The Sanctuary

Bed and Breakfast in Ogbourne St.George, Marlborough, Wiltshire

    Telephone: +44 (0)1672 841473    Mobile: +44 (0)7850 325344    E-mail:

Four-star accomodation at The Sanctuary

Fruit and vegetables

We grow as many kinds of seasonal fruit and vegetable as we can. The ground here is very chalky, so out-of-doors we get the best results with plants that tolerate or prefer an alkaline soil. That mean raspberries, blackcurrents, blackberries, tomatoes, runner beans, spring onions, and potatoes.

What are we growing?

In our greenhouse we use growbags and get better results with peppers, corgettes, cucumbers, and lots more tomatoes!

In 2006, the raspberries, blackberries and damsons have given us a large amount of fruit, nearly 10Kg from one damson tree alone! There will be plenty of home-made jams on the menu from now on.

2007 was an exceptional year for Crane Flies (Daddy Longlegs) which we haven't minded. Unfortunately, it was also an exceptional year for Cabbage White butterflies. While we were on holiday, a huge number of caterpillars had hatched. Cabbage and brocolli that had looked perfectly healthy two weeks earlier had turned into something that looked like it had been used for shotgun target practice! So growing fruit and veg free of pesticides has it's pros and cons.

We're happy with our chickens being natural pest controllers, but caterpillars don't seem to be on their menu.

In 2010, we're improving our vegetable bed frames. Originally, we started with 6ft x 6ft frames, but that proved to be awkward for planting and weeding. We're changing them to 6ft x 3ft (which basically means, saw them in half and stick an extra side on) and these are easier to work with.