An inspiring day at Deans Court.

Well it’s back down to earth this week after spending a lovely day last Thursday at Deans Court in Dorset, hosted by William & Ali Hanham & Lottie Sharland. It was one of those special days that you don’t want to end, I honestly speculated about camping out in the kitchen garden, but at the end of the day I came to my senses & headed home.

I met Ali some time ago via Instagram & dropped in to see her last April when we were passing through on our way for a weekend with the family in Dorset, and being the generous, friendly person that she is, she invited me to join a group of people for a ‘Honey & Harvest Day’ last week.

We spent the day experiencing some of the things that happen at Deans Court like being kitted up in a bee-suit & getting up close to the fascinating little creatures. Amongst other things we where treated to a baking demonstration of gorgeous cakes by Lisa Osman of All Hallows & we were shown how to make chai latte by Dorset Herbals, which was so delicious it was like a pudding in a glass.

And joy of joys we had a tour of the vegetable garden, which I last saw when I was there in April. It was so nice to see it at this end of the growing season, looking so lush & blousey.

 

It was the first organic garden in the country to be accredited by the Soil Association. The honey, fruit & vegetables are used for the boxed vegetable scheme & in the cafe, so it’s all perfectly fresh and the journey is measured in food-steps rather than food-miles.

We were fortunate to be served a delicious lunch with most of the ingredients coming from Deans Court.

If you happen to be remotely near Wimborne then do drop in to the cafe & visit the shop, which is full of tempting garden & homeware, & there are lovely cottages to stay in.

Directions to Deans Court & more information here.

Find more about All Hallows here & Dorset Herbals here.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Jill

all photos: Jill Anderson