Hello I’m Rachel
For as long as I can remember, nature has captured my attention. I was always happiest outdoors and I still am. The natural environment so easily connects people to it and to each other. My fondest memories are of hazy, summer afternoons exploring my grandparents’ gardens, asking lots of questions and trying to remember the names of the plants they described. I vividly remember quizzing my Grandfather about the dried out little pods that I saw dotted about the flower beds and watched carefully as he popped one open to reveal the seeds. When I see a poppy now it captures that simple but special memory - in fact I named my first daughter after it.
Flowers intrigued me more as my Great Grandfather, who lived to a grand old age of 105, described how his sister had become known as the ‘lupin lady’ in America. Hilda Hamelin, his eldest sister, had been sent to the US in 1904 to be educated and later in life settled at their holiday home in Christmas Cove, Maine, where she took to throwing handfuls of lupin seeds wherever she went. The lupins still bloom today and her story inspired the children’s book ‘Miss Rumphius’ written by Barbara Cooney. Miss Rumphius’ message is that we must all, “do something to make the world more beautiful.” I hope that is what I am doing in my own small way. Before she died, my mother bought us all a copy of this book and I hope very much to see those lupins in bloom someday.
These memories and stories inspired me to study horticulture, after working as an English teacher and whilst working for the family business. Our move to Old Trickey’s Farm finally gave me the space to turn my love of gardening, growing and teaching into a business and I love it - rain, mud and all.
I am as excited now as I ever was about each new variety I discover and nurture, and I’m still trying to remember those names…
Meet The Family
My husband Dave and I and our three children moved to Old Trickey’s Farm in 2016 and, at the start of 2019, began developing the flower farm. Although busy running his own plumbing business, at the weekends, Dave can be found building polytunnels, renovating the workshop, figuring out irrigation systems and digging holes - in short, I couldn’t do it without him. Our three children all love the outdoors and can sometimes be found helping out or, more likely, using the compost piles as bike ramps.
Blaze and Olive, our much loved family dogs, can be found at our heels wherever we go. They enthusiastically welcome visitors and dig holes in really inconvenient places.
Our flock of hens provide the soundtrack to our days in the field. They are a completely mixed bunch, being hatched from a variety of breeds and we think all the more interesting for it. You will find eggs for sale in our honesty stand at the top of our drive.
The Farm
The Flower Field
Originally a paddock, I saw the potential as a growing space as soon as I laid eyes on it. Set on South West facing hillside with a gentle slope, a mature line of oak, ash and beech, shelter the plot from the worst of the winds. Our ‘no dig’ beds are where the majority of our flowers are grown from roses, to annuals to Spring bulbs. We have lined the boundary with a diverse range of shrubs and trees for cutting material for our arrangements. The polytunnel, which sits in one corner of the field and next to our flower studio, is brimming with crops that prefer some protection and its warmer environment helps to extend our season.
Woodland Garden
Our farmhouse sits high, facing woodland that steeply slopes down to a stream, exposing spring lines from where we get our water supply.
Deciduous oak, beech and ash trees dominate, with holly, laurel, hazel, rowan and elder as an understory. Walking down our path, you reach a woodland cabin facing a wildlife pond surrounded by giant gunnera, astilbe and bamboo. It is wild and needs taming but its tropical vibe is dramatic nonetheless. I visualise planting plenty of interesting, water- loving plants for cutting here. We have started with a bed of willow for our wreaths, and will chart our progress on our Blog as the space develops.
Opposite, is where we have spent the last few years clearing hugely overgrown laurel, exposing many years of farm junk (including some vintage jam jars that we have rescued!) We have since replanted this area with lots of hydrangea, fruit and nut trees, amelanchier, evergreens such as myrtle, osmanthus and eleagnus, viburnums, lilacs, as well as perennials that love the sheltered position. You will often find them tucked into your posies and bouquets.
We use each unique environment on our small farm to our advantage by using ‘the right plant, right place’ approach, which is reflected in the diverse range of flowers and foliage you will find in your arrangements. Its not all field grown, but slope, woodland and wetland grown too.
Vegetable Garden
The vegetable garden was one of our first projects to provide food for the family. It was here I planted my cut flower patch to provide blooms for the house alongside the vegetables and fruit bushes. A host of perennials remain and the sunflowers love its sunny and protected location. You will often find treasures from here in your arrangements, anything from raspberry foliage to pink shades of achillea.
