The changing seasons....

What's in store for Autumn and Winter in the Margan Garden

As each day passes at the moment, we receive little natural reminders that the seasons are in transition, whether it be the early morning fog settling across the horizon or the ravenous appetite of the chooks in a desperate bid to plump up in time for the chilly weather. Here in the Margan garden, March and April are very distinctive. The role of the garden largely remains the same, but its appearance undergoes notable change. The last of our summer veggies are being pulled out of the ground after persevering through their final weeks to provide us with fresh and wholesome produce. Their appearance resembles that of any living thing which has spent its last ounce of energy – leggy, withered, surviving. 

Rapid work then begins to prepare the soil for cool weather-loving crops. Summer crops are unsparingly pulled from the ground and thrown into the compost. The army of weeds which inevitably litter the beds join the crops in the compost pile. The nutrient-depleted soil is then dressed with a generous coating of compost before being left for a week or two for the worm and microbiome activity to start moving. Woodchip is spread along the pathways between beds in preparation for a cooler and wetter few months. 

Whilst wheelbarrows do seemingly endless laps outside between the vegetable beds and the compost pile, under the warming and protective canopy of the hoop house, our winter veggies are beginning their life. Thousands of seedlings align the hoop house benches and await when they can move into their natural growing environment. The seeds which prefer to be sown directly outside – radish, broad bean, carrot, turnip – are already in the ground. And this is where we are currently, edging excitedly towards a mass planting of beds which will provide a various stream of produce for our restaurant to experiment with over the cooler months. 

So what garden produce should you expect to see featured on the Margan restaurant menu over the coming months? Our head chef and his team will be using the following:

Beetroot, radish, turnip, carrot, garlic, broad bean, spring onion, leek, Swiss chard, Tuscan kale, curly kale, red Russian kale, wombok, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, radicchio, cauliflower, rapini broccoli, purple kohlrabi, spigariello broccoli, rocket, mustard greens, potato, sorrel, lovage, parsnip, onion, and a variety of herbs.

Keep an eye on our social media pages to see how the kitchen team transform our garden produce into unique seasonal dishes.

See you all soon! - George