The so-called dormant month of January is the perfect time of year for pruning, mulching, fertilising and sowing so that’s what the Virginia Park Lodge gardening team are busy doing.

It’s also a time of planning, building and maintenance. We’ll be repairing of one of the poly tunnels, damaged in the last year’s storms and planning for a new composting area. A new cut garden is also being prepped and sowed with spring bulbs – rows of tulips as seen here will bring colour and fresh blooms to the lodge’s interior in the spring.

We continue to harvest plenty of leek, Jerusalem artichokes and celeriac in January and we are expecting our next crop of purple sprouting broccoli to be ready any day now. Much of our produce goes to our London restaurants Corrigan’s Mayfair and Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill but of course our lodge head chef gets rich pickings from the gardens and this month Jerusalem artichoke soup will be firmly on the his menu. Here’s his vegan recipe for those embracing Veganuary.