Showing the Sheds

As it's National Shed Week, it's only right and proper that we should take a whistle-stop tour of some of those I spotted at this week's RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. It's also the perfect excuse to highlight one of the year on year strengths of this event: the edible gardens :)


The RHS' own Edible Garden is one of the show's highlights with half an acre of tippity top fruit and vegetables. The Constant Gardener has already enthused about this on her kitchen garden blog, so instead we're taking a peep inside the adjacent Grow Your Own Marquee, where the ever reliable Pennard Plants has the most solid looking of sheds.

Outside in the Small Gardens category, there are two sheds of particular note: firstly a more contemporary offering in Burgon and Ball's 5-A-Day garden...


...followed by potentially two for the price of one seen in Southend Youth Offending Services The Home Front. Post-WWII, many Anderson air raid shelters like the one shown here on the right were converted into garden sheds.

As you can see green roofs are becoming a de rigeur feature in the show gardens and I particularly like the more 'wild and woolly' one seen here.

Finally, we have The Stockman's Retreat, though really it's a small cottage rather than a shed...


... this is by Chris Beardshaw for the WorldSkills London 2011 Team UK.

There are loads more sheds to see at this year's show, but now it's up to you to go and find them for yourselves...

Comments

  1. Esther Montgomery6 July 2011 at 10:48

    I love sheds. We have one. Just one. What we would like would be to have one each and one for all of us. That would make five - and five wouldn't fit in our garden! It would be good to have a shed with an upstairs too. Sheds smell good.

    Looks as if you could move into Chris Beardshaw's 'tent'!

    However, I feel edgy about the WW11 themed sheds. I don't like the 'Dig for Victory' slogans either. Both seem popular at present - but I think it trivialises what people went through in the war. What we do now can have no parallel with that, however many vegetables we grow. (Or, in our case, would like to.)

    There are all sorts of issues about sustainability, food miles etc. We may be digging as a contribution to saving the world. I don't underestimate its importance. But re-cycling a slogan like this feels too close to the bone.

    I know you didn't put the notices on the sheds at Hampton Court (!) but the photos have set me wondering what you think.

    Esther

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP6 July 2011 at 11:18

    Esther - I have 2 sheds: I'm a very lucky girl :)

    When I see the Dig for Victory poster, I always wonder where the other foot went to and did the 'model' fall over whilst the photo was being taken.

    On a more serious note, I've written quite a bit about food issues. It's simply not being addressed properly at the moment (despite some very good campaigns led by the RHS and Landshare for instance) and I believe we really need something like an updated form of the Dig for Victory campaign again, possibly with backing legislation.

    A reviewed a very interesting book called Dig for Victory a while ago (do borrow it from the library if you can) which gives a very full account of what happened in WWII. From there, you'll find a link to my thoughts on the Food 2030 report produced by the last government. I've yet to see what the current government has to say on the subject.

    From there I also wrote about Ration Book Britain a TV documentary which set me thinking about these issues and writing my thoughts down for the first time.

    Have a look at the comments in all of these - lots of interesting things were said.

    I try not to think about it too much - I get far too frightened about the future if I do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. VP6 July 2011 at 11:28

    PS the RHS' Edible Garden at last year's Hampton Court had some shocking statistics about how little we grow here in the UK (we're at pre-WWII levels again). I believe eating more seasonal food (which is usually also cheaper) is the first step people can take to help to address this.

    The B&Q garden at this year's Chelsea also highlighted that if the food supply stopped, London has just 4 days worth of fresh food at its disposal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. VP6 July 2011 at 11:37

    PPS Pennard Plants specialise in heritage seeds and plants, so it's natural for them to choose to have an exhibit with a nostalgic feel to it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Janet/Plantaliscious6 July 2011 at 12:40

    I have serious shed envy. I have one, and it is very useful, but it is also very small, and I long for the kind of shed that has room to sit down and make a cuppa as well as store things. With a shaggy roof too. Though no shaggy carpet, that would be silly!

    I don't know what I think about the Dig for Victory slogan being used as some sort of nostalgia thing. I know I get annoyed at the throw-away "anyone can grow veg, in the smallest of spaces, in containers" type arguement. Yes it is sort of true, but you only get a very small return, and the cost, in terms of compost, pots, water etc doesn't exactly make sense environmentally. And given that new houses seem to come with ever smaller gardens, and more and more councils are looking for ways around the requirement to provide allotments, I despair. It seems to me that significant growing your own requires a level of commitment and effort that few working couples in today's world can manage - witness the plots left to go to weeds because it turned out that even half an allotment was too much work given all the other time constraints people labour under. Damn, the sheds made me smile and now I feel fed up! Am off to make beetroot hummus for lunch, which I would never have discovered had I not got an allotment to play with, so go figure...

    ReplyDelete
  6. petoskystone6 July 2011 at 13:08

    i wonder, how much shelter from a raid would the bomb shelter be? also, the sheds remind me of the 'small house' movement stateside as they are about the same size. i *so* covet a mini greenhouse! that, & a house-sizes aquaponics system. what especially frightens me is what would happen once the 4day supply dwindles to an afternoons' worth....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nathan6 July 2011 at 17:48

    Wow, I need a better shed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Robert Webber7 July 2011 at 07:41

    The great british shed!
    The number of wearysome debates garden designers have to have about these!
    Ban them.
    Scale down what you use in the garden and store it in the garage!
    Best
    R

    ReplyDelete
  9. VP7 July 2011 at 08:11

    Janet - more food for thought (pardon the pun) thank you :)

    We could have a whole debate on planning and the provision of space for gardening (private or public for starters).

    Re your comment about time: it was interesting in Digging for Victory to see just how little time people had. Imagine a 12 hour shift at a factory, going home to do all the chores we need to do (without the gear we have to do them with today) and then you have to go and tend to your plot.

    I would say that its our raised standard of living today (and lack of a desperate time such as a war) which gives us the choice not to spend time growing our own.

    How long we have that luxury remains to be seen.

    Petoskystone - they definitely saved lives, though of course they wouldn't withstand a direct hit. And the thought of the consequences of an afternoon's worth of food is most chilling.

    Garden tips - don't we all!

    Robert - we'll have to agree to disagree on this one and there's another whole debate to have re your comment. I could go on at length at how the lack of storage space in houses means that the garage becomes the default storage space for there before a car OR garden gear can get a look in. I'm sure you must have some neat solutions to share with us which meet your clients' needs so...

    ... show us your sheds!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Constant Gardener7 July 2011 at 15:45

    Re the Digging for Victory slogan - my problem with this being co-opted to the GYO movement is simply that it doesn't make sense. Where's the victory? Are we at war and nobody told me?

    I think it's just a bit of thoughtless knee-jerk sloganising. I prefer the one I saw at the Edible Gardening Show earlier this year - 'Keep Calm and Grow More Veg'. Now my motto in times of stress :D

    I think there is a more serious point re Digging for Victory or whatever you want to call it: which is that the current model of global monopolies and climate-can-go-to-hell trade which sees rhubarb shipped in here from Holland in April when it's growing in abundance in Yorkshire yet growers can't sell it... is completely unsustainable.

    That to me is the value of the GYO movement. We are taking the solution into our own hands: if we turn our backs on the supermarkets and grow our own food, not only do we contribute to the food security of this country (after all, the government is hardly showing signs of coming up with a coherent solution), we're also putting far better quality food on our plate which does less damage to the environment.

    You don't need to be self-sufficient to contribute: and that's why it's also valuable to encourage people to grow a few strawberries in a pot if that's all they've got room for. Because that's one less punnet that has to be flown in from Israel.

    Right - rant over, I told you I had a lot to say on the subject! :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP15 July 2011 at 07:57

    TCG - a good rant thank you :)

    BTW The Keep Calm etc is also borrowed - from the WWII Keep Calm and Carry On poster

    ReplyDelete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more