The harvest this year really is momentous in the life of the gardens
Because this is the first harvest that we've had since we opened to the public
And it'll be the first time then that we're going to have produce on sale.
The Walled Garden here at Hillsborough, its real function is to produce
Fruit and vegetables for use in the cafe.
So when you come in you will see the permanent crops
You'll see the vegetable crops, around the walls you'll see
Some of our very historic Espalier pear trees, which are over a hundred years old
And it's really exciting because they're still producing really top quality fruit.
The gardens here at Hillsborough were first enclosed at the time
That the house was built in the 1760s, and by 1788 the Walled Garden had
Its walls all the way around it and it was in full production.
So it was at that stage producing flowers and fruit for the house
Feeding all the staff who lived on the site
It has been in use on and off over the centuries ever since.
This has been a massive year for us here in the Walled Garden
It has been so much work to get it to this stage
And it has been great that this is finally the first growing season
The winter months last year involved a lot of planning and preparation
So that we have crops producing right through the year
And being able to supply a steady flow of produce into the kitchens.
We liaise very closely with the Yellow Door team and the kitchen staff
In order to plan what crops are going to be coming into the kitchens
Everything is used, there's no waste whatsoever
We're able to use all the crops which are coming out of the garden.
In your traditional kitchen you'd be placing orders for
Veg that you were planning on the next day
Whereas here at the end of the day we go out
Have a look at what's going to be available to be picked
Certainly with the likes of the herbs in the garden
You'd be getting them in plastic packets delivered to your kitchen door
Whereas here we can be halfway through the day
And we need some fresh herbs the guys will go out and just trim some herbs off
It's a lot fresher and it's definitely a real selling point here.
Certainly during the summer the likes of the salads will
Change very quickly on a very busy site
And it could be rather than running into the fridge
And grabbing a bucket of salad leaves
We go out into the garden, cut the salads, bring it in
It gets washed and then it goes straight out.
So literally you couldn't get fresher.
Our focus here would be on seasonal, local
And obviously you don't get much more local than
Just outside the back door.
Out here there are loads of different varieties
It is a lot nicer working this kind of way
And I know it does give the guys inspiration of wanting
To do something a little bit different.
The crops we're growing in this garden are heritage varieties
Of crops mixed with their more modern equivalents
It allows visitors to see the difference between the two
And how crops have changed through the years.
There are some really interesting heritage varieties of crops
Such as Golden Beetroot which people might not have
Ever seen or heard of before.
One of the more modern crops that we're using is 'Par-Cel'
This is cross between parsley and celery
So a cutting celery, as such.
Although we are using modern equipment and methods
We are also using more traditional methods
Of how it would have been done in this garden originally.
We're growing organically here. Compared to the crops that you'd see
Everyday supermarket these crops are a much higher quality
And a much better standard and the flavours are much more intense.
The layout of the garden is very traditional
It was originally designed and divided into sixteen areas
We then actually have sub-divided the areas to make them smaller
And more manageable, and easier for visitors
To get up close to the vegetables and to the fruit
And to walk between the beds.