Pat Griffiths has been plagued by pests in her garden this year. "You wouldn't believe the trouble we've had from wildlife!" she exclaims, "we've had pheasants chewing the tops of the lettuce, voles munching the carrots underground, squirrels have pinched the plums and even blue tits have taken a fancy to our peas!"

It's an occupational hazard for Pat, 59, who for the last six years has worked as Head Gardener at the Llanerchaeron estate in Ceredigion.

She's in charge of an enormous two acre kitchen garden and a small army of volunteers who help tend to the dazzling array of organic fruit and vegetables which have been grown there for generations.

The entire garden is surrounded by an impressive stone wall, making it a peaceful and colourful place to spend some 'quality time'.

At one time, in the estate's heyday, this garden would have helped feed around twenty servants as well as the family who lived in the beautiful house, designed by the famous architect John Nash.

"This garden is really quite unique, explains Pat who is someone who clearly loves her job, "it's been worked continuously for around two hundred years. The paths and box hedges are all laid out as they were in John Nash's time and you really get a sense of history while working here."

Pat hasn't always worked as a professional gardener. She's originally from the Cambridgeshire Fens, where she spent several years working as a secondary school teacher.

She taught environmental studies which included an element on horticulture. Part of the course involved cultivating a patch of land at the school and teaching the children how to grow plants and vegetables.

"I've always loved plants, in fact I studied botany and in helping the children to manage their own vegetable plots I realised that one day, I would love to work outdoors full time."

After taking a few years off to have a family, that opportunity came when Pat moved to Aberystwyth and started volunteering at Llanerchaeron, helping out for a few hours a week in the garden.

"It immediately felt like home and I felt inspired being in such a peaceful place. Then, when the job of Head Gardener became vacant, I decided to give it a go."

Pat has been busy ever since and as any gardener knows, there's never a quiet time in a garden. At the moment, the fruit cages are bursting with red berries, loganberries, blackberries, white, black and red currants, all of which are sold daily in the estate's farm shop.

Runner beans and an unusual stripy bean are also in abundance and the winter vegetables like leeks, cabbages and onions are in the ground ready for winter stews when the weather gets colder.

Pumpkins and squashes are bringing a burst of colour to the garden in preparation for this year's Harvest Festivals and of course, Hallowe'en.

It's been temperamental year weather wise for gardeners, which in Llanerchaeron has meant that some crops have done better than others.

"The golden raspberries and asparagus did particularly well this year", says Pat as she wanders among the plants, all neatly rowed and carefully labelled, "we have special permission from the Crown to collect seaweed from the beach which we then use to fertilize the asparagus plants.

The British asparagus season is very short but this year it was plentiful thanks to our special added ingredient!"

Pat is also proud of what she calls her 'global warming experiment', a corner of the garden which has been set aside to test whether vegetables which are usually grown further south on the Continent could now be grown here in our increasingly milder climate.

These include red peppers, cape gooseberries and tomatoes, which so far, appear to be doing well.

"We're really trying to carry on the estate's tradition of being self-sufficient. It's become quite a fashionable thing at the moment as well, with talk of lowering food miles and buying local produce. All our equipment and seeds are paid for by profits from the sale of our fruit and veg in the farm shop and you get a great sense of achievement in seeing the garden being able to support itself."

There is one other fruit which makes a star appearance every year at Llanerchaeron. The apple, one of our oldest fruits first cultivated by the Romans two thousand years ago, takes centre stage here in the autumn, with some of the varieties more than 150 years old.

By now, Britain imports 72% of its apples, putting traditional orchards under threat but the National Trust is currently lobbying for orchards to be included in the country's action plan on biodiversity - arguing that they offer a rich habitat for wildlife, as well as providing a glorious harvest of autumn fruits.

Pat will be taking part in the National Trust's 'apple days' again this year. "We always enjoy welcoming people to the garden" she says, "on the apple days we offer to identify varieties of apples which people have in their own gardens and it's always interesting to see some really unusual types."

Pat could never imagine working indoors again. A female Head Gardener may not be that familiar a sight, but she's convinced she's found the perfect job for her.

Event Information
Apple days will be held at Llanerchaeron between October 20 and November 3rd and will include cider making demonstrations by local company Toloja cider on Octobert 24 & 27th, cookery demonstrations with celebrity chef Gareth Richards on October 25th, tastings and sales of apple goodies.

If you're inspired to use up apples from your own garden, try this recipe for from the archives of the National Trust.

Honey and Apple Tart
12oz Bramley Cooking Apples
½ pint runny honey
1 lemon, rind and juice
6oz wholemeal breadcrumbs
9oz shortcrust pastry
Line an 8inch flan tin with the pastry. Mix the grated apple with the honey, lemon juice and rind and the breadcrumbs. Fill the flan case with the filling and bake in a pre-heated oven 200c for 30 minutes until firm to the touch.