We are homegrownandhopeful and sharing our experiences of growing plants all year round in the sunny south of England.
Were taking care of a 3 acre plot in the Meon Valley of the South Downs National Park. Experimenting, creating, learning and at the end of the day, being hopeful.
We have a vegetable garden inside a large greenhouse, since this land was previously used as a plant nursery, we have a few of these commercial glasshouses which are falling apart and take up a lot of space, but we are still able to utilise some areas and take advantage of that extra heat!
The glass and wooden frames had rotten and are slowly being removed by us and strong winds, which will eventually leave us with the sturdy metal framing underneath and be the structure to a whole new growing area!
Last summer we installed two 22 metre long polytunnels, one of which is now in full production mode. It is used to start thousands of seeds every spring, hosts 6 raised beds for year round growing and also houses our indoor plant collection including our beloved Citrus Fruits!
Outside, there are various gardens, a large lawn with a meadow, and a fruit orchard to keep an eye on! We are working towards a self sustainable future and have many projects planned!
The purpose of this website is to share our experiences, projects and gardening experiments with others along the way, and encourage anybody else to get involved in growing!
Check out our Projects page to learn about our growing areas and gardening goals
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My top five favourite chilli peppers to grow from seed every year!
After many years of growing chillies I can’t help but have my favourites and every Spring I find myself planting the same varieties in prime spot of our raised beds. We still grow new and experimental varieties each year but they are usually grown in pots on the side and are judged on how well…
Our favourite plants to forage for making unique Christmas wreaths
Autumn provides an abundance of colour and textures in the garden, arguably the best and most stunning season, many plants, shrubs and trees make perfect materials for diy festive wreath making! It has become very trendy around here to attend a ‘wreath making’ class during the run up to Christmas but they often charge a…
Harvesting compost from our worm farm that recycles waste into ‘gardeners gold’
Our wormery has been up and running for several years now and we have learnt a lot about how to keep the worms happy and productive, and what are the best materials to use. Luckily for us, worms are very much into many foods that are usually wasted and so creating the most amazing compost…
Homegrown and Hopeful 