Merry Christmas At Woodside

Christmas at Woodside

It’s the last run up to Christmas at Woodside. We are open here right through to Christmas Eve and we still have some amazing Chrismassy items in stock to make yours a merry one!

Christmas Trees

We still have some stunning 6 foot Premium Scottish Grown Nordmann Christmas trees available. Although it’s nearing the end of the Christmas tree selling period, all our remaining trees are looking really good – it was a fabulous batch we had delivered, with not a bad one amongst them, so still some really cracking trees to be had.  Don’t forget to add some water to your Christmas tree holder, as that really helps to keep them looking good. We are running short on some sizes now, but we still have plenty of 6ft trees, which is the most popular size.

We’re still busy making Christmas wreaths both for doors and for the cemetery. All our outdoor wreaths are made here at Woodside using freshly picked holly, so will stay looking fresh for some time yet. Other shops usually sell wreaths made weeks before, so aren’t such good value for money as they will soon look tired and dried out, while ours will keep going. You won’t want to throw them away in January!

Christmas Groceries

Our grocery shop is crammed full of festive products ready for Christmas. Particular highlights include:
Fresh cranberries
Medjoul dates – really enormous and the best you will get (sold loose so you can buy as many as you want)
Ready to eat French chestnuts
British Brussel sprouts
Whole frozen local pheasants
Moroccan spiced pheasant burgers (frozen)
Pheasant, cranberry, chestnut and orange sausages (frozen)
Gluten free bread sauce mix
Preserved lemons
Pomegranates
Mangoes
and a whole lot more…..

Sourdough Bread

We get fresh bread on Saturdays and Wednesdays, including  Saturday 23rd December – we are taking Christmas orders for:
Plain sourdough
Seeded sourdough
Cranberry and walnut sourdour loaf
Turmeric and nigella seed sourdough loaf
Rosemary focaccia
Bacon and jalapeno focaccia
Sweet Christmas focaccia

Christmas House Plants

We also have a wonderful range of indoor plants to brighten up your Christmas or to give as a gift:
Hyacinths as single bulbs or in arrangements
Orchids
Indoor Azaleas
Cyclamen
Stephanotis
Citrus trees
Paperwhites
Amarylis

 

Christmas is Coming at Woodside

Christmas wreaths

Christmas wreath making is well under way here at Woodside, the Christmas trees are coming in this week and we are now taking orders for groceries from the shop for the festive season.

Christmas Wreath making

We are busy making Christmas wreaths for all our customers that have pre-ordered and we will be making extras for sale in the plant centre. All our wreaths are by hand and machine using fresh branches of fir and holly, all on a metal base. They are either  tastefully decorated or left plain for you to decorate yourself if you wish.

Our small wreaths are usually used at the cemetery and are either decorated with natural pine cones or artificial white Christmas roses and are £18 each.

Our large wreaths all have a bow in a variety of colours and designs, and can either be decorated with pine cones for a natural look, or with decorations known as “picks”. The large wreaths with cones are £25 each and with picks are £28 each.

If you’re looking for something even bigger and brighter we also make some XL wreaths, and decorate them with a bow and picks – this deluxe version is £40.

We try to have plenty of wreaths available to buy in the plants centre, but sometimes we just can’t make them fast enough, so if you’d like to order one please give us a call on 01835 830315.

Wreath-making workshops

If you fancy making a wreath yourself, we still have spaces on our wreath making workshops the week after next. We have 4 sessions available:

  • 12th December 10am – 12.30pm
  • 12th December 1.30pm – 4pm
  • 13th December 10am – 12.30pm
  • 13th December 1.30pm – 4pm.

Each workshop costs £35 per person including all the materials needed to hand make and decorate a wreath, plus a cup of tea or coffee and a mince pie. All you need to bring is a pair of secateurs and gloves. I would also recommend wearing warm comfy clothes.

If you’d like to attend please book your place on 01835 830315. You can also buy a place on this workshop as a Christmas gift – just let us know when booking.

Christmas Groceries

We are now taking bookings for Christmas groceries from our shop, including frozen meals, fruit and vegetables, luxury goods, gluten free products, frozen whole pheasants, frozen local venison and homemade bread. You can see our list by clicking HERE, and we have plenty more that isn’t listed too.  Don’t forget we are open every day 10am – 4pm right up to and including Christmas Eve, so do come in and take a look.

Nordmann Christmas Trees

Our cut Nordmann Christmas trees are arriving this week, ready for those of you that want to get your tree up on the 1st December. Our trees are all the non-needle drop variety, and will look good for ages – even when it’s time to get them down in January.  We also have Christmas tree stands, lights and decorations, so hopefully everything you need to get your home all Christmassy.

As usual, for all enquiries, bookings and orders as well as tearoom reservations, please phone us on 01835 830315. As we are very busy we don’t always have the time to check emails or social media, so please pick up the phone and give us a call.

Pre-order Christmas Trees

Christmas tree

Pre-order Christmas trees and our real handmade Christmas wreaths at special discounted “Early Bird” prices now until the 21st November.

You can pre-order cut Christmas trees, we are using the same Scottish supplier of cut Nordmann Christmas trees as the last few years – and even better news is that we have managed to hold prices the same as last year too. Pre-ordering saves at least £5 on the regular price, and allows you to tick off a job done from your Christmas “to do” list!

This year our pre-order discount covers potted Christmas Trees too. These are real growing trees that can be planted out in the garden after use, or potted up into a bigger pot to use again next year.

Our handmade wreaths, made from real local foliage, are increasing in popularity year on year, and we sometimes struggle to make enough for all our customers. By pre-ordering you guarantee that a wreath will be freshly made here at Woodside by our own fair hands, and ready to collect on your chosen date. Smaller wreaths are usually used on graves, and the larger ones are for hanging on your door, but the choice is yours.

The price list for all our pre-order Christmas deals is available by clicking HERE or just pop into Woodside and ask about our prices.

Please phone us with all orders on 01835 830315 and have your card details handy for payment. Telephone only please – we are unable to take orders by email.  All pre-orders need to be with us by 21st November.

Christmas Shop

Still on a Christmas theme, our plant shop has now been transformed into our Christmas shop, with all the display items in the tearoom  available for sale. Our available products includes, candles, decorations, crackers, artificial  flowers, wreaths and garlands, and Christmas lights. We’re really pleased with our Christmas displays this year, so do come in and take a look, and be inspired.

Borders Organic Gardeners Apple Festival at Woodside

apple festival

 October 7th & 8th, 10am – 4pm

Following last year’s success we are delighted to welcome back our friends from Borders Organic Gardeners for the annual Apple Festival, we have a great weekend planned for you. BOG have elected to raise money for their nominated charity at this event, which this year is the Borders Forest Trust, and there will be opportunities for you to make a donation if you wish. Entrance to the event and car parking is all FREE.

Highlights for the weekend include an amazing display of over 100 named varieties of apples which will be in our polytunnel, over 50 different varieties of fruit trees for sale, and the opportunity to bring in your own apples for juicing. If you do bring in apples, please make sure you also bring a container to put the juice into for taking home!  Baking fans may also want to bring donations for the home baking stall which is raising funds for Borders Forest Trust – whole cakes, tarts and loaves only please.
The Birdhouse Tearoom will be selling a delicious range of apple themed food and drink, and our baker, Sue, will be very busy over the next few days preparing all the home-baked items.

The full list of activities, information and stall holders is below, and as you can see we have different attractions on both days, so you might want to visit Woodside more than once this weekend!

Our car park is likely to be very busy, so we will have volunteer car parking attendants to assist you – please look out for them as they will help you to park. If you are fit and able, it would help hugely if you could park at nearby Harestanes, just a short walk away, which would leave more car parking at Woodside for those not able to walk that distance. Anyone parking at Harestanes can of course drive up to Woodside to collect purchases. Queues may form at Woodside as you wait for a space to become available, so please be patient with our car parking assistants while they find you a space.

Here is a full list of all the varieties of fruit trees that are for sale, with the quantities available – CLICK HERE. As you can see some of the varieties are only available in limited numbers, so if you want to reserve a tree from the list please phone the shop on 01835 830315. If you’re having trouble opening the list, just contact the shop by emailing emma@woodsidegarden.co.uk and we’ll email you a copy.

BOG Apple Festival at Woodside 2023
10am – 4pm Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th October

Display of named apples
Borders Organic Gardeners Book shop
Apple juicing
Borders Organic Gardeners information stall
Apple trees and other fruit trees for sale
Apple themed food and drink
Fun Activities – “
William Tell”, Guess the Weight of the Marrow, Apple Peeling Competition
Home Baking stall

Saturday 7th October
Greenknowe Honey – Beekeeping and Honey Bee Products
Northumbria Basketry Group – Promoting basketry and related crafts
Borders Forest Trust – Local Woodland Charity
Laprig Valley – Local producers of single variety apple juice
Central Borders Red Squirrel Network – Helping to conserve and protect red squirrels
Lyne Organics – Makers of organic home fragrances and toiletries
Half a Hedgerow – Handmade garden art, growing frames and decorative items
Abundant Borders – Teaching people how to grow their own food in a sustainable way
Scott Barden Workshop – Painting signs for bee-friendly gardens for children and families
Story Telling – Nature themed stories for children and their accompanying adult

Sunday 8th October
AnneWhiteArt – Sales of original prints and cards by local artist
The Wildlife Information Centre – Local Environmental Records Centre
Crailing Community Orchard – providing produce and activities in the community
FirstLight Trust – Charity supporting Armed Forces and Emergency Services vetarans
Red Kite Services – Pond Dipping activity in the Woodside pond from 11am – 2pm
Greenknowe Honey – Beekeeping and Honey Bee Products
Northumbria Basketry Group – Promoting basketry and related crafts
Borders Forest Trust – Local Woodland Charity
Laprig Valley – Local producers of single variety apple juice
Central Borders Red Squirrel Network – Helping to conserve and protect red squirrels
Lyne Organics – Makers of organic home fragrances and toiletries
Half a Hedgerow – Handmade garden art, growing frames and decorative items

Please tell your family and friends about this event and lets make it another successful event at Woodside.

It’s Not All Plants!

Vintage stone troughs for sale at Woodside Garden centre

We love our plants here at Woodside, but we do other things too!

Vintage Garden items

Last year we started sourcing and stocking vintage garden and shed items, and we are well stocked with interesting bits and pieces from 50p to £2500, so plenty to suit all budgets!
This week I’ve collected some gorgeous late-Victorian salt glazed troughs, I’m reasonably good at remembering to put photos onto Facebook, so please follow us if you want to receive regular photos of items that catch my eye. We have also got a section here on the website for our antique and vintage items – now we’ve passed the May and June madness I’ll be able to spend a bit more time getting it up to date.

Our search for vintage and antique items takes us throughout the UK, but we are always very happy to source items closer to home, so if you want us to do a shed or garden clearance for you, just get in touch. Also if there is a particular item, for example a sundial, that you’d like us to look out for, just let us know and we’ll see what we can find….

New Range of Curry Pastes

We also retail selected food items in our plant shop, including our own home-made frozen meals, fresh bread, fruit and vegetables. We have recently started stocking a new range of curry pastes, which are made in India with traditional Indian ingredients. These differ from other sauces and pastes in that each one has it’s own distinct fresh flavours, and don’t all just taste of gloopy spicy curry – I’m sure know what I mean! Choose from 8 different flavours, all £4.50 each:
Butter Chicken (Highly recommended)
Goan Curry
Chicken Curry
Karahi Curry (Also highly recommended – quite spicy, but tasty too)
Rogan Josh
Chick Pea Curry
Tikka Masala
Tandoori
Serve them with our giant oven baked naan breads, and that’s a meal sorted!

Tender Plants for Conservatories and Sun Rooms

Gloriosa - an example of the tender plant snow available from Woodside Garden

Our polytunnel has been transformed into a stunning space displaying tender plants for conservatories, sun rooms and patios. Most of these plants will live outside quite happily over the summer, to give your garden a lush, tropical feel, but will need to come indoors for the colder months.

Tender Plants

Here are some of the plants we have available:

  • Gloriosa  with shocking pink blooms
  • Hoya bella, (Wax Plant) a house plant with sweetly scented white flowers
  • Plumbago – a blue flowering climber
  • Aloe Vera – an easy to grow plant with healing sap
  • Cannas – exotic blooms suitable for pots and patios
  • Mandervilla – a subtropical vine with stunning flowers. We have 3 varieties Classic Red, Flamingo Pink, Classic White.
  • Zantadeschias – in a choice of colours
  • Passionflower – really big bushy plants standing around 3ft in height, full of flowers and buds. Three varieties – Clear Sky, White Passion, Violet Passion. £59.99 each
  • Citrus trees – Lemons and calamondins, both carrying fruit £52.99 each.

Garden Plants

There are plenty more garden plants available this week. My personal favourites are:

  • Flower Carpet Roses in 6 different colours
  • Penstemon Sour Grapes
  • Hosta Sting – a new variety with white stems, upright growth and good variegation
  • Agastache Blackadder – a great plant for pollinators and attractive too
  • Persicaria affinis Superba – one of the vey best ground cover plants which flowers from spring, through summer and into autumn.
  • Hemerocallis – I love Daylilies. They are really easy to grow and keep producing blooms throughout early to mid-summer. We have 6 varieties – Night Embers (dark red double flowers), Summer Wine (pinky red), Charles Johnston (cherry red with green throat), Golden Chimes (rich gold), Stafford (deep red with orange throat) and Stella de Ora (crisp clear yellow)
  • Alstroemeria – choose from Husky (speckled orange), Sundance (speckled yellow) or Indian Summer (bronze leaf and orange flowers)

As usual this is just a quick taste of what we have available. Don’t forget we also stock garden furniture, water features, decorative garden ornaments, birdbaths, pots and statues, garden vintage and antique items and much more, so do come in and take a look.

Winter Wonderland at Woodside

photo of woodside walled garden in the snow - a winter wonderland

It is an absolute winter wonderland here both inside and out. We are very much open for business – the snow is just adding a bit of seasonal magic!

Mistletoe and other Christmassy plants

We’ve just had a delivery of gorgeous Christmassy plants for your home and garden, including some mistletoe, as we welcome the return of Christmas kissing!

Highlights include hyacinths, potted amaryllis, Christmas cactus, indoor azaleas, mini orchids and lots of colourful indoor cyclamen. These are all perfect for Christmas gifts or for simply making your home look bright and Christmassy.

We are well stocked with gifts, decorations and Christmas lights, as well as groceries, Christmas food items (including delicious brandy snaps) , wild bird food, dog treats, garden tools and so much more.

I think you’ll be surprised at the range of our products, so do come in and have a look, particularly if you’ve still got some “hard to buy for” people to buy for.

Christmas Dining

Don’t forget we are still taking bookings for our Christmas Lunches every Monday and Tuesday, and Christmas Afternoon tea on 15th December, and our Christmas Evening Dinner on Friday 16th December. Please call us on 01835 830315 to book.

We are open every day right up to and including Christmas Eve 10am – 4pm.

Winter Fuel and Food at Woodside

Winter fuel - a log fire next to a Christmas Tree

Winter has truly arrived, with frosty nights and chilly days, so our thoughts have turned to keeping warm and well fed over the coming Festive Season.

Winter Fuel

To keep you cosy we have a choice of winter fuel for stoves and open fires. We stock locally sourced kindling, softwood and hardwood logs all sold by the bag, as well as Coffee Logs (for stoves only) which are made from recycled coffee grinds and give off a lovely intense heat.

I have found that the coffee logs work really well mixed with logs and give plenty of heat as well as a good slow burning flame. Coffee Logs benefit both people and planet. They’re a low moisture fuel, burn 20% hotter than kiln-dried wood logs, and they reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 130% compared to grounds sent to standard disposal method.  They are £11.99 a bag with a special offer of £20 for 2 bags.

We also stock the hugely popular Dr Heat Firelighters, which offer a carbon neutral way of reliably getting your fire or stove lit. Dr Heat eco-friendly firelighters are produced from miscanthus grass waste from biofuel production, and recycled scented candle wax, which would otherwise be sent to landfill.  The factory is run by solar panels and all packaging materials are 100% recyclable cardboard.

It’s always a good idea to make provision for winter power cuts here in the Scottish Borders, and we have plenty of plain candles in different shapes and sizes, as well as red Christmas pillar candles and vanilla scented candles for a romantic and cosy ambience.

Relaxed Food Shopping.

We love our food here at Woodside – who wouldn’t being surrounded with delicious home-made cakes and the daily aroma of freshly baked scone? We sell a good range of fruit and vegetables in the grocery section of the plant shop, as well as a selection of store cupboard items such as pasta, curry sauces, naan breads, olive oils, salad dressings and much more. We’re also pleased that we have a reliable and local source of organic eggs so we have these is stock (whilst the supermarkets are running out!)

Talking of supermarkets – they are all proving to be a bit of a nightmare just now as the hectic build up to Christmas begins, so if you’re looking for a calmer way to do your food shopping, please pop into Woodside to take a look and see what we can offer. In addition to fruit, vegetables, eggs and store cupboard items, we sell freshly baked sourdough bread on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and we now have oven ready pheasant and red-legged partidge in our frozen food section. Sue is also busy cooking more frozen ready meals today to top up any gaps in the freezer.

Our Christmas range of food is also now available – either to give as presents or to treat yourself. Look out for gift-packed chocolates, vegan truffles, Scottish fudge, gluten-free Amoretti biscuits, Christmas puddings and, everybody’s favourite – Brandy Snaps.

Christmas Decorations

To make your table look pretty this Christmas we have a range of luxury Christmas Crackers with matching napkins and candles, as well as a good selection of table decorations. Don’t forget that we stock a small but good quality range of Christmas lights for both indoors and outdoors, artificial wreaths (some of which are battery operated light-up ones) and artificial garlands that you can use year after year. And, of course we stock Scottish grown Nordmann Christmas Trees, pot grown Christmas Trees, and our beautiful home-made real foliage wreaths which are very well priced compared with other local outlets, and are made here at Woodside by myself, Joanne and Sarah using local conifer and holly.

To order or reserve any of the items we stock at Woodside, including Christmas Trees and Wreaths please call us on 01835 830315.

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.

Time for Tree Planting

apple trees for sale

Late September and into October is a perfect time for tree planting.  The soil is still warm and the ground is beginning to get a little damper in the cooler weather as autumn takes hold.

We have a huge range of fruit trees and ornamental trees available just now – it is probably the best selection in the Border area. To see our full list of varieties ready, just click on this link and it will take you to our list. The list also gives an indication of how many of each variety we have available (as of 20th September).

Please note that we are not a web shop, so this list is for guidance only! To purchase please either visit Woodside or phone us on 01835 830315.

Special highlights on our tree list include:

  • Beautiful Crab Apples (Malus)
  • A good range of Rowans (Sorbus)
  • Flagpole Cherry (Prunus Amanogowa) for small spaces
  • Amelanchier Robin Hill
  • Betula jaquemontii ( one of the best white stemmed birches)
  •  A large collection of different apple varieties
  •  Fan fruit trees for growing on walls or fences

Bulbs

Our full range of bulbs is now in stock as you look forward to next spring and summer. Highly recommended varieties include:

  • Cochicums – these are known as Autumn Flowering Crocus are produce showy flowers in September, followed by fleshy foliage in Spring
  • Fritillaria imperialis (Crown Imperial) – unusual spring flowering bulbs with spectacular blooms in orange, red or yellow. These flower well in the Woodside garden and are admired by customers visiting in spring
  • Snowdrops (Galanthus) – we have these as a collection pack, or as individual named varieties
  • Woodland Collection – a collection of bulbs prepared to enhance woodland and shrubby sections of the garden
  • Prepared hyacinths – these are for indoor plantings to flower in the winter. We either have them available as loose bulbs in a range of colours, or as kits complete with a glass jar for planting, which are perfect presents
  • Paperwhite Narcissus – these are members of the daffodil family and are for indoor planting in bowls and baskets, where they produce masses of sweetly scented flowers

Garlic and Onions

If vegetables are more your thing, autumn planting onions, shallots and garlic are all now available:

  • Onion Autumn Champion – one of the best over-wintering varieties for planting now
  • Shallot Jermor – a banana shallot with good flavour and stores well
  • Elephant Garlic – a giant garlic suitable for planting now for harvesting next year

We also still have a few packs of winter herb and vegetable plants left – Spring Onions, Chard, Coriander, Parsley, Spinach and Rocket.