over four years ago, we fulfilled our dream to design and grow an organic kitchen garden at the bell.  our plan was/is to supply the kitchen with delicious fresh herbs, a good variety of vegetables, a diverse selection of salad leaves, delicious spring and summer fruits and an array of picking flowers for the tables in the restaurant.  in may this year, we succeeded in achieving organic status!

essence garden design translated our initial ideas and, since then michele civil and her partner john tinklin have transformed it into a proper working kitchen garden. 

the bell's kitchen garden is divided into sections with a number of raised beds.  it has its own in-built natural water irrigation system fed by the spring in the orchard.  all our compost is organic and we only use organic kitchen waste.  michele rotates her brassicas and root vegetables but never digs the soil so as not to disturb the worms which are essential to keep the soil breathable and to maintain the chain of nutrients necessary to promote strong growth and the prevention of disease.  no chemicals are used at all and only natural methods such as the sprinkling of egg shells and companion planting are used to deter pests.  we are currently patiently pleaching the small fruit trees on the borders of the garden to ensure a maximum yield this year.

michele and our head chef rupert taylor work closely to ensure the garden works with the kitchen and this year she grew a number of exciting, peppery and spicy salad leaves, an interesting little gem squash plus a new sweet pea called champagne bubble - something very close to janet's heart!  all the bulbs and seeds are collected, stored and planted again for the following year.

we occasionally do kitchen garden tours and are participating in the national garden scheme 2010 so contact reception for dates.