Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2013 | Page 72

Matt Noyce is head gardener
at Quarr Abbey, and is
responsible for the 200 acres
of gardens, pastureland,
vegetable plot and private
woodland on the estate.

Still busy while others relax
It is easy to be reminded what a
beautiful location Quarr Abbey is
when you are basking in the glorious
summer sunshine, even if you are
working! Here at the Abbey we have
many different types of visitor. Most
will agree that the site does have a
certain relaxing feel to it, where time
seems to slow down a little.
However, when you have a busy
vegetable plot and an estate to tend
to there is always something to do.
With the earlier mix of warm and wet
weather the plants and vegetables have
picked up after a slow start and now
there's no stopping them.
We have produce coming through
thick and fast, a really good quality
crop in most cases.
The potatoes came up really well
with no blight this year. The Heritage
Shetland Black always amazes me
when you peel back its skin to
reveal its vibrant deep violet colours
underneath. The Brandywine tomatoes
are swelling and I’m looking forward
to tasting the round Australian Crystal
Apple cucumbers as they mature. We
have been keeping an eye on anything
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that has been recently planted during
this dry spell, making sure it is kept
watered and fed to continue to
encourage root establishment.

Our partnership with the Priory
Bay Hotel is going from strength
to strength. Here in the gardens we
are supplying a niche crop of usual
and unusual produce to Ollie in the

kitchen. From baby gherkins with
the yellow flowers still attached to
collections of Brassica leaves to herbs
and edible flowers, we are providing
the freshest produce, getting it from
field to fork within hours.
The Quarr Abbey Internship
programme has started again this year.
We have four keen chaps who are
living alongside the Monks of Quarr
Abbey for a period of two months
to get a glimpse into Monastic life.
When they are not in office, studying
or working around the Abbey, they are
out busy in the gardens and grounds,
which is a great help.
The pigs seem to enjoy being in their
new pens. They haven’t moved far
but they now have new and improved
facilities as part of our Heritage
Lottery Fund project. I am currently
making plans to invite an Island
vintage tractor club to plough and
prepare the ground for the wildflower
meadow we have allocated as bee
forage. It seems quite suitable to
arrange for old machines to work the
land of an estate steeped in history.