About The Plot

The garden is a one acre plot situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty in South Shropshire in a little hamlet which comprises of a small number of properties.

This garden has been carefully cultivated with native plants, pollinating flowers, wildflowers and natural habitats to provide food, shelter and nesting spaces for pollinators and other beneficial creatures.

It is split into different areas, each with it's own characteristics and layout. The orchard comprises of Apple and Damson trees along with other medium height bushes and shrubs, this area contains a number of bird boxes and bee hotels with log piles under sheltered trees.

The veg garden has raised beds and growing plots throughout where we grow enough produce to last around 9 months of the year. Then there is the rockery and other patches of garden which are allowed to go largely untouched, making it a haven for all sorts of bugs, bees and all manor of other insects.

There are two ponds, one large and one smaller pond with Pond Skaters, Dragonflies, Common, Smooth and Great Crested Newts resident along with Frogs and Toads which spend the summer and winter months around the garden and gather at the large pond for spawning in Spring.

October 2026 Update - The vegetable planting season is now coming to an end.

Each year around mid October the planning starts for next years growing, it is a break in the winter and an opportunity to prepare the beds for over wintering with nutrients.

It has been a successful year for vegetables and a little challenging at times with the extreme weather we have had. Carrots, Parsnips and Beetroot were a concern mid season, with successive sowings eventually growing into a useable crop.

One set of stand out vegetables that loved the constant high heat we experienced here in the UK was anything from the squash family. Courgettes, Mashed Potato squash, Kuri Kuri, Butternut squash etc all thrived as these are the ideal temperatures for them to crop heavily.

For the winter period, the beds have now all been dug over and covered with a mixture of manure, fallen leaves and kitchen waste until spring next year.

Pink Garlic (100 cloves) were planted around two weeks ago and are already 6-8 inches high. Garlic benefits greatly from an early sowing in Autumn so they can be established in the ground before the soil temperature drops over winter, this aids the growing process.

One surprise plant that we never thought would survive in the UK climate previously was four Physalis plants that were donated to The Garden Jungle to see if we could nurture them to produce fruit. The plants are now around 5ft tall and full of fruit, encased in heart shaped cases, shown below.

The winter 'shift change' for the birds is underway

There has been a noticeable change of the birds in The Garden Jungle now that Autumn is firmly here. The Goldfinches have now returned and are enjoying (at a rapid rate) the Nigar seeds. A supply of peanuts and sunflower hearts are also available, the peanuts especially are a usual favourite of the Great Spotted Woodpecker who comes and takes its share.

The Mistle Thrushes have also been seen briefly so far, but tend to hang around the garden during the winter.

The Fieldfare and Redwings have arrived in the area and have been seen locally. Some of the fallen apples in the orchard have been sliced in half and as the weather temperature gets colder, may be seen coming onto the plot to gorge on these apples.

The four resident Hedgehogs have not been seen for a few weeks now so they will have gone into hibernation for the winter and although that is usually until around March, if the weather stays mild it is not uncommon for them to appear again during the night time.