Welcome to the restaurant! We are participating in British Food Fortnight from Saturday 18th September to Sunday 3rd October offering a seasonal, local menu influenced by our Devonshire heritage. During lunch, 12 noon - 2.30pm (exc Friday's) we will be offering traditional dishes such as Kitchen Garden Autumn Vegetable Casserole, Braised local Oxtail with Basil Dumplings, Roasted Pumpkin, Coriander & Spinach Pancakes and not forgetting our Tripe and Onions - nostalgia in a bowl and the only National Trust property serving this forgotton delight. In 2009 we served over 20 Kg's of Tripe! So why not pop over and savour our home cooked menu.

We are currently offer a Local Cheese Ploughmans in a gingham cloth to take away or enjoy in the restuarant. We serve it with a rustic roll & butter, celery, Kitchen garden tomatoes and home made spicy Apple Chutney, £5.45. It is available throughout Lunch service from Monday 23rd August - Sunday 5th September. Don't forget the home made Kitchen Garden Ice cream Sundaes too!

What better way to satisfy the children in the Summer holidays, than to bring them to a National Trust property such as Knightshayes Court where we will tempt you with our Child friendly menu including home made Pizza's using fresh kitchen garden vegetables in our tomato sauce and local cheese. For the month of August we are also offering Sunshine Pasties too!
We can also offer smaller portions from the main menu

Family Lasagne

This week we are serving up a lovely Roasted vegetable family lasagne for only £12.95!!!! This comes with a fresh bowl of salad and will cerntainly be enough to feed four hungrey people. Don't delay as they are selling fast!!!!
BT

The sun is starting to appear so we are starting to make our home made Ice Cream using summer berries from the Kitchen garden so that we can offer our visitors an Ice Cream Sundae with local clotted cream during lunch.....
Our Smoothies are wonderful too!
From 2nd August, we are going to be offering a family sharing meal: Kitchen Garden roasted vegetable & herb Lasagne served with a seasonal salad bowl.

July 19th

Today the sunshine returned after some overcast and rainy days. While Jude worked on the tomatoes, Patrick cut the stems of the elephant garlic, so it can be dried. Matthew and Peter picked currants in the fruit cage. This year has been an especialy good year for all currants, black, red and white, and we now have black and white on sale at the turret. We are managing a few punnets of cherrie each day too, but twithout netting the birds get msot of them.
The harvesting of bulky crops has begun, starting with a good crop of first early potatoes which we were able to lift before the onset of blight. Courgettes are coming daily, and today we also picked the first marrows.
Sweet peas are still bright on the wigwams, but we have stoped harvesting them as they are tailing off and we want to leave something to be seen for as long as possible. The star turn among the flowers now are ther very striking purple and white dahlias near the turret.

BK

Our Murder Mystery evening with Tiverton Dramatic Society on Friday 9th July, was a great success and everyone enjoyed the fabulous food made by Sharon, our Head Cook. To tempt your taste buds, we served: fresh Fennel and Garlic tarts; Summer Courgette Galette; home made Beef & Gammon Ham Terrine and finished with a home made White Wine Syllabub with freshly picked Starwberries from our Kitchen garden.
We have also welcomed 2 new team members: Charlotte Froom and Sonia Harris.

Murder Mystery

We are holding a 'Murder Mystery' on Friday 9th July 2010@ 7pm. There are still a couple of places left but they won't be there long. Come along and enjoy the fun..... Call The Stables Restaurant for tickets. Hope to here from you soon.

BT

Sharon our head chef has been busy in the kitchen the last couple of days preparing her lovely homemade cheesecakes and strawberry trifle. Come and see for yourself how special they look....
BT

June 27th

A warm, sunny day. Patrick watering. Broad beans, onions, sugar snap peas for sale at turret. Modest attendance at Gardeners' Question Hour. Dry weather is helping keep down the weeds. Sweet peas in full bloom and flower border looking at its best now. Artichokes (green globe) nearly ready for cutting. BK

Very warm. Broad beans now for sale from turret, along with purple sprouting kale, onions, sweet peas, squash seedlings, tomato plants, sweet william. Christina fed the hens and geese, Lorraine watering, Andrew trimming the edges, Jude and Lucy watering too. BK

June 23rd

A warm, sunny day in the walled garden. First cut sweet peas on sale at the turret, along with runner bean seedlings, sweet william, purple sprouting kale, bunches of red and white onions, still some tomato, cucumber, squash seedlings available.
Jude and Lydia planting out annual flowers, Rose welcoming visitors at the gate. Strawberries now being picked every couple of days for the restaurant. BK

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party: Sunday 27 June 11am - 4.30pm

Join Alice and her friends for fun and games in the gardens and an afternoon tea party.  Free games available all day.  Fancy dress optional!  Some small charges for some activities.  Why not bring a picnic and enjoy your lunch in the parkland and join in the National Trust's Big Picnic week?  Children's picnic boxes available from the Stables Restaurant.  Tea and cake served from 3pm - 4pm.  Normal admission charges apply.  No booking necessary EXCEPT for the tea party which must be booked in advance on 01884 254665.  Tea party tickets £2.50 adults and £1.50 children. 

Fathers' Day Cricket Tea: Sunday 20 June 3pm-4.30pm

Special Fathers' Day Cricket tea served in the Stables Restaurant.  Tel: 01884 259416 for more information.  £6.95 per person.  No booking necessary

June 16th

A warm sunny day. Peter, Andrew and Matthew were busy weeding the broad beans, Lydia planting the runner beans and Lorraine planting out the tomatoes into their outdoor beds. Squash, dwarf French bean, tomato, annual bedding, marrow, cucumber and lettuce seedlings on sale at the turret.
Visited at the weekend by William Lascelles, who worked in the walled garden in the 1960s and was providing information on how it was then.
Strawberry, radish and spinach crops available through the restaurant, with first early potatoes and onions about to follow. BK

June 9th

After the rains, sunshine, which will produce abundant growth of plants in the kitchen garden, both the good kind and the bad (weeds)! Lydia worked hard to get all our dwarf French bean seedlings planted; runner beans are about to follow. Lettuce, tomato, chili and dwarf French bean plants are currently for sale at the Turret, alonmg with cosmos. Strawberries are ripening daily, soon to be picked.

Return From Holiday

This morning was lovely. Rain as well. After being on holiday for 5 days, I've returned to my favourite place where Sharon is cooking lovely fresh scones and the coffee is brewing. Now that's a homely smell!!! RT

Rain

Much-needed rain has at last arrived here. The volunteers are out working in it, taking up the old 'Reddy' spinach to make room for another crop. More chickens are being ordered, battery farm rescues, to supplement our existing residents. The aroma du jour is that of topped onions, our first picking of them. The bigger ones are still in the ground, almost ready for harvest, having been planted last autumn. BK

June 5th

The blue tit chicks are now fledged. First onions nearly ready to harvest, first strawberries ripening well. Weather continues warm and dry. Lorraine, Jude, Lucy and Christina have been busy planting out the cucurbits: courgettes in the south west part of the garden, pumpkins and othr larger squash in the north east.

The wisteria is wonderful

I am sitting in the office overlooking the formal gardens and the smell of the wisteria is wafting in through the windows. It is a beautiful, warm, sunny day and how many offices can have this view!

June 3rd

A fine sunny day here all day. The six blue tit chicks in the nesting box, visible on the CCTV monitor, look just about ready to fledge. Lorraine picked the last Timperley Early rhubarb of the spring, available for sale in the turret this weekend. Strawberries starting to ripen and looking much better for Christina's weeding efforts. Tomato, lettuce, pea and hot pepper seedlings still available for sale, likely to be sold out in a few days, making room for the first onions and potatoes. Asparagus attracting attention, nearly done cropping in a few days.

Grow the biggest pumpkin competition: 29,30,31 May, 3,4,5 June

Free plant a pumpkin drop in sessions.  Take your pumpkin home, watch it grow and bring it back on Saturday 30 October to enter your pumpkin in our Grow the Biggest Pumpkin competition judging day.  Pumpkin seeds provided.

Eco Art for Children: Thursday 3 June 11.15am, 12.15pm, 1.45pm, 2.45pm

Come and be creative with recycled materials in the stables exhibition room and decorate a plant pot.  Then plant a pumpkin in your pot and take it home.  Children must be accompanied by an adult.  Drop in sessions.  Suitable 5+ aged.  £1.50 per child

Grow your own : Tuesday 1 June 11.15am,12.15pm, 1.15pm, 2.15pm, 3.15pm

Half an hour talk about the kitchen garden and growing your own with a seed planting session at the end.  Take your planted seeds home, look after them and watch them grow.  Drop in sessions.  50p per child - tickets from visitor reception.

Tiverton Pannier Market

Knightshayes Court at Tiverton Pannier Market on Saturday 22 May 2010 from 9.00am to 3.30pm. Come and see us to discover more about Knightshayes, volunteering and all our forthcoming events.

Parkland Walk - More than just a pretty face Thursday 20 May

How did Knightshayes' parkland evolve to what we see today - who lived and worked here before the present house was built? Parkland Area Supervisor Chris Twose will lead you on a fascinating and engaging walk around the estate. Thursday 20 May 1.30 - 3.30pm. National Trust normal admission plus £6 per person. Bookings 01884 254665

Birdsong Walk with Nigel Pinhorn 16 May

Discover the bird life of Knightshayes. Learn how to identify nour native birds by their songs and calls, with Nigel Pinhorn of Devon Nature Walks. Sunday 16 May 9am-11am. Adult £10 / child £5. Bookings 01884 254665