Chocolate Cake Day

Chocolate for National Chocolate Cake day

This Friday, 27th January is National Chocolate Cake Day (who knew there was such a thing – but it sounds like an excellent idea to me).

To celebrate, we will be offering 5 different chocolate cake options: Chocolate Fudge Cake, Chocolate Brownies, Guinness and Chocolate Cake, Chocolate and Beetroot Cake and Chocolate Log.

These are all available individually for you to enjoy, or we are offering a Chocolate Cake Taster Sharing Platter for just £10. Only available on Friday 27th, so if you’d like to come you may want to book by calling 01835 830315.

Burns Night.

If you are not a sweet tooth, you may be looking forward more to this week’s Burns Night. With the original date for our Burns Lunch now fully booked, we have added an extra date of Thursday 26th January for you to enjoy the Woodside Burns Lunch from 1pm.

Enjoy:

Starters:
Cullen Skink Or
Vegetarian pate with homemade oatcakes

Main Courses:
Haggis, tattie neeps, whisky sauce, and buttered leeks or
Vegetarian Wellington, tattie neeps, whisky sauce, and buttered leeks (V)

Pudding:
Mango and black pepper cranachan or
Clootie dumpling and custard
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2 courses £21.50 per person
3 courses £27.50 per person
Please pre-book menu choices – 01835 830315

 

Snowdrop Events

Snowdrops

If you are out and about walking in the area you have may noticed that the snowdrops are coming out in some more sunny areas. They are always such a welcome harbinger of spring, so we will be running a series of themed snowdrop events throughout January.

Artist of the Month

From 16th January E Judith Murray will be exhibiting snowdrop themed art in the coffee shop. She will be here in person on Friday 20th between 11:00 and 14:30, so do pop in and have a chat and maybe try your hand at drawing snowdrops with her. No need to book, just turn up on the day. You can have a look at her work on her instagram page here

Snowdrop Lunch

We will be starting our Snowdrop Lunch offer from 20th to 31st January – come and enjoy a warming winter lunch for just £14.50.

Soup of the Day and a roll (2 choices daily)
Hot Pudding of the Day (2 choices daily)
Tea or coffee (or a cold drink)

If you wish you can book on 01835 830315, or just turn up!

And, if these snowdrop events aren’t enough, we hope to have snowdrops available to purchase in the plant centre from 20th January too.

 

Apple Festival Update

Apple festival poster

We’ve got a fabulous weekend lined up for you this coming weekend 15th and 16th October as we co-host the Borders Organic Gardeners (BOG) Apple Festival.

The event is open from 10am to 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, and features stalls, displays, apple themed food and drink, and so much more.

Here is what we are doing over the weekend:

Saturday 15th October:
BOG Display of 140 apple varieties
27 different varieties of apple tree for sale
BOG Bookshop and information
Apple pressing – bring your own apples for juicing
BOG Home baking stall
Woodside Apple themed food and drink
Visiting Nursery – Tinnisburn Plants
Half a Hedgerow garden ornaments
Northumbria Basketry display and products for sale
The Wildlife Information Centre
Lyne Organics
Greenknowe Honey

Sunday 16th October (Family Day):
Childrens Activities including sign painting and “William Tell” shooting
BOG Display of 140 apple varieties
27 different varieties of apple tree for sale
BOG Bookshop and information
BOG Homebaking stall
Apple pressing – bring your own apples for juicing
Woodside Apple themed food and drink
Crailing Community Orchard
Laprig Valley
The Scottish Wildlife Trust
Borders Forest Trust
Half a Hedgerow garden ornaments
Northumbria Basketry display and products for sale
The Wildlife Information Centre
Lyne Organics
Greenknowe Honey
Moving Images Mobile Cinema

Moving Images Mobile Cinema

We are very excited with our line up over the weekend, and are pleased to be able to bring you “Moving Images” a solar powered cinema within a caravan! Kerry will be presenting a series of 9 short films on the Sunday, lasting around 30 mins in total, being screened at 45min intervals. For more information on the films please click HERE

These are suitable for adults and children over 10 and cost £2.50 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased in advanced through Eventbrite by clicking here, and will also be available on the day, subject to availability.

Tinisburn Plants

We’re also pleased to welcome back Helen from Tinnisburn Plants on the Saturday. Helen has been visiting Woodside over the past couple of years as our “guest nursery”, but it has always been on a Wednesday, and I know a lot of you can’t make a mid-week day, so here’s the perfect chance to purchase some of her hardy grown plants for all of you. I’ll look forwards to seeing what she has available at this time of year.

Apple-themed Food

Our tearoom will be serving a variety of apple-themed recipes, including soups, scones, cakes, pork and apple sausages, pulled pork, stuffing and apple sauce in a stottie, BBQ jackfruit, mulled apple juice and more.

Our plant centre has 27 different varieties of apple tree available to purchase, and this weekend you’ll get a FREE sachet of Rootgrow with every apple tree purchased. Don’t forget we also have other fruit trees available too, including cherries, pears, damsons, gages, medlars, mirabelles, plums, and quinces.

The plant centre is also well stocked with bulbs, Halloween decorations, a brand-new range of garden tools, autumn bedding, compost and lots more.
We’ve also got some new vintage and salvage items available following another trip to an auction.

Car Parking

It promises to be a very busy weekend, with plenty going on throughout the two days. We have arranged with Lothian Estates to use the nearby carpark at Harestanes as our overflow carpark, so if you are fit and able to walk, please do use it and save the Woodside car park for those who can’t manage the walk. There will be a collection point at our gate for those who have purchased items and need to bring the car across from Harestanes.

The event runs from 10am to 3pm (although Woodside is open as usual until 5pm) on both days. We are hoping for good weather, and the tearoom has plenty of outdoor space, however if you wish to sit indoors I would suggest booking by phoning 01835 830315.

Apple Festival

apple festival

Don’t forget to put a date in your diary for our Apple Festival weekend on 15th and 16th October in partnership with Borders Organic Gardeners (BOG). There will be a range of attractions, including a display of apples and information about apple growing.

There will also be some gardening related stalls, including

  • Tinnisburn Plants (Saturday only),
  • Half A Hedgerow,
  • Northumbria Basketry Group,
  • Crailing Community Orchard (Sunday only)
  • The Wildlife Information Centre,
  • Lyne Organics.

Family Activites

On the Sunday we will have some family activities such as sign painting and a “William Tell” shooting stall!

We are also delighted to welcome Kerry Jones and her mobile cinema to Woodside on the Sunday – more information on Moving Images can be found here

Winter Warmer Lunches

chocolate pudding - winter warmer

From this weekend we are starting a series of two-course winter warmer lunches featuring lovely traditional comfort food. These are available by pre-booking only and are served at 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays throughout January and into the beginning of February. Why not go for a good walk first, then come to Woodside for 1pm for your lunch? You could also meet up with friends (a maximum of 3 households indoors under current Covid rules) and on a nice day you could even choose to sit outdoors.

The price is £15 which includes a cup of tea or coffee and the menu options for various dates are below:

January 8th & 9th – Three-cheese Macaroni Cheese (V) & Syrup Sponge Pudding & Custard
January 15th & 16th – Pheasant & Shallot Casserole with Dumplings, & Bread & Butter Pudding
January 22nd & 23rd – Chilli con Carne with Rice, & Sticky Toffee Pudding
January 29th & 30th – Chick Pea and Sweet Potato Curry (V) with Naan Bread, & Toffee Apple Crumble
February 5th & 6th – Sausage-meat Stovies, & Chocolate Sponge Pudding

Please book by phoning 01835 830315

Sticky Toffee Pudding

There is a bit of a story around our Sticky Toffee Pudding (served on 22nd & 23rd January). For as long as I’ve known Stephen – about 30 years – he’s been going on and on about the best sticky toffee pudding in the world that he used to get when he worked as an apprentice gardener at the Sharrow Bay Hotel on Ullswater in the Lake District. None has ever matched this in all the years we’ve been eating out together and it’s become a bit of a long standing joke between us. However this year I surprised him at New Year by finding the original Sharrow Bay Hotel recipe and baking it for all the family. Now I’m no baker, but I have to say it was a triumph, and it has Stephen’s seal of approval as being the “real thing”, so I’m delighted to have scribbled the recipe down and brought it to Woodside for our kitchen staff here to make. Look out for it being featured fairly regularly on our forthcoming menus as it it absolutely gorgeous. I hate to say it, but Stephen – you were right!

Christmas Trees for sale and Christmas Events at Woodside

Christmas wreath making workshop Scottish Borders

Our first Late Night Shopping Evening took place this week, with many customers enjoying browsing in our shop and selecting their Christmas Tree from our new floodlit  shopping area. We have two more dates for Late Night Shopping :
Thursday 2nd December 4pm – 6pm
Thursday 9th December 4pm – 6pm.
No need to book, just turn up on the night and take your time to chat with us and enjoy a leisurely browse.

If you hand over a full loyalty card on any of these Late Night Shopping Evenings you can enjoy a free mulled punch (non-alcoholic version also available) and a complimentary homemade mince pie. 

Christmas Afternoon Tea

We are also hosting  Christmas Afternoon Teas with dates to coincide with our shopping evenings so that you can come into the shop and browse after your afternoon tea.  To book please call on 01835 830315 The cost is £12.50 per person for:
Homemade turkey, cranberry and chestnut sausage roll, smoked salmon sandwich, homemade spiced apple, cranberry and orange scone, slice of Homemade Christmas cake, Millionaires shortbread and a homemade lemon tart with tea or coffee (or a cold drink).

We have a vegetarian option too, so please let us know when you book if you would like this and if you have any food intolerances or allergies.

Christmas Trees for sale

Our Cut Nordmann Christmas Trees have arrived this week. We have sizes available from 4ft to 8ft, and hope to get a couple of 9-10ft trees in by Thursday this week. Demand is expected to be high again this year, following a record breaking season last Christmas for us, so don’t leave it too late to get your tree. Don’t forget that you can buy now and collect nearer Christmas. We also have a range of different sizes of Christmas Tree stands, so stop all that messy fiddling about with bricks and buckets, and wonky trees!
We also have a range of potted Christmas trees that can be planted out or potted on after Christmas.

We’ve had two new deliveries of statues and garden ornaments over the last couple of weeks, with quite a few new items now in stock. Look out for new birdbaths, cast iron “Musical Mice”, Greenman Wall Plaques (we had these in stock briefly in the summer before they all sold out!), dogs, cats, hedgehogs, otters, hares and more……

Christmas for your dog

Talking of dogs, we’ve had a top-up order of our popular dog treats from Green and Wilds, and have now extended our vegan range of treats. We also now have Santa Sacks for dogs, so that your best friend has a happy Christmas too.

Much more in store

A pretty range of aluminium painted robins arrived today, which are suitable for indoors or outdoors, and we have our little stone sparrows also back in stock.

Groceries have taken a seasonal turn, and we now have available an attractive range of chocolatey and nutty food items, as well as curry sauces and naan breads. Winter treats include packs of dates, dark chocolate covered ginger, English Russet and Bramley apples, our own home-grown Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, beetroot and clementines. Our grocery shop is open every day 10am – 4pm and will also be open late until 6pm on the next three Thursday evenings. Don’t forget we have freshly baked sourdough bread available every Wednesday and Saturday. These keep well, and freeze well too, so get stocked up for Christmas.

I’ve also started making wreaths today for doors and for graves, and I’ll do my best to keep up with demand! To be sure you get yours you can order now for collection nearer Christmas – just phone on 01835 830315 to let us know your requirements.

There are new items arriving every day, and although our shop is small, it’s absolutely jam-packed with gifts, decorations, birdfood and so much more, so do take the time to come along and have a look…….

Foraging Experiences at Woodside

elderflowers

We were delighted that guest forager, Jonathan of HartyCulture, led foraging experiences as part July’s mini garden festival. We are hoping he will be joining us again in September, so I thought you might like to read his summary of the day’s sessions.

Foraging Experiences in July

“We had great fun on our voyages of discovery and they were enjoyed by young and old alike. We hardly had to leave the car park with so much there to discuss and digest.

We started off with the wild Geranium family, finding a few varieties of cranesbill, which is handy for anyone with radiation poisoning, heavy metal toxicity or sows scouring. The pineapple weed was as popular a surprise as ever, with one lady aptly asking, “What was it called before they discovered pineapples?” I didn’t and still don’t know, but we then spotted some escaping apple mint, which saved face. Great crop of edible hogweed, which we didn’t touch due to potential photo toxicity. Their broccoli heads were mainly out and the cumin replacement seeds will be ready to harvest soon. The ground elder is starting to flower, which brings it into the danger zone of umbellifer confusion with hemlock; however the celery like, unstained grooved stems of the goutweed was safely sampled by all.

Disappointingly, there weren’t too many nettles, but I rattled on about their many benefits anyway; sure the Red Admiral has to lay her eggs somewhere after floating up from the Med. Nevertheless we found some supertall ones down by the stream along St. Cuthbert’s way, which would be great for cordage. Masses of marestail, great for so many things. We haven’t run out of oil yet, there’s 500 million years of giant equisetum during the carboniferous period to thank for that, however I suspect Emma wouldn’t object to a pet dinosaur keeping it under control. It’s high levels of silica perfectly compliment the bone knitting properties of the comfrey, flowering among the bees buzzing in a corner near the white willow, which is good for everyone and nearly every ailment.

The beech leaves have gone well chewy and was disappointed not to find any porcelain mushrooms growing on the fallen ones. Loads of yew down the woods, which is exciting in chemotherapy and the brave had their heads blown off by green wild garlic seeds. Wood avens in abundance for those with mouth ulcers. Found my first wonder violet among the hazel and lime trees. Some huge wellingtonias, great for totem poles and a sweet chestnut too.There was so much on offer: St. John’s wort, green alkanet, hedge woundwort, common nipplewort, wood-rush, flowering currant, Leopard’s-bane, burdock, ladies mantle, even primrose, which we resisted sampling due to scarcity.

However there was no scarcity of wild strawberries, with banks full of them, but we did keep running out of time, which might have made some late for their lunch, but thankfully no one complained of hunger and for those who mentioned friends and family who would be keen to come too, all being well, I’ll be back to Scotland in September, which will bring a whole new element to the harvest.”

Booking for September Foraging

If that report has tickled the taste buds, please sign up to the newsletter to be the first to hear about the date in September.

Numbers will be limited so I reccomend early booking once details have been released.

About Jonathan

Jonathan is usually based in Northern Ireland, so we are very lucky to be able to book his expertise to share with Woodside customers. Established in 2007, HartyCulture is a family-run business based in the heart of the beautiful orchards of County Armagh, Northern Ireland, offering a wide spectrum of horticultural and landscaping services to private, public and third sector clients, with a focus on quality, sustainability and listening to our customers’ requirements.  They have also contributed a regular gardening column to the lifestyle magazine “Flavour”, and always enjoy presenting to community and other groups on areas of horticultural interest.  Most recently, they have introduced year-round Foraging and Nature Tours in a range of locations across Northern Ireland, where they explore our natural environment during a guided walk through beautiful countryside.

 

This blog was updated on 16th July to include the July session report.

 

Photo by Cam James on Unsplash

Mini Garden Festival – 9th June

Tinnisburn Plant Nursery

Our next “Mini Garden Festival” is this coming Wednesday, 9th June.

We will be welcoming back Helen from Tinnisburn Plants , a small family run nursery from Dumfries and Galloway. Half a Hedgerow from Kelso will also be exhibiting their garden obelisks and ornaments once more.  We are also hoping that we will be able to offer Streptocarpus  from indoor plant specialists, Dibley’s – fingers crossed that the delivery arrives in time!  The event will run from 11am – 4pm.

Last month we had an issue with parking with everyone turning up early – don’t panic, there is enough stock for everyone, so please don’t feel you have to attend in the morning as there will be plenty of plants available all afternoon too! If the carpark is full, please be patient – we will fit you in as soon as we can.

This week in the Plant Centre

The plant centre is bursting to the brim with plants, so there is still plenty on offer if you can’t make Wednesday. We have our best range of shrubs yet – look out for
Cistus (Rock Rose) corbariensis, purpureus and Snow White, Olearia haastii, Ozothamnus Silver Jubilee, Skimmia Kew Green, Spiraea arguta (Bridal Wreath). We have so many perennials in stock that some are being temporarily displayed on pallets, highlights include:

  • Anemone Wild Swan – a much sought after perennial with white flowers and a distinctive blue back to the petals
  • Geum Totally Tangerine – probably the best of all the orangey geums with good vigorous growth masses of flowers
  • Geranium Pink Penny – a really pretty hardy geranium and one of the longest flowering varieties available
  • Digitalis luteum – a perennial foxglove with small creamy yellow flowers
  • Brunnera Jack Frost – one of the most popular silver leaved Brunneras with delightful forget-me-not type flowers
  • Euphorbia characias wulfenii and robbiae – we’ve been waiting all season for these to come in stock and they are selling fast!
  • Persicaria bistorta Superba – a magnificent perennial with candy pink spires of flowers held above vigorous ground cover foliage.

We have also received a new delivery of bedding plants and vegetable plants for you to squeeze a few extra into your garden.

Guest Nursery Event

Tinnisburn Plant Nursery

Tinnisburn Plant NurseryOn Wednesday 1st July we will be hosting a plant stall from a guest nursery, Tinnisburn Plants between 11:00 and 17:00.

Tinnisburn Plants is an RHS Gold Medal winning nursery, specialising in truly hardy perennials; many of which are choice and unusual. Founder and owner, Helen Knowles, has a lifelong passion for plants and propagates plants for sale at her nursery set 600ft above sea level near Canonbie.

Helen usually sells her plants through plant shows throughout the UK, but of course they have all been cancelled this year, so I thought it would be good for her (and for Woodside customers) if she could bring her plants here for you all to see and hopefully buy. If it is a success she will be back again in another couple of weeks.

Looking forwards to seeing you soon.

The Age of the West Equine Show

Our annual equestrian theatre performance is nearly here!

“The Age of the West” is a unique production, performed by Equestrian Theatre Scotland, in the garden at Woodside. It is a one-off performance taking place next weekend on Saturday 10th August, and features stunning horses and talented riders, fresh from filming “Outlander” and who can also be spotted in “Game of Thrones” and in the recent film “Mary, Queen of Scots”. You may also see performing dogs and we are sometimes lucky enough to enjoy the performance of a talented goat! Combined with live music, a freshly prepared buffet supper, and an attractive setting in the garden – what more could you wish for?!

Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased by calling during our opening times of 10-5, or you can call into the Plant Centre and pay in person. We accept all major cards except American Express. Tickets are £18 for adults, £12 for children and £50 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children). The ticket price includes a two-course buffet.

We are anticipating that this show will once again be a sell-out (we have been hosting the equestrian theatre for a number of years now) so please note that you will not be able to purchase tickets at the door.

Gates open at 6.15pm, with the buffet served from 6.30pm. The show starts at 7pm.

You are advised to bring something to sit on, such as a picnic blanket or deck-chair as we have limited seating, and also to bring with you everything you might need for an evenings outdoor entertainment (umbrella, midge repellent, sun glasses etc).

This year we have purchased two large gazebos, so there will be a certain amount of undercover seating in case of rain.

Don’t forget to book your tickets by calling us on 01835 830315 and have your card details handy. It should be a wonderful evening’s entertainment.