Veg Plotting

I was holding a hope for Malvern's autumn show going ahead this weekend, but sadly the current situation meant it wasn't to be. However the fab team at the Three Counties Showground came up trumps with their Plant and Garden Fair earlier this month instead. Lots of the nurseries I'd planned to visit were there... and plants were indeed purchased, but the highlight of the day were the talks which took centre stage. I confess flower arranging hasn't really been my thing up to now - I'm more of a plonk and put sort of gal - but Georgie Newbery previously, and now Jonathan Moseley are helping me see there are possibilities in this line. As Jonathan explained in his talk, picking flowers encourages them to bloom more, thus dispelling the notion mine are better off in the garden instead of displayed in the vase. Jonathan shared plenty of ideas for autumnal arrangements. Simple yet effective jam jar style posies were much in evidence albeit framed and hung on display, or e...

The journey to work: no wonder everyone we met was so happy  Warmth, hospitality, passion - three words which sum up my recent visit to the Viking factory in Austria. Oh, and let's not forget lawnmowers, snow and cake ;) I've always found factory visits fascinating and this one was exceptional. It was also enough to make NAH green with envy - more on that later. The view from the Viking factory car park - a 'pinch me, I'm really here' moment  You may wonder why anyone would want to work in a factory in the midst of such beauty. Well, it turns out peak production time (January, February) coincides with when the locals can't work on their farms. It means an extra income for them which also helps preserve the traditional Tyrolean way of life. Besides seeing the passion for their work, pride for their region also shone through during our visit. The factory in Kufstein, with a couple of products undergoing extreme testing in the -14 o C temperatur...

I spent a fascinating study morning at Jekka McVicar's Herb Farm last week, where at last I had the chance to see what's changed since she converted her nursery to a Herbetum in 2013. The presence of herbs with their stories and uses was as strong as ever, with some unexpected additions. It was a showery day, which turned Jekka's attention to our changeable weather. "We no longer have showers, we have deluges", she said as a particularly sharp one forced us to shelter for a little longer (and eat more delicious cake) before going outside. Jekka's husband, Mac cheerfully fetched a bundle of large umbrellas, so we could continue on our way. Once outside, "How many of you sharpen your secateurs every week?", was our first and most unexpected question. We shuffled our feet guiltily, and most of us admitted we didn't. "How many of you sharpen your kitchen knives every week?" Now on a surer footing, most of us admitted that we did. ...

Friday saw an early start for a thrilling study morning at the New Covent Garden Flower Market with the Garden Media Guild. I'm fascinated with horticultural life behind the scenes, so this was an opportunity not to be missed. Friday is a busy day at the Market, so apologies were made for there being less for us to see than usual. However, as you can see from the above collage, this did not mean there was a lack of eye-catching floral candy for us to ooh and ahhh over. I loved how some suppliers group their wares by colour, whilst others showed off the rainbow of possibilities available per flower, just like these gerbera. Whilst it was an early start for me, it's nothing compared to the life of a trader, who regularly start between 2 and 3am in readiness for the Market's opening at 4am, 6 days a week. The Market closes at around 10am, but then traders have to catch up with paper work, new orders etc etc. Graeme Diplock of Zest flowers , a trader for 30 years ...

View of the restored conservatory from the Italian garden at Chiswick House  A couple of days ago I had an enjoyable afternoon finding out about the historic collection of Camellia japonica at Chiswick House . This garden's been on my radar for a while. There's a restored walled kitchen garden and a most intriguing entrance to look out for when you whizz by on the coach to London . The invitation to a special Garden Media Guild study day was the nudge I needed to go and explore. The collection is housed in an amazing 300 foot long conservatory, restored via a generous Heritage Lottery grant and public appeal in 2010. The original conservatory was designed by Samuel Ware and built in 1813 to house the usual production of fruit and vegetables a notable house of those times demanded. It was redeveloped in the 1840s to include improvements in glass and ironwork pioneered by Joseph Paxton, and the fruit and veg replaced with camellias. It's believed to be the oldes...

I spent a delightful morning at the Pound Arts centre yesterday making my own Christmas wreath to adorn our front door. I usually fish our willow one out of the attic, but this year I fancied trying something new. Amanda from Daisy Chain in Corsham showed us the ropes, and accompanied by Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' and plentiful chocolate biscuits to hand, it was the perfect way to get into the festive mood. We started with a wire wreath ring. We fixed a thin wire onto this, then plenty of 'sausage shaped' damp moss with the wire wound around them to form the base and keep the foliage fresh. Then we snipped our greenery into lengths of around six inches. These were gathered into bunches of three and fixed onto the brown moss side of the base. We made sure the ends of the stems were together, so only a couple of turns of the pliant wire were needed to fix them. The foliage faced outwards and in the same direction. Then came the fun part - adding the de...

Life's been in the doldrums of late, so I'm glad serendipity came to my rescue via my local independent bookshop. I've wanted to learn more about fermented foods such as kefir and kimchi for quite a while, and here was an opportunity to do so (quite literally) served up on a plate. Did I tweet back immediately? You bet I did. Then cheery messages from both the bookshop and the author, set up my anticipation nicely for a good evening. And all this happened before I found out there'd be cake. Charlotte explains her book to Corsham TV - with tasty goodies to hand It was so civilised to sit with wineglass in hand and listen to Charlotte Pike explain what her book Fermented is about. Beforehand I thought I knew nothing, completely forgetting I've made yoghurt and sourdough bread before. There's still lots to learn. For instance the possibility of fermenting fruits and vegetables beyond just sauerkraut opens up a new way of dealing with my allotment ...

NB the company's condition for freebie usage of their infographic application requires the display of their logo  As you can see I've had some more fun playing around with infographics. Lesson learned - images saved as png files are sharper than jpegs. My thanks to everyone at East Malling Research , Lubera 's Markus Kobelt and Fran Suermondt for making this day happen. A visit to East Malling has been on my wishlist since I was a student. In my mind's eye I could see my 17 year-old self waving at me from my trip to the National Vegetable Research Station (now part of Warwick University ) at Wellesbourne. Happy days. Update: This is blog post number 2,000. It's  fitting it's one which highlights a great day where I crossed something off my wishlist, has lots of information, and where I've been fiddling around to bring something different to the blog. Many thanks for reading and all your comments over the years. I wouldn't have g...

A look at the the Baroque style - characterised by increased formality and a greater use of water in garden design On Friday when most of the nation was craning its collective neck to see the partial solar eclipse, I instead found myself in the poshest of rooms without windows. I was at a Bloggers Breakfast kindly set up by the Royal Collection Trust to preview their latest exhibition, Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden . This is at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace from now, until Sunday 11th October 2015. My visit turned out to be a real treat, from the coffee served by a member of the Royal Household through to the fascinating curator's tour which provided an accompanying slice of garden history without tears. Amongst the delights are a number of firsts to view: the first portrait of a gardener ( Jacopo Cennini , gardener to one of the Medicis, dated 1523); Ruralia Commoda , the first gardening manual - owned by Henry VIII - which contains detailed inst...

Snowdrops on loan from Evolution Plants - now even NAH understands there are galanthophiles  in this world and he can see the differences in the species, forms and characteristics of this selection of snowdrops.  I've just come back from an enjoyable week dedicated to all things snowdrop. As you can see this involved the unusual step of taking some snowdrops on tour as well as visiting several key gardens. It's all Naomi's fault: I'd agreed to help her with her talk at the National Botanic Garden of Wales , the first in a series resulting from her book . Tom at Evolution Plants agreed to lend her some snowdrops and so I found myself there in the polytunnel on a windy Wednesday making a selection of 10 distinctive ones. These were to serve as a live and scented illustration alongside her slides. Thank goodness we went there a day early. It allowed the AV facilities to get sorted and for us to recce the snowdrop walk Naomi was going to lead after her talk. S...

This year I'm trying an experiment with my late sown lettuces. I usually grow them in pots and some old sinks in my cold frames. Everything is fine initially, but the height of the front of frame is too low for the pots placed there and things get a little mushy. This year I'm trying seed trays instead. These will give the leaves more headroom, but I'm not sure there's sufficient growing media to sustain them for the whole of the winter. However, that can be remedied easily if my fears prove well founded. I made a relatively late sowing in early September of 2 rows of lettuce seed per tray - 'Merveille des Quatre Saisons', 'Lollo Rossa', 'Little Gem' and 'Salad Bowl', made easy with the use of seed tapes. That's why my rows are so even. I've kept the trays on the sunniest part of the patio to maximise the light and warmth the trays receive, but as you can see I'm unlikely to be cropping much from them until early spri...