Today me and my eco club (gardening club run through school) visited Chewton Glen Hotel to look around the site and the
Kitchen garden. The first thing we did was look around the foyer to see what
beautiful flowers were there. Our tour guide (The head gardener Darren) told us that each flower pot has
its own drip feeder which can be turned on or of depending on how much water
they have and how dry the plant is.
Next we went around the back to look at the
croquet lawn
Then we all saw the swings that looked that giant coconut shells
hanging from a tree. Moving on we discovered that all the
flowerpots were different shades of purple that were surrounding the house. Next
we moved on to the children's play area that has igloos made of bamboo and a
climbing platform made out of willow and other places to explore. All of the
plants that were in the play area were all edible so it didn't matter if
children ate them!
Then we walked down a narrow bricked path with brick stairs
leading to a well that was first put in when Chewton Glen was first built. We
were told that under the hotel there was a spring that filled a bucket full of water
in 7 seconds and there was lots of wild rhubarb that deer would hide in in the
mornings and during hot days.
We then moved on to look at the water fountain
that turned the water over in the pond twice a day.
Then we came back up to the
top to look at the back of the hotel and there were lots of people sun bathing
by the pool which was a warm blue colour. We carried on walking and we then saw
the outside of some of the rooms you could stay in. They had balconies, sun
loungers and even water fountains which were over looking the beautiful garden.
When that grass is being mowed that have to get the lines perfectly right so
that there is no crooked marks because people could see it from above and it
wouldn't look good if they were all wobbly!
We then slowly wondered down to the
outside bubble bath where people could sit outside and stay warm.
Next door to
that were the indoor bubble baths and the sunbathing deck. In the indoor bubble
baths there were lots of different buttons people could press to see what
happened.
The outside sunbathing deck was full of herbs that the chefs use. It
is thought that herbs were a form of relaxation and overall guests really like
to watch the chefs come in and pick them.
Then we moved on to the tree house walk
that had only been built a year ago. We went down a path that took us to the
parking area made out of wood and there were lot of fences that were made out of
the wood of the trees that had to be cut down to create these tree houses.
We
walked up a gravel track that took us to the 12 tree houses they had. My group and I were lucky enough too look in 2 of the houses. The first one was a
single for a couple that had the bed in the living room. They had a balcony that
joined together with a great view and a jacuzzi at the end.
There was a stunning
view from the bath and there was even a tv and a remote for when you were
bathing in luxury! There was also one attached on which we looked around to.
This one was different because it had a separate bedroom and bathroom to the
living room. There were wood fires for the cold winter days and an set of stairs
that went up to a children's bedroom. But this was no ordinary set if stairs there
was also small spaces to keep your books.
There was even a tiny hatch for your dinner to come through if you didn't want anyone seeing you. I think that that was a brilliant idea
to add to the modern tree houses.
After that we moved on to the garden that was
that was the growing area for the small new plants. First we looked at the
potting shed where all the plants were potted up ready to be planted and growing.
Next we saw all the beehives. At the moment they only had 7 bee hives but Chewton Glen are hoping to get up to 25 bee hives. Each beehive contains thousands and thousands
of bees working hard.
They we moved to one of the 3 tunnels containing plants
and fruit that were beginning to bloom. There were also bamboo shoots that were
in buckets of water and in a period of 2 months roots grow and sprout. We then
began to wonder around the other crops like: lavender, mint, berries and lots of
other yummy things. Then we came across some pineapple sage and lemon verbena that smelt beautiful.
We were then told that there was about 135 acres of land
split between 6 gardeners. There day starts at about 4:30 am and finishes at
about 9 pm everyday.
After that we moved on to the amazing statues made out of
metal. The lion took 6 months to create.
There is also a beautiful horse.
Wild flowers grew all along the wall of
the kitchen gardens. The chefs use these for there salads. I think this is a good idea as it adds colour to the gardens and the chefs don't have far to go to pick them and its 100% local produce.
The gardener told us that they had events regularly happening
in the kitchen gardens. They were growing all sorts of yummy things like:
fennel, grapes, courgettes and other scrummy things. Unfortunately our tour had
ended and we had to go back to school. We all had a great day. Thank-you for
having us Chewton Glen!!
Emma
