07/04/2009

The world’s largest annual gardening event set to fuel the nation’s appetite for grow your own

2009 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, sponsored by Rachel’s Organic, 7-12 July 2009, is the gardening event for grow your own. Tickets now on sale www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows

Whet your appetite at the world’s largest annual gardening event. An allotment, food growers, cookery theatre, sustainable gardens, chicken run and gardens brimming with edible delights make the 20th Anniversary Hampton Court Palace Flower Show the destination to help you grow your own and bring a taste of the good life into your home.

The major plot to plate Growing Tastes feature makes a return after its debut last year with 14 grow your own exhibits including Cookery Box Nursery’s “munch your way through the crunch”; a no waste display, where even dead heading can provide a meal. The central feature is a family allotment and a key focus in the cookery theatre will be on natural, organic, locally sourced and British dishes.

“Last year we positioned Hampton Court Palace Flower Show as the event for growing your own fruit and vegetables and this year we’re building on that success with even more foody features and good life attractions than before.” Explains Mandy Almond, RHS show manager for Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

“The nation is hungry to grow fruit and vegetables for health, economic and taste reasons; at Hampton expert and beginner gardeners can to fill up on ideas and take home everything they need to grow great tasting food.”

For allotment owners looking for inspiration, the family themed allotment, by Winchester Growers, will include fruit and vegetables, a cutting garden, children’s growing area, beehive and chickens. Environmental initiatives are also a concern.

Specialist growers are bringing something for all appetites to The Growing Tastes Marquee, sponsored by New Covent Garden Food Company. British fruits can be found in Blackmore Estate’s exhibit and Dorset Blueberries and the RHS will create a mosaic of produce promoting ‘five a day’. More exotic varieties will be found in Marshalls display of summer sowing oriental vegetables and Beans and Herbs will have Indian and Mediterranean cookery herbs.

A visit to the Growing Tastes Cookery Theatre, sponsored by NS&I, will provide inspiration to cook up a feast, with demonstrations by chefs from The Grove and Rhodes restaurant chain. Other highlights include Peter Wheedon cooking with UK wild food varieties and James Walker with British food. There will also be talks from growers and practical advice on growing an allotment.

Amongst the gardens demonstrating how fruit and vegetables can look beautiful in your outside space is the show sponsor’s Rachel Organic’s ‘Rachel’s Passion for Taste’ garden, which includes an abundance of organic produce that go into Rachel’s products. The garden, designed by Paul Stone, will feature strawberries, rhubarb, blackcurrants, raspberries, blueberries and fruit trees.

Whatever your palate the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 7-12 July, offers something for everyone with a beautiful setting, hundreds of plant displays, stunning gardens, shopping in abundance, demonstrations, advice and fun activities for all the family.

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