Her life in the country

Our friend Zara Gordon Lennox is a wife, a mother to her four children and a step-mother to three step children.

Zara moved from England to Speyside in the Scottish Highlands to help her husband, Angus, take over the running of his family’s estate, Gordon Castle. The family are, amongst other things, restoring their 8 acre walled garden which has meant that Zara has become a full-time gardener…!

Here, Zara talks to us about her month in the countryside.

May this year felt more like February. We were hit with snow, sleet, gales and rain and I wondered if maybe the weather Gods had suffered from a lockdown too?! May is normally an incredibly busy time in our garden; we’ve already grown over 15,000 seedlings of every kind of vegetable, alongside 700 fruit trees that have been beautifully trained on 15 foot walls. 

Normally, May would be the time where we plant out into the beds but the weather this year set us back by about three weeks, with fears of further freeze taking over. Recently, though, I felt the glorious warmth of the sun on my face and was able to head out into the garden free of my usual five layers of clothing. I was finally able to get out my trowel and start the wonderful cycle of planting a tiny seedling that would eventually become the perfect cabbage, cauliflower or a beautiful flower in only a couple of months. The state of the weather affects us all, but especially those of us who work outside all day. So – please can we have some dry days and rain at night, weatherman?!

Now, the days are getting longer which means that I can work in the garden long after the visitors and café staff have left. I love the sense of calm and tranquility that being in nature brings. Listening to the birds, watching the oystercatchers peck for worms where I have disturbed the soil or having our dog Melba by my side chewing a stick is my happy place and makes me so grateful for a garden. The occasional evening cast with Angus in the mighty River Spey for that beautiful bar of silver is always special, with the otter, osprey and sand martin to keep us company.

Normally, May is filled with beautiful wild flowers on the river bank, the promise of bountiful harvest to come and the mere 10,000 visitors that come to the Highland Games at Gordon Castle, which has sadly been cancelled for the second year running. I’m most looking forward to August next, where things will hopefully be a lot brighter and the garden will be abundant with homegrown fruit, vegetables and flowers.