Kitchen Garden of England

Lincolnshire must be the kitchen garden of England.

After our lovely family holiday, in two converted stable cottages, I am still astonished at the sight of fields and fields of 

vegetables and flowers.

The area we stayed in was just outside Long Sutton, near Spalding. 

It is known as Little Holland.

Well it is easy to see why.

I was thrilled to see fields of gladioli in every colour. Unfortunately I could only get close to the cream ones.

But in the distance I could see red, purple and apricot.

These are for corm production.

The area is famous for its bulbs.

And once upon a time the annual tulip parade.

 

It is a major region for vegetable cultivation due to its rich silty soil. There are few hedges and the fields are huge bounded by deep drainage ditches.

On the left of this picture is a massive field of leeks. On our two hour walk I was wondering what it must smell like when they are harvesting.

 

 

 

 

We went to the Saturday market and purchased beautiful veggies.

The cauliflower was 60p and the Romanesque was 75p.

This was probably the cheapest meal of our holiday.

A joint effort.

The market also provided us with the cheapest bouquet of lilies I`ve ever found.

£1 for this lot which divided nicely into two jugs and filled our cottages with perfume all week.

 On our walk we saw fields of potatoes, reminding us of picking up potatoes by hand when we were younger .... very hard work,

 leeks, 

 onions,

 sunflowers at different stages 

 and wheat. 

There is nothing that gladdens my heart more than 

a field of ripe wheat.

I recall the time when the field opposite our house grew wheat and I loved to sit in my front window watching it wave in the breeze.

(Do I hear the sound of violins?)

It saddens me that fewer and fewer fields of wheat can be seen in our near vicinity. Is it the size of our smaller fields?

It also reminds me of my local searches for the right kind of wheat for making corn dollies. John Austen often obliged. 

A very generous man.

 

The field edges were dotted with wild flowers and we spotted two frolicking hares and a family of partridges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the walking. We did 10,000 steps.

 

We also travelled to the coast .... Hunstanton and Old Hunstanton on the Wash.

Much like Camber Sands with its co-ordinated beach huts ...

 

.... and bands of myriad shells.

And a welcome lunch in the colourful cafe, with sand underfoot, bright cushions and blankets on the benches, friendly staff, buckets and spades and  nets for sale.

 

What with a ride on an old train into Peterborough where we had to be Harry Potter characters, a great trip out on the River Welland where we all had to be pirates, seeming to be the only people on the river, a kingfisher spotted by eagle-eyed Paula,

we had a lovely time in an area of England that I feel I now know better.

 ....