A week at Hampton
My entire week was spent at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. It's the largest flower show in the world and takes a while to walk from one end to the other, so my legs are a little tired now. I started at 7am on Sunday morning and left on Friday afternoon feeling a little show-gardened out! The weather was erratic to say the least, with Wednesday most definitely the wettest day, but there were some lovely sunny spells too.
I'm a huge fan of Hampton. All the shows have their own identity and Hampton is increasingly becoming a real family destination and it's great to see kids enjoying themselves and getting the gardening bug at a young age. I really like the conceptual gardens too, as they challenge our preconceptions about what a garden is and push ideas to the limit. The 'growing tastes' theatre was a new introduction and was both fun and seriously busy. You may have seen me sample some raw garlic on Monday night's programme? Wow! Now that stuff nearly blew my head off, but it was worth it as it was fascinating to taste the difference and get some great growing tips from Colin Boswell from the Isle of White Garlic Farm. I also leant how to do a really quick authentic Thai stir-fry using any veggies available from the allotment (just chuck 'em in!), as well as a Mediterranean salad. I'm off up to the allotment tomorrow to see how it's coping with a little neglect. With all the rain we've had I'm not worried about watering...that's for sure! Catch up soon, Joe.
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