Kitchen garden
The two most important people on a country estate were the gardener and the cook. As a result of their special status, they developed a reputation for being fractious, difficult to deal with and loathe allowing others to interfere in their domain. Not only were they producing that most vital commodity - sustenance, but were also custodians of knowledge handed down through generations by folklore and experience. Knowing what to plant and when, as well as knowing what to cook and how, gave these two people great power.
The illustration above is of marigold (Calendula) from a 16th c. German herbal. Its petals add colour to salads and can be used as a substitute for saffron, which in times past, was exceedingly expensive. Used in a tisane, it is said they aid digestion and improve the complexion.
Walled gardens
Although the conjectural reconstruction drawing of how Baltersan may have looked around 1600 shows planting close to the tower-house, the main production area would be about 100 yards away behind high walls. John Reid in his 17th c. book, The Scots Gard'ner recommended these be up to 18 feet high, thus creating a micro-climate free of damaging cold winds. Reid's father and grandfather were in turn, the gardeners at Reid's birthplace, Niddry Castle, near Edinburgh.
The walled garden there has survived but sadly, not as a productive unit. Although the castle is partially restored as a domestic dwelling, it lay in ruins for many years. Much of its surrounding land is now a golf course. Charters dated 1506 and 1548 mention orchards and gardens. The latter stating that they were protected by the castle's defences, which presumably means the barmkin walls common to country houses of the period.
The castle of Sanquhar-Hamilton in Ayr had the same arrangement of courtyards and walled gardens. Even less remains of what must have been an impressive residence; a single, nondescript thoroughfare called Garden Street!
Organic gardening
An opportunity exists at Baltersan to produce herbs, vegetables, fruit and flowers under organic cultivation. The area to the south of the castle slopes gently and would capture long periods of warm sunshine. Fresh produce from the garden to the dinner table almost within the hour - no hotel can surely match that! Indeed, members of the private residence club will be encouraged to do some gardening during their periods of residence; a double bonus - enjoying the fruits of one's own labours.
Sourcing organically grown fruit trees will be very easy. A mere ten miles or so from Baltersan is Butterworth's Organic Nursery. This MAIL ORDER business was the first commercial organic fruit nursery in the UK and has been producing trees grown to official Organic Standards since 1991. Details of John Butterworth's guide to growing apples in Scotland can be found in the Gardens & Landscape page.
Knot gardens
Simply planting things in rows would not satisfy the proud owner of any castle. Imaginative clipping of dwarf box hedges would create the perfect setting for cherished herbs. Again we have the opportunity to plant for visual delight as well as nourishment. Such parterres were of course designed to be appreciated when viewed from above.
Local produce
The next source of food in the pecking order, so to speak, for Baltersan's guests will be local produce. Ayrshire is blessed with many quality food producers. Farmers' markets are held in Ayr, Paisley and Kilmarnock each month.
To make the most of fresh, local produce requires a good cook book such as A Country Cook's Garden by Susan Crossthwaite. It is a cookery book with a difference where the author adds her own unmistakeable style to traditional Scottish recipes that she has produced in her kitchen at Cosses Country House, by Ballantrae in southern Ayrshire. The book is enhanced with water-colour paintings giving a glimpse of an area rich in natural beauty and capturing the ever-changing mood and colours of the land and seascape that is southwest Scotland.
