Unique to the Show are the Birmingham Borders showcasing budding gardeners and students to allow experience of design, planning and installation of an exhibit but without the financial constraints as each site consists of a raised bed. However each is judged by the RHS an awarded RHS medals as with the Show Gardens.
Visitors find this popular and due to the size of each garden find it easy to visualise ideas for their own gardens back home.
The first uses a planting scheme that requires less water, useful in today's warmer climate and the environmentally conscious:
Above, Tea & Tranquility and below, A Sensory retreat both brought home what people can achieve in their own gardens, however small.
Here, large tin cans exemplify that anyone can grow vegetables, you don't necessarily require a garden with soil, this is perfect for a courtyard or roof garden.
And some of the Show Gardens:
Above and below, the Macmillan Cancer Support Garden.
The Vintage Rock T Garden is another conceptual garden showing the life cycle of a working quarry.
The Edible Garden Show - Ideas to Inspire May 2011
This was a brilliant new show, lots to see and even more to buy. High on the list of things to see were talks on: Beers and Wines from your Garden (Paul Peacock); Pippa Greenwood's "Great Green Veg"; James Wong's "Incredible Edibles" and Cheese Making and More (Paul again), etc.
James Wong's inspirational presentation focussed the audience on alternative fruit and veg to grow, which is either expensive in shops or could easily be grown to replace cheaply available products from supermarkets. One suggestion from James was to grow Sweet Potatoes (Ipomea batatas), which are often already sold by Garden Centres as bedding plants - look out for "Ipomeas". Their great leaf colour matches the root colours and following a summer season of growth in pots or hanging baskets, the roots are entirely edible. They also have trumpet like flowers. All you need to start them off is to root them in a jar of water.
Another alternative fruit is the Cocktail Kiwi (Actinidia arguta). Similar to kiwi fruit in taste and appearance they are often sweeter and can be eaten whole and need not be peeled. It is a fast-growing, climbing vine and very hardy surviving low temperature drops to -34°C (-30°F), although young shoots can be vulnerable to frost in the spring. The vines need a frost-free growing season of about 150 days, but are not damaged by late freezes, provided that temperature changes are sufficiently gradual to allow plants to acclimatise, indeed, a period of winter chill is necessary for successful cultivation.
Other alternative plants to grow James included were: Japanese Wasabi; Saffron; Stevia rebaudiana (Sweet Leaf); Aemella olerracea (Electric Buttons), etc. For more, visit JamesWong.co.uk.
In a break from tradition I actually watched some cheese being made rather than eating it! Who knew it would be so easy? Anyone can do it and I' currently doing research on what's required. See here for more: http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/cheese-making/making-cheese-ingredients.php
Homemade wines and beers have a mixed reputation but after visiting the show I'm going to attempt this year one or more of the following: Parsnip Wine; Raspberry and/or Blackberry Wine and Dandelion and/or Nettle Ale.
(c) CraggleProds 2011
