“A big glasshouse stuffed full of flowers, herbs, cake, and vintage furniture— well, that’s my idea of paradise,” writes blogger Jen Chillingsworth of Little-Birdie.
Photography by Jen Chillingsworth.
There we found a glasshouse full of fragrant potted herbs for sale a café that serves quiche for lunch and perhaps more important fresh baked cakes and an adjacent shop...
...featuring one of a kind vintage furniture garden tools and baked goods to go a slice of strawberry and basil cake made with herbs grown in the garden is 2 50
“One of the first things you see when you arrive is the old VW Beetle in the corner, boot and bonnet up, herbs and flowers tumbling out of both,” says Jen.
Inside the Volkswagen plants grow on the seats as well.
Owners Hamish Martin and Liberty Kidd have more than seven acres of herbs, flowers, fruits, and fledgling orchard.
In the café, food is served on enamelware and you can choose to eat in the café, or go take a seat in the glasshouse and have lunch there,” says Jen.
“I must admit that as soon as I entered the cafe and saw the cakes I was in baking heaven,” says Jen.
The glasshouse is designed to encourage wandering.
A group of artists were sitting on two overstuffed sofas surrounded by sunflowers they were painting.
The owners’ goal: “We wish the Secret Herb Garden to be a place where people can ‘open the door to the magic of herbs’.”
Martin and Kidd grow more than 500 different varieties of herbs in the garden.
For sale: potted herbs and vintage garden accessories.
One-of-a-kind vintage garden tools on display.
“There is a room devoted to vintage finds for sale, with lots of beautiful baskets, larder cupboards, and galvanized watering cans,” says Jen.
Secret Herb Garden also runs a school, offering classes in beekeeping, herbal medicine, and yoga.
The idea for Secret Herb Garden was born, the owners say, on a walk they took together in 2011.
Secret Herb Garden also may be rented for weddings or other events.