Uncategorised Archives - Page 3 of 13 - Walled Kitchen Gardens Network

Dear Friends Now fully into the new year, there are clear signs that spring isn’t too far away. Peaches, apricots and camellias are starting to flower in glasshouses; snowdrops, cyclamen and hellebores are being celebrated at festivals and open gardens from Cornwall to the highlands of Scotland. The winter months have been far busier than we would expect – the zoom legacy of the last (nearly) two years have enabled many more people to become involved in talks, meetings and conferences such as the Chambord Conversations that wouldn’t have been previously accessible for most. (More information below). We hope you haven’t been too affected by the recent storms, and have… Read more »

Thursday 27th January 2022 10.00am Come along and find out more about our exciting Walled Garden project and see how you can get involved as a volunteer at Weston Park. We are working towards bringing our Walled Garden back to its former glory so it produces food and helps with education. If you are passionate about allotment gardening or want to learn new skills to grow your own produce then why not come along to the open day and find out more. Working under the supervision of the Estate Gardens Team the Walled Garden project aims to transform the space to reduce food miles from estate to plate whilst providing… Read more »

Head Gardener Location: Pershore, Worcestershire  Employment type: Full time, permanent Salary: £21000 – £25000 pa depending on experience  The Role: This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Gardener to join the team at a historic walled kitchen garden. The successful candidate will have previous experience in a similar role and the ability to supervise a small team.  Duties: Ensuring the grounds and gardens are well-maintained throughout the seasons  Greenhouse work Propagation Fruit tree pruning  Managing a small team of employees and volunteers Skills and experience required: Experience of mixed gardening – herbaceous and fruit & vegetables A proven ability to supervise a small team  Good communication skills Hands-on and practical, with the initiative… Read more »

A productive garden Water Lane is an ongoing restoration project in the hands of new custodians Nick Selby and Ian James who bring with them a wealth of food and horticultural passion from their previous business, Melrose and Morgan, a grocery store and kitchen with shops in London’s Primrose Hill and Hampstead. This project and a labour of love and will take many years to fully restore. The Peach Case and Vinery will be restored while fruit trees, such as apples, pears, quince and fig will be planted and grown ‘espalier’ along the red brick walls. Four of the glasshouses have already been restored in 2017/2018, due to a generous… Read more »

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 »