The Weaver's House

Tag: gardening

  • Get gardening at The Weaver’s House

    Get gardening at The Weaver’s House

    We are planning a volunteers garden activity day on Saturday 22nd May from 10am until 2pm. Like many of us, the garden has grown lockdown locks and is in need of a trim!

    This gardening day will take place after the easing of restrictions on outdoor gatherings however there will still be a cap on the number of people permitted to meet in an outdoor space. Therefore if you would like to join in, please email Tina on volunteers (at) theweavershouse.org to register and to find out more (email address follows usual format but has been adapted on this page to reduce spam).

    You don’t need prior experience, just suitable outdoor gear. The work begun at the community gardening day just before the first lockdown needs completion – it has been waiting a long time! There will be plenty of weeds to pull, garden edging to install, and hopefully there will be some planting too.

    We are very hopeful that our first Open Day will take place in July, please keep an eye on social channels and website for the latest news.

  • Gardening update – October 2020

    Gardening update – October 2020

    A man digs over a garden bed
    Volunteer Kevin digs over one of the herb beds.

     

    A strange year indeed, which has seen us open precisely zero times.

    However, the garden does not know this and it has required the usual amount of work to keep it in order. It ran rather wild with all the sun and rain but thanks to volunteers including Tina and Kevin, it’s now looking in good shape.

    plant label and leaves - Marsh Mallow
    Marsh Mallow – nothing like the pink and white sweets!

    Lavender - one last flower remains
    The last lavender flower in the garden.

    a few green leaves left in October
    A few green herbs including lemon balm.

    teasels against a blue sky
    A bright October day.

    sunlight and shadows in the garden, empty veg beds
    The garden looking much tidier ready for next year.

    Huge thanks to our volunteers for getting stuck in and doing a lot of hard work to get the garden sorted.

  • Living in the past? What it’s like to live in Black Swan Terrace, a guest blog.

    Living in the past? What it’s like to live in Black Swan Terrace, a guest blog.

    Charlie moved into the terrace earlier this year and has got involved with taking care of our medieval style garden:
    I moved into one of the flats next to The Weaver’s House recently, and find it absolutely amazing. The fact that it is so quirky and quiet considering where it is within the city is unusual. In the evening and into the night when work permits, I sit in the garden and enjoy the bird song and occasionally see a fox on the prowl.
    a freshly cut lawn
    The recently installed fence panels, thanks to National Lottery funding
    The building itself is very unique and I really enjoy living here, and being allowed to use the gardens to relax in is an absolute treat after a hard day working.
    the garden's vegetable beds
    The medieval style garden
    Along with Tina, the volunteers coordinator, I have been keeping the gardens in check; mowing the lawns and weeding, along with general custodianship of the grounds. I feel privileged to have been allowed to move within a unique community. I have also been researching The Weaver’s House and surrounding areas from the time period; the plants and root vegetables from around the time period in contrast to how we live today, and how times and people evolve, and have found it very interesting.

    Above, some of the gardening that Charlie has been doing recently at the site.

    We are grateful to Charlie for his help in maintaining the garden during the busy growing season, and for supplying the photos.

  • Spring into action in the garden with us!

    Spring into action in the garden with us!

     

     

     

     

    Get the Garden ready for Spring

    Sunday 15 March – 11am until 4pm, (drop in during these times, but please let us know in advance via volunteers@theweavershouse.org)

    We are excited to have been awarded a grant by #CelebrateNationalLottery25 as they celebrate 25 years of donations to worthy causes.

    Come and help us get our medieval-style garden spring-ready! Our beds and borders need a make-over, and thanks to the National Lottery, we have been able to purchase some much-needed woven fencing panels.

    Now we need to install them and make our garden ready for our season of Open Days.

    This is a hands-on day, so there will be plenty of opportunity to get involved. Spend the day with us, or drop in for a couple of hours, it all helps. There will be hot drinks and some of our legendary cake provided, as well as soup for lunch if you are spending the day.

    No need to be an expert, just enthusiastic –  bring gardening gloves if you have them and dress appropriately for being outside.

    To get involved, or if you have any questions, please email volunteers@theweavershouse.org Please mention where you heard about the day.

    #CelebrateNationalLottery25

    Update: Note on Coronavirus.

  • Open Day: Summer Fun in the Garden

    Open Day: Summer Fun in the Garden

    Our August Open Day will be on Saturday 17th from 11am until 4pm.

    The house and garden will be open to explore, plus a fun ‘rub-a-bug’ colouring activity trail in our garden which will be in full bloom. Find out about the herbs and plants that were used for cooking, medicine and more. The Weavers’ Workshop will have a crafty make-and-take activity featuring woven snails and bugs.

    a fluffy multi coloured snail
    A snail made on weaving sticks by a young visitor

    Refreshments will be available, and entry is free.

    This is the last Open Day where you can see the loom, as this is not open during Heritage Open Days in September.

  • Time Marches on… snow, gardening and approaching Open Days!

    Time Marches on… snow, gardening and approaching Open Days!

    Hard to believe it’s nearly the end of March especially with the flurry of wintry weather that we’ve seen throughout this month. The Weaver’s House looks stunning in the snow, here are some atmospheric shots taken by one of the residents from the snow at the start of March 2018:

    We were a bit concerned looking at the forecasts that our house tidy-up and gardening day might be thwarted by weather, but in the end it was a fairly clear if cold day, and we even had a visit from Keith from BBC Coventry & Warwickshire mid-clean!

    Once the garden was sorted we headed into the city centre to enjoy some of the fantastic Shop Front Festival, where we pretended to be Pac-Man, got chased by sentient traffic cones and admired an exhibition of vintage photos of Coventry. On the way we stopped to have a look at the Spon End Subway Consultation, see if you can spot our contributions of where we had been and were headed!

    As we head in to April we are really looking forward to the first Open Day of the year – it seems like a long time since our last public Open Days in September. We’ll be open at 11am on Saturday 14 April, until 4pm. We recommend arriving by 3.30pm at the latest, although we can’t guarantee there will be any cake left by then!

  • Dusters out! It’s Spring Cleaning time.

    Dusters out! It’s Spring Cleaning time.

    On Saturday 25 March it is time to ‘wake up’ The Weaver’s House with a post-winter clean all ready for the Open Day season. If you have an hour or so free time and would like to lend a hand, please email us on volunteers@theweavershouse.org in advance to register your interest.

    IMG_2605

    The house will then be open to the public from 11am – 4pm on a reduced basis – so you are welcome to drop by and have a look around but no refreshments or formal tours will be available.

    Volunteers will be on hand to help with any questions, so it’s a great opportunity to just pop in – why not combine it with a visit to the Coventry Watch Museum or St John’s Church, only a few minutes walk from The Weaver’s House.

    If you’re not around that day but would like to get involved, we’re currently looking for volunteers to help with:

    • Giving tours of the property on Open Days or for private groups
    • Gardening
    • Making tea and coffee for visitors on Open Days
    • Site maintenance

    Opportunities are flexible – so if you would like to help out occasionally or regularly do email volunteers@theweavershouse.org or call 024 7625 7117. As the house is staffed by volunteers, you may need to leave a message but calls will be returned.

  • What is a Skirret?

    What is a Skirret?

    What is a skirret? A medieval word for skirt? An ancient measure of ale? A cross between a squirrel and a ferret?

    If this question should pop up in a pub quiz, you will be equipped to answer after reading this post…

    The gardening volunteers met for some springtime maintenance on our working medieval garden. As well as tending to all the plants that would have been grown in medieval times for flavouring, medicine and dyeing, they planted a new-to-us heritage crop of Skirret.

    A raised bed with labelled herbs Meadowsweet, Tansy, Feverfew, Safflower, Lady's Bedstraw - all used for dyeing
    A raised bed of plants used for dyeing.

    A Skirret is a root vegetable crop which is largely unknown today but was popular in medieval times. The name is derived from the old word for ‘white root’. Raw, it tastes of carrot, and cooked, it tastes of parsnip. Hopefully we will get the chance to put this to the taste test later this year!

    Two small green leafed plants labelled Skirret in a raised bed
    The Skirret plants.

    If you are interested in growing heritage crops and would like to help out in our Tudor garden, please do get in touch – we always welcome more volunteers. As well as the regular gardening days there is also the option for volunteers to donate their time as and when is convenient to them.

    The Weaver’s Garden really is a little patch of tranquillity despite its closeness to the city centre – so escape back to Tudor times and enjoy a few hours in this special garden whilst helping maintain this historic property.  Contact us on 024 7625 7117 or email info@theweavershouse.org – no experience is required.

  • January visitors at The Weaver’s House

    January is a quiet time at The Weaver’s House – our Open Day season is still several months away and the garden is for the most part effectively dormant.

    We were delighted to welcome a group of learners from the WEA (Workers Education Association) recently for a tour of the house. The small group was greeted by volunteers Adrian and Tina who provided mugs of vegetable soup as it was a particularly chilly day. Not a million miles from the potage that medieval residents of the house would have eaten…

    Tina leading the tour in the Weaver's House
    Tina leading the tour in the Weaver’s House

    The group comprised people from across the globe so there was an opportunity to compare historical life in different countries with the medieval life represented in the house.

    The group were able to examine replica objects in the house as well as features from the house’s original construction.

    Adrian demonstrating the replica loom
    Adrian demonstrating the replica loom

    Although the day was cold, it followed some unseasonably mild weather so we had an additional and unexpected visitor to the garden in the form of a very early flowering Feverfew.

    White flowers of Feverfew
    Feverfew in the garden

    It won’t be long before the garden comes well and truly back to life and the gardening volunteers’ work will begin again. The apple trees planted the previous October have weathered the winter despite some extremely wet and windy days.

    Find out how to organise a tour for your group.

  • Apple Trees are the fruit of volunteers’ labour

    Apple Trees are the fruit of volunteers’ labour

    The Gardening group met on 31 October to plant some new additions to the garden – four apple trees. The apple trees are all English heritage varieties, at least one of which pre-dates the existence of the Weaver’s House itself:

    Old Pearmain, which is the earliest recorded English apple, existing before 1200AD.
    Wyken Pippen, which has been selected for its Coventry connection. It is thought that Lord Craven took a pip from an apple brought back from Holland or France and then planted it at Wyken.
    Leathercoat Russet, this apple was once widely grown in Britain, and is referred to by Shakespeare in Henry IV.
    English Codlin, a cooking apple which as its name suggests requires only gentle ‘coddling’ to soften.

    The planting of these trees was the culmination of months of research and hard work led by gardening volunteer Margaret. It took place on a beautiful autumn morning, unseasonably warm and sunny for Halloween. There was a concern that the planting had hit a literal stumbling block with the discovery of a hefty piece of wood buried right along the bed earmarked for the trees. However this was quickly excavated and the trees were planted starting with the newest variety, Wyken Pippin and completed with Old Pearmain.

    The fruit trees were supplied by Bernwode Fruit Trees.

    Digging over the bed.
    Digging over the bed.
    Sylvia plants the Wyken Pippin
    Sylvia plants the Wyken Pippen.