European Symposium on the Conservation of Historic Fruit and Kitchen Gardens Dear friends After a very long 18 months we are so glad to hear news from many of you and your gardens, that you have had a more ‘normal’ summer. Visitors have returned and enjoyed seeing and appreciating the extraordinary amount of work that has brought gardens back to great standards despite a very hard start to the year. This year has also seen a few celebrations and we’re delighted to add one from WKGN: our co-founder and chairman, Susan Campbell celebrated a significant birthday this month and we all wish her an enormously Happy Birthday!! It has been… Read more »
I’ve received a message from Rob Willets with some interesting information; Mike, I thought you might like this for ‘The Grapevine’. It’s from a Facebook post by Dave Aplin. Dave was the garden assistant employed by the BBC in 1989/90 to help Harry Dodson during the making of the 3rd of the ‘Victorian Kitchen Garden’ series called ‘Victorian Flower Garden’. Until recently, though, he was the Senior Executive of Sharjah Botanic Garden, in the UAE. He now works as an independent consultant. The original post can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/76711321628/permalink/10158262167696629/ “Here is a ‘new’ Victorian glasshouse being erected. The wood is Accoya (Pinus radiata) the cast iron salvaged from an… Read more »
“Finedon Walled Kitchen Gardens” contains a wealth of previously unpublished research on the history of the two walled kitchen gardens in Finedon - those of The Hall (now in multi ownership) and The Vicarage (a private dwelling since 2000). The book covers the period from the first incarnation of the walled kitchen garden at Finedon Hall c1805, Humphry Repton’s suggestion to move the kitchen garden during his proposed redesign of the grounds, through the later history of the gardens up to the present day. The history of the vicarage kitchen garden is also covered, using primary source documents. This is the first book to be published by the Northamptonshire Gardens Trust and is an exciting prelude to published material of the Walled Kitchen Gardens of Northamptonshire research project which has been underway for eight… Read more »
Know someone who’s interested in making a career in gardening in historic gardens, who has a little horticultural experience and possibly some RHS exams behind them? Then maybe the 3 year full time Professional Gardeners Guild traineeship might be for them. Information and an application form are on the Professional Gardeners Guild website. A career in horticulture is a marvellous thing! Please spread the word. Thanks.
Phil and Serena bought what was the slips garden and gardener’s cottage belonging to the Marchwood Estate a few years ago. Their plans to excavate what appear to be glasshouses have been put on hold due to the arrival of two new family members. So Phil thought he might just be able to interest any bored WKGN members in working out exactly what they have found. . . . Please send any ideas to the comments section below.
We have now completed the first 3 meetings of the Symposium, the forth to follow on the 8th April 2021. There are in excess of 250 participants, including two from as far away as Russia! Since our first meeting in October, the live interpretation has been going well. We are learning to avoid presentations containing video for example because the huge variability in broadband across Europe gives poor results. As we all get better at using Zoom we are taking advantage of the flexibility in the technology to run each meeting. Following a focussed introduction from Susan Campbell, we had three brilliant guest speakers for the December meeting. Hermann van… Read more »
I THINK THAT BY NOW THE GREENHOUSE HAS FOUND A NEW HOME, I HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING FROM THE OWNER’s AGENT AFTER FORWARDING ALL YOUR QUERIES. PLEASE DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP, I SHALL NOT BE PASSING ON ANY FURTHER QUERIES. Please note, all queries received about this greenhouse have been forwarded to the agent. She has not yet had an answer from the client as to what they propose to do. As soon as I know I will publish the information. Thanks for your patience and understanding. This (approx 10metre) greenhouse has recently been dismantled and the owner would like to hear from anyone interested in acquiring it. It’s… Read more »
It was a friendly and fruitful gathering of kitchen garden enthusiasts who took part in what was for many, a new kind of symposium. Meeting and greeting many of the participants, some from as far as the USA, along with short descriptions of upcoming presentations left us with a sense of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of being part of a new European network. (In this first Zoom webinar, video sound suffered as did the live translation but this is something to be rectified before the next session on December 17th) Susan Campbell knew from the outset she would not be at the proposed meeting at Chambord and so… Read more »
Registration numbers for our virtual seminar are fast approaching 200 with representatives from France, the Uk, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and the USA. Whatever your interest in Kitchen Gardens of all kinds and all states of repair or production, you are bound to find kindred spirits attending the Zoom seminars to be held over this winter. It is a great opportunity to meet those in the know and not only learn but also have an opportunity to have your questions answered. By next spring you will find yourself part of a new European kitchen garden community when we hope to set a date for a post-COVID, old fashioned,… Read more »
Registration form for the European Symposium 15th October 2020