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About Us
The origins of the business began, literally, in the soil.
The origins of the business began, literally in the soil, through the interest and passion developed by myself (Andrew Davenport) for composting, in particular for 'Quick Return' (QR) Composting.
This type of composting proved very successful - it radically improved the structure and health of the heavy clay soil and combined with an increase in the diversity of planting, subsequent improvement of the biodiversity and eco balance in the whole garden has been realised.
It also dramatically changed my life with the writing and publishing of the book 'Quick Return Compost Making' and my subsequent change of career from engineering into horticulture.
Following 25 years of gardening organically, a garden design and maintenance service was established in 2010 employing organic and sustainable principles. Through the knowledge and experience gained of the soil, composting, growing plants, as well as practical skills and knowledge through an engineering background, we can provide a comprehensive garden development/design/construction and maintenance service.
A passion for propagating and nurturing plants developed into the establishment of a plant nursery in 2014. The nursery was run on sustainable and organic principles,. with potting composts made from our own compost and locally sourced waste materials including spent hops and volcanic rock dust.
The garden at Gardener's Cottage, where we lived, evolved and developed, side by side with the nursery and gardening business, first opening to the public under the National Garden Scheme from 2017 and also as a private garden from 2018.
Through the experiences and knowledge gained over the 21 years we gardened at Gardeners Cottage and through organic gardening work in customers gardens since 2010, we are able to offer Talks and Workshops related to 'QR' Composting and regenerative & organic gardening.
Working in customers gardens has given us the wider experience and view of how all gardens are different in everything from soil type, aspect, shade, elevation etc. When compared to gardens where the soil is neglected , it is most notable how practices such as composting and mulching really do have far reaching benefits in the gardens where they are practiced - the difference is very stark. Often it is the lack of wildlife in the garden that indicates this. Primarily we view ourselves first and foremost as composters - gardening follows on from composting and being mindful of this brings great reward and means little goes wrong. One of the visitors to our garden once said 'It's more than a garden its a philosophy'
In 2015, a nearby 5.5 acre field was purchased. This was named 'Buttercup Meadow' by my father due to the proliferation of golden buttercups throughout the summer. The field has been planted up with over 900 native trees to increase biodiversity and improve carbon capture. We also aim to introduce wildflower meadow areas, ponds and forest gardening which we commenced in 2019. The field is also used to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for sale locally through the business. Local charity and community groups such as People's Kitchen and Living Woods North East visit us on a regular basis, helping with the growing. Everyone involved gets a good day out, stimulating the senses, gaining knowledge about growing/tree planting, improving health and well being and doing something good for the environment.
In 2024, sadly we moved on from Gardener's Cottage. This enabled us to concentrate more on our activities at Buttercup Meadow and carry on doing the 'Good Stuff'.
This type of composting proved very successful - it radically improved the structure and health of the heavy clay soil and combined with an increase in the diversity of planting, subsequent improvement of the biodiversity and eco balance in the whole garden has been realised.
It also dramatically changed my life with the writing and publishing of the book 'Quick Return Compost Making' and my subsequent change of career from engineering into horticulture.
Following 25 years of gardening organically, a garden design and maintenance service was established in 2010 employing organic and sustainable principles. Through the knowledge and experience gained of the soil, composting, growing plants, as well as practical skills and knowledge through an engineering background, we can provide a comprehensive garden development/design/construction and maintenance service.
A passion for propagating and nurturing plants developed into the establishment of a plant nursery in 2014. The nursery was run on sustainable and organic principles,. with potting composts made from our own compost and locally sourced waste materials including spent hops and volcanic rock dust.
The garden at Gardener's Cottage, where we lived, evolved and developed, side by side with the nursery and gardening business, first opening to the public under the National Garden Scheme from 2017 and also as a private garden from 2018.
Through the experiences and knowledge gained over the 21 years we gardened at Gardeners Cottage and through organic gardening work in customers gardens since 2010, we are able to offer Talks and Workshops related to 'QR' Composting and regenerative & organic gardening.
Working in customers gardens has given us the wider experience and view of how all gardens are different in everything from soil type, aspect, shade, elevation etc. When compared to gardens where the soil is neglected , it is most notable how practices such as composting and mulching really do have far reaching benefits in the gardens where they are practiced - the difference is very stark. Often it is the lack of wildlife in the garden that indicates this. Primarily we view ourselves first and foremost as composters - gardening follows on from composting and being mindful of this brings great reward and means little goes wrong. One of the visitors to our garden once said 'It's more than a garden its a philosophy'
In 2015, a nearby 5.5 acre field was purchased. This was named 'Buttercup Meadow' by my father due to the proliferation of golden buttercups throughout the summer. The field has been planted up with over 900 native trees to increase biodiversity and improve carbon capture. We also aim to introduce wildflower meadow areas, ponds and forest gardening which we commenced in 2019. The field is also used to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for sale locally through the business. Local charity and community groups such as People's Kitchen and Living Woods North East visit us on a regular basis, helping with the growing. Everyone involved gets a good day out, stimulating the senses, gaining knowledge about growing/tree planting, improving health and well being and doing something good for the environment.
In 2024, sadly we moved on from Gardener's Cottage. This enabled us to concentrate more on our activities at Buttercup Meadow and carry on doing the 'Good Stuff'.
Our Environmental, Social, Health & Wellbeing Aims
We are not a charity, however we will gratefully accept donations which will allow us to keep on doing the good stuff (below) that we believe in.
Purchasing our products or services helps us to achieve the following:
Purchasing our products or services helps us to achieve the following:
Over 900 trees have been planted at Buttercup Meadow
Engineering and Sustaining a Carbon Negative Footprint through :
- Composting waste materials from local businesses including woodchip, horse manure, spent hops, coffee grinds, egg shells plus all vegetative wastes from our garden and home. These are applied to the land that we own and used in the growing media we use in raising plants, helping to improve carbon capture.
- Educating gardeners, through workshops and talks, on how to make compost so they improve their own carbon footprints.
- Applying locally sourced volcanic rock dust to the grwing areas so that carbon is permanently captured in the soil. The increase in soil carbon is up to 17%, (adding compost can add up o 0.5% soil carbon which still exceeds the target of 0.4% set by the Paris climate summit.)
- Planting over 900 trees at Buttercup Meadow.
- Energy for the nursery and our home comes from solar photo voltaic panels on the roof of our home and from a 100% green energy supplier (Bulb) with zero dependence on fossil fuels.
- We grow a large portion of our own fruit, vegetables, herbs and salads. This saves food miles, packaging, fossil fuels and is better than anything you can buy in the shops!
A diverse range of plants in the garden creates habitat and food for wildlife
Increasing Biodiversity at Buttercup Meadow:
- Continually adding compost and natural mulches to increase soil biodiversity. We believe that biodiversity starts from soil upwards. Each year we bring in at least 30 tonnes of natural waste materials for composting and mulching purposes. The increase in bird visitors (and residents) since we started doing this is a good indicator of its success.
- Planting over 900 trees and creating wildflower meadows at Buttercup meadow.
- Planting a large range of perennials, herbs, trees, shrubs, grasses etc to create habitat and food for wildlife
- not cutting back etc over winter to provide food, habitat and shelter for wildlife
Chicken-assisted composting
Running our business as sustainably as possible through the following:
- Producing all our own potting media
- Reusing plastic pots, trays etc.
- Making our own plant labels from bamboo
- Growing our plants from seed or propagating from stock plants at our field (Buttercup Meadow)
- Chicken-assisted composting -Using our hens to assist in making compost and providing eggs to eat
- Collecting rainwater for watering and employing water capture irrigation techniques to minimise water usage.
Community groups involved with fruit and veg growing at Buttercup Meadow
Promoting health and well being in the community through the following:
- Providing a stimulating and relaxing green space experience for our visitors
- Involving community groups in tree planting and veg growing at Buttercup Meadow.
- Educating gardeners on how to grow organically. Growing organically equates to - healthy soil=healthy plants= healthy animals and humans feeding on those plants. Maye Bruce (the inventor of QR) said 'Give back life to the soil and abolish disease in plant animal and man'. Words that can now be backed up by scientific fact i.e research carried out locally at Nafferton Farm by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Organic food has greater nutrient content, mineral and disease fighting properties and is grown without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides etc. which potentially harm our vital insect and wildlife populations and subsequent ecosystems.
