FORUM 2008
‘Back to the Roots’- Profit from Produce
Liverpool is the Capital of Culture 2008, so this year we have chosen Liverpool’s Croxteth Hall as our venue, where the Victorian walled garden is now owned by the council and continues to flourish and produce fruit, flowers and vegetables.
The theme of this Forum is to investigate viable new roles for walled kitchen gardens in the 21st century.These gardens were, of course, once intensely productive places, providing their owners with fresh fruit and vegetables all the year round, but now they often have to pay they way.
With the threat of climate change, the rising price of food and the growing interest in organic produce, perhaps there has never been a better time for walled kitchen gardens to return to their original function – growing food. This year’s Forum will explore opportunities old and new, for the production, storage and marketing of fruit and vegetables, and for exploiting new niche markets.
This year we have also arranged a special visit to nearby Knowsley Hall on the Friday before, to see one of the biggest, most ingenious examples of a Victorian apple store.
Speakers will include Susan Campbell (author & historian), Don Billington (senior gardener, Croxteth Hall), Mike Kleyn (head gardener, Babington House), and others who will explore 21st century opportunities for marketing produce that can be grown in walled kitchen gardens today.