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.
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.
For a great selection of places to stay with discount prices visit
London Hotels for more information.