Homegrown Revolution

Is March too early for a show dedicated to Grow Your Own? In the case of The Edible Garden Show recently, the answer is a resounding “No”!

There was plenty to inspire the crowds, from choice seeds and plants through to curious pigs, poultry and goats.

The concept of edible was displayed in its widest sense, though the idea of farming snails was probably only attractive to the most gourmet of gardeners.

There was lots of expertise on hand from the likes of Bob Flowerdew and Alys Fowler. A special edition of Gardeners’ Question Time was recorded for those lucky enough to have a ticket, and there was plenty of opportunity to ask questions elsewhere. Three separate lecture theatres had very full programmes of talks from bee keeping through to organic gardening, plus a dedicated cookery theatre showed how to turn home grown produce into mouth watering home cooking.

James Wong has been an enthusiastic supporter of the show since its inception in 2011. This year he launched a new range of ‘Homegrown Revolution’ seeds and plants based on his popular book of the same name. Many a visitor chose to take away their very own tea or cardamom plant for a taste of the exotic at home.

Any gardener wanting to get to grips with a new technique, or to be more eco friendly was spoilt for choice with aquaponics and vertical gardening rubbing shoulders with solar powered watering and small wind turbines. All the basics were there too, thus enabling visitors to get fully prepared for the coming growing season.

It may have been a rainy weekend, but a large, indoor venue meant the good natured crowd went home very happy.

The Edible Garden Show is the only event dedicated to growing your own. Next year it moves from its home in the midlands to Alexandra Palace, and takes place on March 28-30th. With a move to London, it promises to be even bigger and better next year.

See you there?

http://www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk/

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