Author Archives: paulrainger
Wednesdays we go shopping & have buttered scones for tea…
For once winter clearance work has started early at The Secret Acre.
Despite being here three years now, there’s still a long list of overgrown areas and hedges to be tackled eventually, a couple at a time each winter. Continue reading
Racking up the Wins
It wasn’t just the greenhouse that was running three years late at The Secret Acre.
I had also promised Emma a boot rack for our, well boot room, which like a torture chamber without an iron maiden, has remained rack-less for the last few years in anticipation. Continue reading
People in Glasshouses… should get on with it!
Hard to believe we’ve been living at The Secret Acre for three years now, and the still as yet unfinished greenhouse can’t believe it either!
Friends from the start might remember that clearing the greenhouse was the very first task we tackled over three years ago. Like an episode of Time Team if it involved only brambles. Continue reading
The Bountiful Harvest
It seemed a slightly odd harvest this year.
Thanks to the unusually hot and dry summer, some old reliables failed, like our potatoes, while some pervious underperformers flourished, like our aubergines. Continue reading
Apple Days are here Again
Officially, UK Apple Day is this Sunday, 21st October.
But after this year’s unusually hot and dry summer, it seems you’ll be lucky to still have any apples left on your trees by now. Continue reading
Evidence of Autumn
It’s not just our green roof that changes colour and shades with the seasons.
Our local hill does it too. Continue reading
The Good Life Experience
We moved to The Secret Acre to live the good life, so when the opportunity came along last month to visit Cerys Matthews’ Good Life Experience with friends and the dog, it seemed rude not to! Continue reading
One for the Vine
Last month, inspired by our Turkish smallholding/winemaking experience this summer, we visited our local vineyard – Woodchester Valley – for a tour and tasting. Continue reading
A Win and a Score Draw
September marks the start of Produce Show season, even if the football season, rudely earlier every year, has already kicked-off too.
Our history of mixed results continued this year…. Continue reading
