Year End

Mandy, our brilliant Apprentice, has written a blog on her dramatic career change from Accountancy to Horticulture. As we approach the ‘year end’, read about her journey in the Secret Garden so far . . .

This time last year, like many, I was struggling to stay awake in my makeshift home office. I’d just recovered from all the work from accounting ‘year end’.

This year I’ve just finished a different kind of year end – the rush to get all the tender plants into the greenhouse in time, but I feel a lot more awake!

Lockdown helped me realise I needed a career change, I wanted to work outside, ideally with plants and soil, luckily the internet has come a long way since I was starting my first career and I found many routes into horticulture.

Carey’s seemed like the ideal apprenticeship for me, as they were, and still are, in the process of creating a food forest and teaching about permaculture, which is something I love being a part of.

When I first walked into the walled garden, for my interview, it was then I knew I wanted to work there. The garden is set in the middle of the woods and as you walk through the gate you are at the top of a south facing slope in a large garden surrounded by trees.

I was first drawn to a wild dramatic looking area that I now know was designed to capture children’s imaginations and be a fun place for them to play. It’s called the stumpery and garden designer Dan has just finished the main set up of the area.

The Stumpery

A ‘magical’ space to capture children’s imaginations in the Secret Garden.

There was a really nice atmosphere in the garden, you could tell everyone there was doing something they enjoyed and felt passionate about.

Garden owner Simon has many stories of how permaculture and sustainable growing practices have helped his colleagues around the world and is keen to use Carey’s to spread the word.

In the ‘Hot House’

Working alongside my mentor Paul the Head Gardener at Carey. His passion for plants is infectious.

Head Gardener Paul has been my mentor since I started the apprenticeship. You can tell he loves his job and is keen to pass on his knowledge. His passion for plants is infectious, I now get as excited about Salvia and Pelargoniums as I do about perennial vegetables. I have learnt a lot about propagation from him and other seasonal tasks and I look forward to learning a whole years tasks in the garden.

I’ve also met a friendly group of volunteers who are helping us develop the food forest. They are really helping speed the process along and we have a great time digging and chatting.

If anyone is interested in a career change to horticulture there are so many routes into it and so many areas to study, feel free to ask me about it if you see me in the garden.

Mandy