Lymefield Garden Centre are the North of England Regional Winner for Rural Enterprise in the Countryside Alliance Awards!!
Also known as the Rural Oscars, it’s a brilliant reward for all the team that has worked so hard, especially over the past couple of years.
Their dedication has enabled us to support & bring our community into Lymefield.
But our biggest thanks is to all our customers & supporters who made this happen. All your votes have brought this to be, and we are truly grateful. #OurCustomersAreTheBest
THANK YOU
The Next step is the announcement of the National Champions! This happens in May at the House of Lords, members of our team have been invited down to London for the ceremony & maybe (just maybe) we will win this award!
We will keep you posted here & on our social media accounts.
If you want to see our team’s reaction to this win – please follow us on social media.
Crave your pumpkin inside the carving area, leaving the dreaded mess with us!
Along with our usual seasonal food and drinks menu in the Tea Room and Farm shop, there will be extra Halloween Treats including warm pumpkin soup!
All proceeds from the Pumpkin patch will go to our chosen charity this time -The Bureau, Glossop’s community wellbeing volunteer service – click for more details on their work.
Pumpkins are £8 each, book online, just don’t forget your wellies!
In response to the bank holiday for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll’s State Funeral on Monday 19th September, Lymefield Garden Centre will be closed for the whole day.
All areas of the Garden Centre, Farm Shop, Tea Room & Landscaping will be closed. All bookings or deliveries planned for that day will be cancelled and rearranged.
Free Family Event at Lymefield Garden Centre throughout the summer of 2022
Starting on Saturday 23rd July until Wednesday 31st August, you and all the family can play our Tractor Trail.
Find all the picutres of tractors, solve the word and receive a reward for all your hard work.
Exploring the Garden Centre, Farm Shop and Tea Room you will find lots of tractors with letters on them and if you get the answer right you can be entered into our Free Prize Draw.
There is no charge for this event, and no booking required. The trail is open every day during the dates stated, collect the form from the garden centre till.
Lymefield Gift Vouchers are the perfect gift for food lovers and green-fingered friends!
Only available to spend instore which means you can choose from our full range of freshly produced and locally made food or find your perfect plants and garden accessories in our garden centre.
Walking around the area from Lymefield Garden Centre to Charlesworth and back again!
Lymefield Garden Centre, Farm Shop & Tea Room love providing our customers with fresh local food & plants for your home & garden! Now you can find ways to explore our surrounding areas with our walks from Lymefield.
Taking a walk around the Lymefield area is something that can be rewarding all year round. In the local woodland, you may be lucky enough to spot wildlife including an elusive deer population, a great bird population and plenty of British flora and trees.
Another perfect walk for all the family, including prams on a dry day, is the circular walk up to Charlesworth village and back again. Take pavements, trail paths and woodland trails, you can even take bikes, scooters and prams on this interesting walk.
Start at Lymefield Garden Centre, and turn left out of the gate across the front of Lymefield Terrace. Enter the Broad Mills Heritage area, (worth an explore for little ones) and follow the path past the duck pond, up to the right and round to the left past the remains of the big dyes works and fern garden. (Please explore the fern garden with care as these plants are delicate).
You will find yourself next to the river for 200 metres, the fast-flowing River Etherow, eventually joins the Mersey and empties into the Irish Sea. Climb the few steps up past the old mill works, through the kissing gate and over the narrow bridge. This bridge is perfect for a game of Pooh Sticks!
Follow the path up the hill through woodland and welcome to Derbyshire! The path ends next to a house where the road continues up the hill. Follow this hill up and up through the trees and onto the flat with views across to your left to Charlesworth, the Etherow Valley and onto the Peak District hills. Follow this road on, past a caravan park (on your right), turkeys in a garden (on your left), a menage (on your right), and on and up onto the main A626.
At the A626, turn left and you have reached Charlesworth Village. Follow this road past the park (great for a play), up the hill to the church on your left.
From here you can walk through the churchyard and round the school field to find yourself on Long Lane to head back down. Or simply head towards the pub (the George and Dragon) and turn left down the hill onto Long Lane.
Follow this road down and enjoy the views across to Broadbottom, Hyde and Werneth Low. Continue down the road until there is a dirt road off to the right, go along here past the trail entrance for Gamelsey Sidings. Follow the path down and turn left through the cycle gate and down the hill. Follow the purpose-built cycle/horse trail down the hill. It’s very steep as you get to the bends, and cross the Besthill pedestrian bridge. Don’t forget to look up at the railway viaduct above you!
On the other side of the bridge (back in Tameside), cross the road just after the traffic lights and take the track leading downhill with the river on the left. Not far down the track, a path leads off to the right into the Lymefield Heritage Centre area. Follow the paths past the wooden play area and up to the heritage centre (enjoy the little maze too). Head out of the car park and go down the road to Lymefield Garden Centre for a well-deserved cuppa and a slice of cake.
We hope you enjoyed your walk around the area of Lymefield. Please find more walks on our News page.
From all the team at Lymefield Garden Centre, Farm Shop and Tea Room.
Seed Potatoes have arrived in our garden centre this January.
They are the first thing to kickstart our thinking towards the new season of growing, a timely reminder during a usually barren month to get preparing for Spring. It is time to be looking to get prepared for planting your seed potatoes.
Building raised beds, improving the soil in existing beds with manure or compost, adding nutrients, and improving the drainage of borders will all help when planting time comes around.
Choosing Your Type of Seed Potatoes:
There are two main types of potato. Earlies and Maincrops.
The difference between the two is the time taken to reach the stage of harvesting.
The early varieties go into the ground first and will be ready to be lifted around June/July. Maincrop varieties will be planted around mid to late April and be ready for harvesting in August for immediate use, although potatoes being grown for storage over the following winter should be lifted from September to October.
If you have room enough to grow varieties of both types, you will be able to have potatoes throughout the summer and through to the next year if stored.
If space is limited, choose Early varieties for growing. Although they may not produce as large a yield as Maincrop potatoes, the fact that they can be harvested at a time when potato prices are higher, as well as taking up less space and missing the period most susceptible to blight means that they are the ideal choice.
Chitting Your Potatoes
If you have bought your Seed Potatoes nice and early, ‘chitting’ them is a way of giving them a great start. A few weeks before planting, usually around mid to late February, place your seed potatoes on an egg tray or a wooden tray. Then move them into a light (but not sunny) room, safe from frost. After 5 to 6 weeks they will have developed several shoots (chits) meaning that they have a good head start for when they are planted into the ground. For Early varieties especially, this is a vital process. The great thing about growing potatoes is that they will succeed in almost any type of soil. Having said this, there is no harm in trying to provide them with the best growing media possible, for the best possible results come harvest time.
Planting Your Seed Potatoes
When you are ready to plant your Seed Potatoes, dig a 10cm deep, V-shaped trench. Make sure that there is room to pile earth back on to the exposed tubers. The covering of the potatoes whilst in the ground is vital.
Guide to planting times:
Plant First Earlies and Salad Crops from March-April
Plant Second Earlies and Maincrops from April-May
For those of us in the north, it is usually best to wait a little later than March, until early April to plant First Earlies due to the colder weather.
Planting Distances
Plant First Earlies, Second Earlies, and Salads are 30cm apart with 45cm between your rows.
Plant Maincrops between 35-40cm apart with 65cm between rows.
Maintenance
Firstly, in the early stages if there is a chance of frost or snow when chutes have begun to poke through the surface, draw some soil over them. The main bit of ‘maintenance’ to perform on your potatoes is known as ‘earthing up’. Green stems and leaves will grow up out of the ground from your potatoes and ‘earthing up’ is the process of drawing up a mound of soil along either side of these stems or ‘haulms’. It should be done when the haulms are around 9 inches in height. Use a hoe, and break up and loosen the soil between each row of potatoes, removing any weeds. Then draw the soil inwards towards each haulm creating a flat-topped ridge around 6 inches in height. Some people do this gradually over the season as the plants grow further, some just once. Either method is sufficient.
Earthing up not only helps to prevent weeds around your potatoes, but it also aids drainage. The biggest advantage though is that any sunlight exposure to the actual tubers themselves will turn them green thus making them poisonous. Be sure to water the potatoes liberally during any dry spells, especially once the tubers have started to form.
Harvesting Your Potatoes
Earlies – Wait until flowers have opened before examining the tubers. Do this by removing soil from a small part of the ridge. They are ready for harvesting as new potatoes when they are the size of hen’s eggs. Insert a flat-tined fork into the ridge well away from the haulm and lift the roots forward into the trench.
Maincrops – If you are storing your Maincrops, cut off the haulms once the foliage has turned brown and the stems have withered. Wait for 10 days before lifting the roots. Dry the tubers by laying them on the soil for a few hours after you have dug them up, then store them in a cool, frost-free, airy place away from direct sunlight. Sheds can be fine, but don’t leave them directly on the floor as they may get damp. Hessian and paper sacks are good for this but steer away from using plastic as this may cause them to sweat. Be sure to remove all tubers, however small, to avoid any problems the following season.
Potatoes Grown In The Container
Container growing is an easy method. Plant your seed potatoes about 10cm from the base of your container (multi-purpose compost will be fine for this, add well-rotted manure if you are feeling lavish), then add about the same amount of soil above them. As the plant grows, keep adding compost until you reach the top of your container then allow the plant to grow normally. As a rough guide, it is recommended that 2 seed potatoes be planted in a container of 40cm depth and 40cm diameter, so use this as a basis for how many you will plant.
For any more help or advice get in touch via our contact page, come into the Garden Centre or ring us on 01457 764686.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
