charlie-hart

Feeding the nation sustainably

Each season has its place. The slanting golden light and warm colours of autumn are just round the corner.
as preparations are made to return to school i begin to think of winter stews with barley and log fires, crisp mornings, hot chocolate and a...

The month of roses

Learning to work with what your garden naturally wants is better than imposing your will on it
roses, in my garden at least, are now at their best. over the last 10 years, i have created a slightly mad garden over about five acres. at ...

Pivot to summer

The grass is always greener in May, when the countryside is born anew and the sweet scent of hawthorn blossom fills the air
so much of the life of any garden depends on what happens in the sky above it and spring is when it matters most. the manner in which the at...

The power of three

The mystical number conjures thoughts of the Holy Spirit to whom this month is dedicated and who, at this time of turmoil, is wanted more than ever
it is traditional to accept new catechumens (those being prepared to come into full communion with the roman catholic church) during the eas...

On social graces

Blackbirds might not be social creatures but we are. Life would be vastly improved if, instead of scattering, families kept closer to one another
if you tend your garden yourself, there is always a danger that all you will see as you walk around it is a worryingly long list of jobs. th...

Loveliest of trees, the chestnut now

Bare, with branches held aloft as though in prayer, the tree in my garden is a reminder that it is when we are vulnerable that we are receptive to God’s gifts
there is a huge chestnut tree 50 yards from my study. chestnut trees make a lot of mess – shedding their conkers, spiky shells and leaves th...

Mist and moments of delight

However bleak and overshadowed life might seem, lurking among the ruins are moments of true beauty –proof that ‘nothing pleaseth but rare accidents’
we feel we live a long way from the coast but actually very few places in britain are indeed a long way from the coast and, in north essex, ...

The best shadows of the year

September’s soft golden hues cast the most interesting shadows as the garden gets its edges back in the autumn
i long for the coming change in the feel of the garden. i am not a gardener who obsessively tidies in the autumn. in fact, i make great effo...

Surviving the holiday

Prised from his Suffolk idyll to take his family to Norfolk, 
<I>Charlie Hart</I> looks forward to a joyous return to his garden
july is a month of leisure and fruitfulness, holidays in which to bask in decent weather and drink exotic cocktails, cereal crops that swell...

The Art of Selling Roses

For our gardener, now a budding art dealer, June is the month to sit back 
and enjoy the fruits of your labour after months of toil
somewhere there is a picture of me in the rose garden at home with my stepmother, aged five or six. i was clearly transfixed by the roses an...

Hail Mary, the Queen of May

This month’s gift to the garden – a promenade of dazzling white blossom – contains an original moment for the rest of the year
living in the countryside, it is easy to see why may has traditionally been associated with mary. this is a month for the countryside over a...

The Mystical Fragrance of Spring

As spring arrives, <i>Charlie Hart</i> welcomes new arrivals to his family and relishes the prospect of his garden’s olfactory impact
april is the month of puppies and this year we shall have three; a pug each for beatrice, florence and celestia. whilst this might sound lik...

Charting my road to Rome

Author and gardener <i>Charlie Hart</i> explains why he took to the Roman church, with a little help from CS Lewis and a priest friend
breathing the light scent of spring air admixed with incense, the priest’s words from exodus rolling like an elixir into our ears and the fe...

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