All posts by Richard Forshaw-Smith

Growing Flowers on Dartmoor

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Growing flowers on Dartmoor, where the weather can sometimes have a mind of its own, can be a challenge.

January has proven quite a busy time in the garden at The Old Armoury – not everything is dormant and especially not the gardener.

Though we are in the generally warmer South West we are also on Dartmoor and so expect a variety of weather.

growing flowers on dartmoor

As the South West is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean it is quite rare for us to have snow, we have seen it just three times in eleven winters, but this year we have had much frost which is not usual. A few years ago we had nasturtiums – a plant originally from the frost free tropics – in flower outside Old Armoury Barn until the first icy night of winter in January killed them off.

In the beds of The Armourers Forge the snowdrops, crocuses and cyclamen have brought vivid dashes of white, purple, red, saffron and other colours to the edges of the beds.

Thankfully they are working hard as the viola have been disappointing this year. The planters outside Old Armoury Barn are bursting with shoots as the tete-a-tete surge upwards and in the pots the early tulips have broken the surface.

Sowing of flowers to be enjoyed much later in the year is well underway. Guests love having sweet peas in their rooms and in the summer months we pick them every day. We have sown successionally three varieties of sweet peas this year and have chosen varieties known for their fabulous scent including the always popular “Incense Mixed”. Antirrhinum are also sown as well as three varieties of dahlia, French marigolds, salvia and cosmos. It will be another month before the sunflowers and geraniums start their journeys. So growing flowers on Dartmoor can still pay off.

We aren’t just about growing flowers on Dartmoor, though, and so vegetable sowing has also started. “Ailsa Craig” onions and “Musselbugh” leeks are in and an early crop of tomatoes, “Yellow Delight”, is being tested. Broad beans – “Giant Exhibition Long Pod” – are already poking through the soil. Germinating indoors we are trying asparagus which we never have before and there is the possibility we may have a crop in the first year. Essentials like chilli peppers have made a strong start – less than a month after harvesting the last of the 2020 crop.

Whatever time of year guests stay there are always fresh flowers in the bedrooms and reception rooms. These are a mixture of those we grow ourselves and those from nearby commercial growers – we especially like the cutting garden at the Hill House Nursery in Landscove just two miles away. Wherever the flowers come from, we hope that you enjoy them.

Providing quality rental accommodation: The trouble with tables

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Providing quality rental accommodation is very important to us at The Old Armoury.

In much the same way that no one ever set out to do a bad days work, guests never set out to break things. But things get broken nonetheless and need repairing, almost always quickly.

quality rental accommodation in Ashburton

Over the years of providing quality rental accommodation we have learnt to anticipate breakages and carry spare inventory for cutlery, crockery, bedlinen and many other items – including a sofa, UHD TV, garden furniture and a bucket and spade for the beach.

For laundered items, given the “one on, one on its way to the laundry and one coming back from the laundry” cycle the quantities can be huge – The Armourers Forge needs 48 pillowcases and that’s before spares are included. The cost of inventory is enormous too, whatever the price of a pillowcase if you multiply it 48 times you will end up with a steep bill.

And remember, we have the Old Armoury Barn, The Armourers Forge and The Coffin Maker’s Barn in our portfolio of quality rental accommodation.

However, you cant hold spare inventory for everything and so we have built strong working relationships with essential local tradesmen such as locksmiths, plumbers, electricians, joiners and decorators.

During the summer a pipe burst in Old Armoury Barn, thankfully under the bath where no lasting damage was done. The leak was found quite late in the evening and yet the plumber was out first thing in the morning and finished his work before the bacon came out of the frying pan – thanks Rich!

Still, there are a few tricky areas and the one that has taken perhaps the longest to find the right solution for is about tables. We sourced most of the furniture from the same local supplier. We chose solid oak finished to the same colour for all the bedroom, lounge and dining room furniture – there are over 50 items from occasional tables to wardrobes to dining chairs to mirrors.

By and large we have been very pleased with the purchase, it has proven durable and reliable except for the coffee tables. These were finished in a clear lacquer and over time as water has been spilt or wiped on the surface it has “bleached” the surface in parts. Whilst the finish was probably suitable for an ordinary domestic environment, we push it a bit harder and it shows.

To fix the problem we replaced the first few tables but at £500 a year that’s not viable longer term so after 5 years of searching we have found a local supplier who will strip the lacquer back then replace it with an “industrial strength” lacquer as you would find in pubs, sports facilities and other “high wetness” areas.

The first table is undergoing restoration now,  it will cost almost the same as a replacement however should last for several years before re-treatment. Just part of the story of providing quality rental accommodation in Ashburton.