The Pony Garden
Gardening Classes
Join our dedicated gardeners, Tim and Christie, in the Pony Kitchen Garden for two inspiring courses, where they share everything they’ve learned from growing for our kitchen — giving you the skills and confidence to take it home. All our gardening classes include a delicious lunch, so you can relax and enjoy the full experience.
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Square Foot Growing
Interested in growing your own food but not sure where to start? Join our gardening team to learn the principles of square foot gardening — a highly efficient, beginner-friendly method that shows how we establish our beds while maximising productivity. We’ll explore the foundations of permaculture and how to create a garden that is both beautiful and abundant, alongside the importance of soil health and how we prepare and cultivate our beds for planting. Spend the morning learning practical skills and techniques to set you on your growing journey, then stay for a seasonal lunch prepared by our kitchen team.What you will learn:
Principles of permaculture
How to measure and plan your beds
How to cultivate and prepare your soil
Building soil fertility
Garden husbandry — managing the ecosystem and plant health
Interplanting and plant selection
Timings & Information
Arrive from 9:45am for tea and coffee, with the course beginning at 10:00am. The session runs until 1:00pm, followed by a seasonal lunch, with the day finishing at 2:00pm.Please bring gardening gloves and weather-appropriate clothing.
Please advise us in advance of any mobility concerns. The garden is located at the bottom of a grass slope and is not paved. Toilet facilities are in the main pub, and participants must be able to access the garden on foot.
Course delivery is subject to weather conditions and minimum participant numbers.
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Gardening in Small Spaces
At the Pony, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to grow and enjoy fresh produce, whatever the size of their space. Whether it’s fresh herbs or a small harvest of salads and vegetables, join our gardening team to learn practical strategies for growing in compact areas. We’ll explore vertical gardening to make the most of every inch, a range of planting vessels from troughs to grow bags and pots, and the principles of hugelkultur as a planting technique. We’ll also cover how to choose the right plants and cultivars for each environment. Spend the morning building hands-on skills in a beautiful setting overlooking the Chew Valley, then stay for a seasonal lunch prepared by our kitchen team.What you will learn:
Ways to optimise your space, including vertical growing
Different planting vessels and how to use them
Principles of hugelkultur
Preparing your growing spaces, soil and growing mediums
Choosing the right plants for the right spaces
How to care for and maintain your plants
Timings & Information
Arrive from 9:45am for tea and coffee, with the course beginning at 10:00am. The session runs until 1:00pm, followed by a seasonal lunch, with the day finishing at 2:00pm.Please bring gardening gloves and weather-appropriate clothing.
Please advise us in advance of any mobility concerns. The garden is located at the bottom of a grass slope and is not paved. Toilet facilities are in the main pub, and participants must be able to access the garden on foot.
Course delivery is subject to weather conditions and minimum participant numbers.
The land surrounding the Pony Chew Valley houses our no-dig beds & poly-tunnels. Tended by the magnificent, ‘Tim the Gardener’, who grows and harvests the bounty of vegetables, herbs and fruit provided by the Pony Garden — which supply us at the Pony Chew Valley, often reaching us just minutes after they have been picked.
Our award winning decorative garden was designed by the wonderful Lizzie at Stonebarn landscapes The planting follows the soft slopes of the Chew Valley and is designed to cope with the changing weather patterns that pass through the area. It brings seasonal interest all year and supports the kitchen with fresh, edible crops grown just a few steps from the door.
A wander through garden will take you past our herb troughs and beds; stepping down into the garden you’ll pass a collection of mighty cardoons — an ancestor of the globe artichoke — although edible they are grown for their magnificent structure and for the bees to enjoy. Further into the garden you’ll see Japanese wine berries, gooseberries and golden & Scottish raspberries.
A great many flowers grow in the garden — attracting bees and insects — this vibrant dash of colour creates a ‘bee-hotel’, and ensures we have a gentle, steady buzzing in the garden.
Wander further and you will find our poly tunnels, here we sew seeds and bring on seedlings; grow plants that require a more stable warmth than the outdoors; we dry heads and bulbs such as sunflowers, garlic and onions, to eat later in the season or dry out seeds to sew the following year.
We’re blessed with hedgerows full of elderflower which we pick to make elderflower cordial & flavour vinegar. We leave the rest to develop into elderberries they make a garnish for game meats.
In our no-dig beds - you will see that we grow a wealth of different vegetables making the most of the space all year round. Each row is accompanied by herbs or flowers which we use to season and garnish many of our dishes.
Volunteer in our Garden
We run volunteer sessions in the garden on an ad hoc basis. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining Tim the gardener. After your session you will be treated to lunch in the restaurant as a thank you.
There are jobs for all ability levels, even gentle tasks, they’re all important.
Please bring sensible clothing & footwear, sunhat, gardening gloves, water & suncream.