Back in September I wrote about our patch being awarded a prize in the Guildford in Bloom 2008... see here.

Well we didn't attend the prize giving because we were away on holiday, so we thought, perhaps, that this would be posted to us.

After a decent interval, I contacted Guildford Borough Council and they informed me that the prize was waiting to be collected from the Parks Department Nursery.

Heather went down there yesterday and received this nice certificate and (even nicer) a £20 gardening voucher which was a really pleasant surprise.

Work Party and AGM

There was a work party down at Compton yesterday with an al fresco AGM and barbecue lunch.

Pictures from the party can be seen here.

Heather's entry to the Scarecrow competion missed out on the prizes,  but top prize went to Daniel and Ella's 'Mathilda' which was featured in this blog back in August... see here.

Getting fruitier...

Our apple trees have arrived from Deacons Nursery !

We received two Egremont Russet and one Sturmer Pippin as 1st-year 'whips' on M27 rootstock and they will be grown as either a stepover (single-tier) or a two-tier espalier at the top of our patch.

Getting fruity...

We've been busy down the patch since returning from a short holiday in Spain.

A further row of onion sets have been planted, the gaps in the garlic have been filled with some Purple Wight bought from Homebase and the gaps in the shallots have been filled with some of the bulbs grown in the garden last year.

We  moved the raspberry canes from the garden and these were planted alongside the frame we built.  I am sure that these are Glen Clova, a summer fruiting variety.

Two Invicta gooseberry bushes were also moved from home and these were thinned out to produce two additional plants. However, we decided to plant only three of these green gooseberries and leave a space for the Hinnomaki Red bush that we have ordered.

This leaves us with space for a further four currant bushes and we will now be deciding which ones to plant.

Finally, I hammered in two posts at the top of the patch which will be wired to train the apples we have ordered.