goal to show beauty.

By the way, the clematis shown in the picture below is called Traveler´s Joy. Isn´t that a most wonderful name :-)

Here is a link to the garden´s website.