Planting a Lime Tree

Oh woe is us. The caption we have for this photo is ‘Gardening Club plant a lime tree at Broadwell’.  People aren’t named and there is no date given. But of course, the photo has clues. The ...

Ho-Ho Hoe

Forgive the pun – but hey, it is Christmas Day and that, by now traditionally, is the least busy day of the year on this blog. Viewer numbers are usually very small. We'll even try a low pun to get ...

A digging plate

Many spades have a kind of lip on the top of the blade so that when pressure is applied ordinary footwear is adequate to protect the digger from pain. Some spades, though, have quite a sharp top to t...

A seed pan

These days those of us who grow plants from seed expect to put seeds in trays made of rather flimsy plastic. Such trays are suitably shallow and have plenty of drainage holes so that it is hard to swa...

Mr Pinchen’s Potato Clamp

We have looked at this image before on this blog, but we are always pleased to add extra information. Two years ago (click here) we didn’t know the family but we now gather they were the Pinchen ...

Gardeners at Clyffe Hall

A ragged bit of picture gives some idea of the scale of gardening that went on in past times. The scene is said to be Clyffe Hall, Market Lavington. Two gardeners can be seen, tending to the shrubs...

A lightning strike

These days ‘lightning strike’ may make people think of workers downing tools and not working. But of course, the reality is that lightning is actually a huge electrical spark that can cause real d...

A Turf Lifter

At the recent Easterton Country Fair, a stallholder dashed home to bring the museum a tool he had found in his shed. He thought it might have been a paddle used for lifting bread from a bread oven. Th...

Northbrook Allotments

The sands have long been seen as a place for market gardening although some might think that the inability of the light soil to hold moisture and nutrients was something of a disadvantage. However, ba...

Mole Traps

Moles are a perennial problem. In a walk around local fields the other day our curator saw one field which was a mass of mole hills. The tunnels made by these small and cute ‘velvet gentleman’ mak...