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.

Deans Court.

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.

the glorious vegetable garden at Deans Court

rows of chard

Dahlia cafe au lait

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.

Deans Court dining room

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.