Kitchen Garden Spring Update 28th April 2017
It has been sometime since my last blog on the developments in the Kitchen Garden. It has been a really busy but rewarding winter and even with the brief snow showers at the back end of April it does feel as though spring is here again. My priority for this last winter was to continue to progress the infrastructure of [...]
Hydro Power
The Turn of the Screw’...not the renowned Henry James novel, but the story of our magnificent Archimedean screw...the new source of hydro power at Ardtornish Estate. So apart from producing a mesmerising water motion just what is an Archimedean screw? Named after Archimedes of Syracuse, a mathematician, engineer and astronomer born in 287BC. The screw was created by him to [...]
February 2017 Newsletter
Estate What a busy start to 2017! The main focus of the works team has been to install the new biomass heating main for the yard buildings. The pipes from the boiler house (under construction in the commercial area; it will be contained within the new agricultural shed) have been laid in to Achranich and the joiner’s shop. We plan [...]
Teething Problems & Winter Wonder
Much to my dismay, my owners and I are learning the pitfalls of the youngest member of our Clan gaining his adult teeth. Yes, you have guessed it, Bracken is teething! Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that this is a normal process that us dogs must go through and I can forgive the graveyard of damp discarded toys [...]
New Year Miracle
The McLeod family complete with Tiga a friendly 11 year old ginger Tom Cat and Tara an aging black Labrador set off on a 400 mile journey from Doncaster to Ardtornish Estate for their first, festive Highland retreat. Tired but relieved to have arrived, Thomas and his wife set about making the remote stone built cottage their home for Christmas [...]
Fruit Tree Planting & Maintenance
One of the key jobs this month is rescuing and replacing some of the soft fruit that I inherited in the garden. The raspberries, which are currently sitting in an impossibly weedy and mold ridden polytunnel, will be relocated to 2 new outdoor beds. Some of the gooseberries that had previously sat with their roots in poorly drained soil will [...]
