The Kitchen Garden Blog

The new beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:39:00 +0000

From 1st December 2009 the Kitchen Garden project will no longer be run by the Chiswick House Kitchen Garden group. The Trust which oversees the park, the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, will be running the walled gardens as part of the overall activities. For any further information, please see www.chgt.org.uk

We would like to thank all of you who were involved with the project, who came to work, to help, provided plants or equipment or donations, or simply came to visit the Kitchen Garden. We had a lot of fun.

The Kitchen Garden team

Message from the Chairman

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Together, we Kitchen Gardeners created a small piece of paradise out of what had formerly been wasteland. Together we brought to many young children - and adults too - what they told us were happy "golden" experiences that they would not otherwise have enjoyed.

In creating our little paradise we have sometimes appeared to be difficult, occasionally strident. I believe that our capacity for not taking "no" for an answer was one of the important early ingredients of our successful programme.

But times and circumstances move on. Today, the renovation of the park is well under way, the walled gardens appear to be pretty much "done". They are appreciated for the wonderful spaces that they are in a way that was simply not the case four years ago.

Our business plan foresaw our handing over the project to the Trust over a period of three years. Before that, we looked forward very much to resuming our activities, rebuilding what we had before and taking it to yet a new level.

The Trust expressed its support for what we planned and we entered into
detailed negotiation as to how we could continue and integrate into the newly invigorated life of the park as a whole. Those negotiations, entered into earnestly and in good faith on both sides, ultimately resulted in a proposal that after considerable reflection and discussion did not provide us with the minimum necessary basis for continued operation of the project, under our management.

While we are very disappointed at that outcome, we take the view that it is the project that is important, rather than our management of it. And we very much want to see continue what we have started.

So we were pleased that following further discussion with the Trust, it has agreed that it makes sense for the proposed hand-over after three years to be brought forward. We have agreed that with effect from 1 Dec the project will be continued under the Trust's management. The Trust has committed to continuing broadly the kind of programme we had envisaged, in the wider context of the activities of the whole park.

There are a number of stories in circulation as to why we felt that the terms on offer could not be made to work for us. We have agreed with the Trust that although our negotiations were and are confidential, it makes sense for us to clarify those reasons, correct any misapprehensions and explain how it is that the Trust's management of the project alleviates the problems we foresaw with our operating it under the terms on offer.

It would make no sense for us to fail to support, or worse to be seen to undermine the Trust in its efforts to execute what I think is a very challenging plan, and made more challenging still by the inclusion of our activities under its umbrella. Instead, for the sake of our belief in what we set out to achieve, and wish to continue, we intend to give the Trust the maximum possible support and cooperation in the hand-over of operation of our project.

Regrets? I have a few. I regret that some people might think that we want to do anything other than ensure the successful continuation of our project. I would like it to be known that the Trust can rely on our support in the handover and beyond. I would like us to be remembered for the positive things we have achieved, and I would very much regret were we remembered as a difficult-to-deal-with group that could not move with the changing times and the evolving big picture.

We will be putting what we have agreed with the Trust to members of the KG at a general meeting to be held in the week of Nov 2. Members will receive notification of the details of the meeting shortly. I hope that our members will agree that this is the best route forward for our project.

I also hope that our volunteers will feel that they wish to support the Trust in its operation of the programme and that this candid explanation of the situation, as I see it, will make them feel that they wish to continue to engage with the enthusiasm and gusto that made the project what it is today.

Jo Rabin
Chairman
5 Oct 2009

The Mural

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:27:00 +0000

The fabulous mural, shown here with Sue Dance its creator, was launched at the Dog Show in late September, and remains on display at the House during October 2009.

The Family Kitchen Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:51:00 +0000

THE FAMILY KITCHEN GARDEN
by Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner and Annette Wendland
Price: £16.99
Publication date: 14th May 2009

“Five years ago one of us climbed over a wall and discovered a secret garden, overgrown and neglected for decades . . . it was a jungle of bindweed and bramble, lying just fifty metres from one of the busiest main roads linking central London to its principal airport, a long-forgotten corner of the grounds of Chiswick House.” From the introduction

Five years ago Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, Annette Wendland and others began to restore this secret garden – a neglected seventeenth-century kitchen garden - at Chiswick House in west London, bringing in hundreds of local schoolchildren to work and learn and garden and eat. This book is the fruit of that experience. With the emphasis on what will be fun to grow and suitable for a family, it provides clear instructions on growing vegetables, fruit, herbs and cutting flowers, and month-by-month advice on what to do when as well passing on child-relevant tips on how to garden with children so that both the adult and the child enjoy it! There are recipes using homegrown fruit and veg that kids (as well as adults) will want to make and eat - from oriental summer rolls and homemade ketchup to parsnip crisps and fruit ice lollies - and projects that are accessible to the whole family, such as building a ladybird nesting house and weaving a willow wigwam for climbing plants.

Buy it from Amazon through the icon at the bottom left of our home page and the Kitchen Garden project will get 5%.

Book launch at Wholefoods Supermarket, Kensington High Street, London W8 5SE. For further information please call Wholefoods on 020 7368 4500

Monday 11th May, 5pm - Karen, Jutta & Annette will be getting the kids to plant seeds, painting plant labels and making some simple food at the Kids Club. NB: the Kids Club must be pre-booked. For further information and to book a space, please call Wholefoods on 020 7368 4500 or visit their Q Bar instore on the Ground Floor.

Saturday 16th May, 10am – Another opportunity to join with Karen, Jutta & Annette and do some more planting seeds, painting plant labels and making some simple food at the Kids Club as above. Again places must be booked.

Saturday 16th May, 12-3pm - A chance to meet the authors informally on the ground floor of Wholefoods. Just turn up, taste one of their delicious recipes, get lots of information on how to get going on growing your own fruit and veg and get your book signed.

On Saturday 23rd May, 11am Annette and Jutta will be at Waterstones in Chiswick. Come and help them plant some seeds and get some great ideas of what you might enjoying growing with your children in your garden. Waterstones, 220-226 Chiswick High Road, London. W4 1PD. Contact: Lara Tel: 8995 3559. for further information. Free

Exhibition of art from the Kitchen Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:47:00 +0000

1. Kitchen Garden art at the London International Gallery of Children's Art
From now until 14th June we are very excited to announce that artworks created by the children of Chiswick are on display at this prestigious gallery in Waterlow Park in Highgate. The whole show is made up of artwork from the Kitchen Garden. Congratulations to all the children whose work has been selected for display.

The arts programme is run by the wonderful Sue Dance and is an integral part of our schools’ sessions. The children are encouraged to use a variety of art materials (including oil pastels, mosaic, clay and collage) and to observe form, texture and colour to creatively express their experiences at the Gardens. In particular, they focus on reflecting how the changes of seasons are conveyed through the colours, shapes and patterns of plants.

The result is a vibrant and stunning exhibition and you are strongly recommended to visit. The gallery is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Check the gallery website for more details on http://www.ligca.org/ The image above, tulip and hyacinth, is by year 1 at Falcons School.

2. Waitrose charity of the month
Of course we would mainly encourage you to grow your own veg, but for anything else you need this month, you may be popping in to Waitrose on Chiswick High Road. Many thanks to whoever nominated us, and please make sure you get your green token and pop it into our case. At the end of the month the tokens are weighed and we get a donation in proportion to the number of tokens.

3. The Family Kitchen Garden book
Three of us Kitchen Gardeners have written The Family Kitchen Garden, published this May. You can pre-order through this website (see icon on the home page, bottom left) thereby giving a percentage to the Kitchen Garden project. The order fulfilment is carried out by Amazon.

Progress in the Kitchen Garden

With the trees all gone from the northern and southern walled gardens (apart from an oak and a mulberry), the path is edging its way round the perimeter and down the central axis. The builders have tiptoed their way past the herbal maze – amazing that one can tiptoe with a digger, but they are managing it (thank you UPM Tilhill). One quarter of the southern garden (an ex-forested bit) has been rolled flat and grass seed sown. In the northern garden the topsoil has been stripped off and a layer of soil substitute with plastic filaments has been laid. We hope this will turn into an orchard once the fruit tree saplings are planted, though it does look rather bare and sterile at the moment. Meanwhile we are still gardening in twos, passing the baton (ie. the safety helmets and hi-viz jackets) at the entrance so there are never more than two of us in the garden at once, which would constitute a safety hazard. You’ll have to take our word for it this year, but the cutting bed tulips look good… Three weeks ago we were finally allowed back into the greenhouse, after an absence of nearly a year, and madly sowed this year’s seed to catch up… However, some helpful souls came round and smashed the glass last weekend, so we are once more evicted on health and safety grounds. Good thing the park is protected with fencing and security guards. Anyone with spare greenhouse space, and the time to look after seedlings for us until they go out, please let us know.

View from above

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:15:00 +0000

Well, this is the view over the walled gardens from the top of the conservatory. The ropy old polytunnel finally went last week. The central path is beginning to take shape; the orange netting protects the bit we are still allowed to garden. The trees you can just see in the distance are on the other side of the A4. The one by the right-hand wall was left by mistake and will be going soon. The work in the conservatory itself looks grand with all the old ironwork removed, fixed and now being replaced. All the rotting timbers beneath are being immaculately restored.

Kitchen Garden on CBeebies Friday 20th March

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Last year Jelly the frog, a big star from CBeebies, came to help some of the kids planting peas and potatoes in the Kitchen Garden. Now the Green Balloon club will be airing the episode, so set your videos (or whatever hi-tec recording thing you have…) for CBeebies, 4pm on Friday 20th March, repeated on Sunday at 9am and 3pm. It was a very long day’s filming for the brilliant kids, and will doubtless make a fabulous two minutes’ of great kids’ TV.

Trees cleared from Kitchen Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Well, yesterday all the trees in the northern walled garden and the wooded part of the southern garden were cleared. From the southern garden there is now a clear view straight across the A4 to the houses on the other side of the dual carriageway.

Current state of the Kitchen Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:17:00 +0000

The Daily Telegraph has launched a call to arms about the state of our public parks. It bemoans their decline, calling it a public disgrace that 'we are left with a tale of private affluence and public squalor.'

'Why do we put up with it? Britain has some of the most imaginative gardeners in the world: why aren't they leading a revolt against the bureaucrats who want to deny ordinary people the natural beauty they are programmed to enjoy? Rise up, I say. If councils aren't prepared to look after public parks, it is time they handed them over to garden co-operatives, formed by local residents.

It wouldn't be difficult to find people to fulfil these roles: this very thing has happened, to wondrous effect, in the Kitchen Garden of Chiswick House. The results might not be masterpieces in the picturesque tradition, but Ruskin and Morris would certainly have approved.'

Read the full article, 6 February 2009, at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/4389731/Britains-gardens-A-private-passion-and-a-public-disgrace.html

2009

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:16:00 +0000

2009 is the year that the Kitchen Garden gets 'regenerated'. Only two of us Kitchen Gardeners are allowed in the garden at any one time, as more of us might prove too dangerous. This week digging started on a trench down the central axis for electricity cables and water pipes.

Meanwhile (see above) one jigsaw-obsessed gardener received a lovely birthday present to remind us what the garden looked like a few months ago.

End of an era...?

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:41:00 +0000

We finished the year with a couple of excellent sessions. Grove Park School, the first school ever to come and work with us, were also the last, and we harvested fresh fennel, lettuce and rocket to eat with our pumpkin soup.

A team from Nichol UK came to help us move our sheds. Because of the building work re-pointing and wiring the walls for fruit trees, everything near the walls must be moved away, and Nichol carried this out with skill and enthusiasm. They have also donated us a big new shed (and erected it!) to store all our equipment in during the building works.

Members of staff from HSBC came to help in the garden for two days, one for local Chiswick staff, and one for a group of London managers. With great cheerfulness in Arctic conditions they re-laid paths and sorted out our remaining compost heaps. HSBC have very generously offered to support our school sessions, when/if these recommence.

Most of the heritage varieties of apples and pears for the walled gardens that were ordered last year arrived and have been planted temporarily pending the completion of the building works. Fifty hardy volunteers turned up last Sunday – our last session, very cold and grey – to sort these out. Well done to all the volunteers for their efforts regardless of the weather!

Calendar for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:16:00 +0000

The Chiswick House Kitchen Garden produced a stunning calendar for 2009, featuring gorgeous full-colour images from the gardens for each month.

Closure of the Kitchen Garden during 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:08:00 +0000

The Kitchen Garden at Chiswick House will be closed from January 2009 for a year, during building works. A new central and perimeter path will be laid, the walls will be re-pointed and wired for fruit trees, and all the trees apart from one oak and the mulberry will be cleared from the walled gardens. Restoring the Kitchen Garden as a garden is part of the reason that we exist, so we are very pleased that the paths and walls are to be fixed and the area is to be laid out as a garden (southern) and an orchard (northern).

We have been in discussion with the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust over access during this necessarily disruptive work. The Trust has confirmed to us that for safety reasons they will not permit access by children starting in January 2009. They have also confirmed that adult drop-in sessions will not be permitted from January but that they will review in June whether those sessions can be restarted.

To be clear, then,the following activities will be suspended at Chiswick House Kitchen Garden:

- Thursday morning School Sessions
- Weekly Duke of Edinburgh Award Sessions
- Weekly After School Gardening Club
- Weekly Tuesday Drop-In Sessions
- Monthly Sunday Drop-In Sessions
- Open Days

We will be allowed managed access so that we can maintain the garden while works proceed.

Beyond 2009
If works proceed to schedule, we are hopeful that by January 2010, at the latest, there will be full access once again. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to create an even more beautiful and peaceful garden in this space.

In Summary
These are uncertain times for us and the road ahead is not clear. On the positive side, we have achieved what we set out to, which is that the Kitchen Garden is being restored as a garden, and we have much to celebrate in that alone.

Green Corner Award for the Kitchen Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Chiswick House Kitchen Garden has won a prestigious Green Corner Award. Run by the Conservation Foundation, these prizes are awarded to ‘green corners that make the capital a brighter, greener and healthier place to live and also enrich the biodiversity of the capital.’

Local resident, historian Gill Clegg, who nominated the garden for the award, said : ‘As a disabled person, the kitchen garden is my little bit of heaven and one of the most interesting community projects taking place in Chiswick, my locality. I think the garden deserves the award because it fulfils an educational function and engenders community spirit, and because it brings so much joy to those who work in it and those who visit.’

Awards were presented by David Bellamy, co-founder of the Conservation Foundation, here seen pointing at Gill Clegg. Smiling proudly behind stand Jutta Wagner and Karen Liebreich of the Kitchen Garden.

September open day - sunshine and mellow fruitfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:18:00 +0000

Blessed by gorgeous weather, the open day was particularly successful, if we say it ourselves. 1,800 people – accurately counted for once – visited the gardens and made many appreciative comments. Following a couple of weeks after a major feature in The Garden magazine, and mentions in several national newspapers, locals and visitors from further afield took this last chance to see the Kitchen Garden in its current state.

We also kicked off our major art project - a huge mural of the whole park, painted tile by tile by participants - held in conjunction with Open Chiswick. The schoolchildren will keep working on this until the end of the year, and it is shaping up to be quite something.

This picture is taken across the cutting bed, showing red amaranths (love-lies-bleeding, bronze echinacea, blue echinops, white cosmos). On the very left of the image is the solitary pink cosmos flower that self-sowed itself into our marigold hedges, while his colleagues somehow missed their turns in the sowing timetable, leaving us deprived of a valuable source of late flowers, although some of his cousins have been guerilla planted in the tree bases along Sutton Court Road. In the background are two runner bean pyramids, with a selection of different runners - all equally uninmpressive this year - including Enorma, Hestia, Painted Lady, Prizewinner, Scarlet Emperor, Sunbright, Sunset. The large mad clump in the left background was Tree Spinach, mistakenly sown instead of Strawberry Spinach; we have cut this down about a metre but it just keeps on growing, and no-one seems keen to take it home to try, so we won't be growing this again. If anyone has any recipes, or would like to have a few bushels, let us know. Just in front of the mad spinach is an overwhelmed row of beans, and in front of that is a nice little row of late peas under netting. And in the far background is a selection of the people who came to the Kitchen Garden, meandered around, sat and looked or just sat, and enjoyed it.

September update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Last chance

This is the last chance to see the garden before the ‘big revamp’ next year, so if you have been meaning to come but putting it off…. You will still be able to come in and do some work, but you won’t be able to swan around admiring it for a year or so,– and when you do come back it will look very different.

Entrance will be from the A4 car park through a tiny gate in the midst of the Garrya elliptica (big hedge of tasselly overgrowth parallel to the A4). Come through the ‘magic forest’ where a kids'’ treasure trail will be held as usual, and then out into the lovely walled garden space to admire the veg, fruit, flowers and herbs at the culmination of the growing season.

Refreshments - more than usual, given the closure of the main café in the park - will be served in the polytunnel if wet, so you can admire our melons, aubergines and peppers as you sip your tea. So even if it is raining, still come.

There will be a plant sale, including fruit bushes and vines, sweet Williams and herbs.

All being well, with contractors and authorities and us all singing from the same song sheet, there should be disabled and buggy access, via the hockey field. (We’re practising our scales.)

September drop-in work session, Sunday September 7th, 1-5pm

Drop in and help us polish the garden in preparation for the open day. Potting up surplus plants for sale, weeding (of course!), dead-heading. Children welcome but with a responsible adult. All equipment supplied. Access,– see above.

Food growing classes

Provisional date set for Sunday 5th October. Price £30, which will include a free fruit bush or grape vine. More information to follow, and dependent on enough people being interested.

Buy our veg and flowers…

In collaboration with local not-for-profit organization, Chiswick Local Produce, we have been selling our surplus veg at Andreas, the greengrocer on Turnham Green Terrace, and our cutting flowers via Pot Pourri on the High Road. If you have a glut of your own fruit or veg that you would like to shift, contact Sarah Cruz on sa1design@aol.com.

Kitchen Garden news

We have been struggling a little through summer with various building works encroaching into the garden, which will not surprise anyone who has been using the park in the last months. We are told it will all be fabulous at the end but, as with any surgery, the process is painful.

Our main entrance, the big formal gates behind the conservatory, remains blocked as the builders continue their complicated trenching and drainage work, but they have made progress and we look forward to getting access to our greenhouses at some point (hopefully not too distant).

We remain in mourning for the pigs that we hoped would clear the northern walled garden, but given the archaeological trenches that were dug through the proto-piggy area shortly after they would have arrived, it was definitely the right decision.

The archaeologists also dug several trenches around the southern garden: as well as the two in the piggy orchard area, there was one in the sweet corn and pumpkins, one in the potatoes, one in the strawberries and one in the runner beans – but a couple of the trenches bore fruit (excuse the bitter pun), as they discovered evidence for the original path layout, and also – more excitingly - a large early 19th century well. The top of the well was 1.5m below surface layer (or, as we call it, the pumpkin layer), and extended down an impressive 4.5m. There was no water in it, and it much resembled a sort of round brick oubliette. The temptation to leave a souvenir for future archaeologists was strongly resisted.

These trenches, along with a soakaway alongside the Education Centre, have now been re-filled, and the schoolchildren who start coming for their work sessions from this week will be re-planting them in readiness for winter crops and, of course, for the open day, so we hope the gaps will barely be noticed.

Crop news

The tomatoes have been superb, due partly to the weather, and partly to the dedicated attention of Tomato Commander Roger Morsley Smith, who has ruthlessly marshalled his crops and produced a wonderful harvest. After a couple of years of disasters, the attention this year – in selecting blight-resistant, tasty, small varieties, and in training the plants correctly – has really paid off.

The grapes, cropping for the first time, looked good but were eaten this week, presumably by a squirrel or pigeon who also thought so.

Autumn raspberries, blueberries, melons, aubergines, peppers, brassicas, potato main crops, leeks, etc have also been superb, as well as the cutting flower bed which has proved very productive.

Other park news

Separate contractors are now working on the conservatory, the café and the hockey-field/access yard/riverside path. They are all due to be there for many months, over a year in some cases. The mobile café van is now open by the cricket pavilion, along with temporary loos.

August update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Kitchen Garden veg on sale at Andreas and flowers at Pot Pourri
We have formed a partnership with a local not-for-profit organization, Chiswick Local Produce, which aims to liaise between producers and consumers on a very local level. For fresh, organic local fruit and veg from the Kitchen Garden, look out for the dedicated section within the greengrocer’s, Andreas, on Turnham Green Terrace. And ask for the special local flower bunches at Pot Pourri on the High Road.

If you have a glut of your own fruit or veg that you would like to shift, contact Sarah Cruz from Chiswick Local Produce on sa1design@aol.com, 07771-768-411.

Pigs abandoned
We have sadly been forced to cancel our piggy project. We had everything all set to go with two little Tamworths, under the generous sponsorship of the Falcons School, and in association with Mackens the butcher on Turnham Green Terrace. The pigs would have cleared the northern walled garden, which is to be an orchard, rooting up all the bramble, and then done their baconian duty becoming sausages, hog roast etc. Meanwhile we would all have learnt a bit more about where our food comes from. We are really grateful to both the school and the Parents’ Association at Falcons, along with Mackens who were going to support us. It was all too complicated with the building works in the park, and although the Trust eventually agreed to the experiment, it was too late to sort out before they would have had to be slaughtered as the works progressed. Anyhow, we are now well equipped to appear on Mastermind with our special subject – keeping pigs, since we now know all about fencing, pignuts, DEFRA slap marks, heritage breeds, large animal vets, abattoir transport and so on, so it was not entirely wasted.

Food growing classes
We have had a good response to our suggestion about running food growing classes in September/October. It still seems like a long time away, so we are not asking for firm bookings now, but if this is of interest, please let us know. info@kitchengarden.org.uk

Kitchen Garden news
We finished our school session season (try saying that late at night…) and would like to say how much we have enjoyed having all the school children working in the gardens. We have done good gardening, had some splendid picnics, made some wonderful artwork. At the last session the kids squabbled amicably to grab the last beetroot, rocket, lettuce, carrots and redcurrants, and the teacher stood open-mouthed at the spectacle of children fighting for veg.

At least two of our tadpoles have successfully made it to frogdom, and two minuscule little amphibians the size of a fingernail were spotted enthusiastically hopping away from the pond a couple of weeks ago. We had a lecture on bees from local nature man, Mick Massie, and were were soon able to identify 4 different species hard at work on the hyssop in the maze. Yesterday we saw our first grasshoppers in the gravel garden.

Elsewhere in the park Mick identified a very rare bee, a solitary mining bee, Andrena florea, that only collects pollen from White Bryony. This provoked great excitement, since it is a Red Data Book species, ie. a significant endangered species found in very few sites in Britain. Unfortunately a large clump of bryony has just been ripped out as part of the yew hedge trimming.

In the Kitchen Garden we are currently struggling somewhat with the building works, although they are being very tolerant of our wish to remain gardening throughout the whole painful ‘regeneration’ period. Last week we harvested onions and carrots early from one bed to make way for the builders to install drainage works, only to be told that another couple of beds (potatoes, beans and pumpkins) must also be cleared for some surprise archaeologists. But nevertheless, the garden looks lovely, and we need archaeology and drainage too. I suppose.

Other park news
The House Festival was generally considered to be a great success, and the clear-up operation was immaculate. Fun was also had at the Friends Opera.

The park is, however, a bit of a depressing place at the moment. The old café closed down earlier this week and building work should start imminently on the new restaurant. The replacement mobile café, by the cricket pavilion is imminently expected, and the temporary loos are also immmently opening. The lake path remains closed awaiting imminent completion, along with the classic bridge. Contractors have started work on the conservatory so that’s out of bounds for the foreseeable future. The hockey field also remains out of bounds. Dukes Avenue is generally accessible with a bit of zig-zagging.

July update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:33:00 +0000

Charity registration
We have finally taken the leap, grown up and become a proper registered charity. One of our committee members, the heroic Robert Ward Dyer, took the lead, and under his guidance and at no cost to the project, we have smoothly made the transition. Our aims and work procedures remain identical; the main difference is the extra text and numbers at the foot of our letterheads. For our part, we have seen an increase in junk mail offering to deal with our (non-existent) charitable funds, and spend our (non-existent) income on consultancy fees. We assure you that we will resist, and any donations to our brand-new charity will go directly to the project as they always have.

What’s growing…In the garden, most things are growing beautifully. Our potatoes are an absolute triumph, and each week the children dig up a different variety, obsessively graded from first earlies, via second earlies to early mains and so forth, and totter back to school with a sackful of spuds for supper.

As the potatoes come up, so the squashes and pumpkins go in. Last year at one of our open days someone from a squash-growing association muttered deprecatingly about our restricted choice; earlier this year he (sorry, name forgotten in the mists of the co-ordinator’s increasingly addled brain cells) turned up with some exciting seed packages and now Amish Pie, Hubbards’ Special, Australian Cheese and many other varieties are going in. In the autumn we will have an extraordinary show and feast.

…and what’s not
Sadly, other crops are faring less well. The many varieties of sweet corn, brought back lovingly from a holiday in Peru - big blue corns, stripey red corns, enormous white corns like a moon disc - produced beautiful seedlings. Alas, within a few weeks the new super-squirrels – a kind of black, S-class squirrel, faster and smarter and hungrier than the grey ones, though we have them too – had worked out how to lift the net for his mates and slash down our sweet corn. Although we probably should have grown fewer varieties, since sweet corn cross-pollinates, it is harsh to have them all destroyed quite so thoroughly.

Under glass, sorry plastic
Our polytunnel is still there, although it has shown an alarming tendency to depart for pastures new whenever the wind freshens. We thought it was very temporary, having been promised our greenhouses back in four months, but now the builders have discovered exciting things in the yard outside – confused drainage and much interesting archaeology, including a well – so it seems our polytunnel may need stronger anchoring. But within its shelter, a crop of melons, aubergines and peppers is beginning to swell with great promise.

Our June open day went very well. We sold lots of plants, heard lots of good comments, enjoyed ourselves and we hope visitors enjoyed themselves too.

Other park news
We welcome the new director, Sarah Finch-Crisp, who joins the project from Lydiard in Swindon where she sorted out a similar park. We look forward to working with her, and wish her good luck. Our experience of this park indicates she’ll probably need it, but hey – we’re still here.

The café will, sadly, be closing on 28 July. The big hole in front of it is still there, but work will be starting in August to transform it – in a year or two – into the new park café. In the lake, the two cygnets are growing beautifully, and soon we should be able to return to the lakeside path, to admire them from the newly smooth and wide path.

The baddies are gradually picking off the lead from the Temple, initially from the rear, but now they have got brave and are peeling off the front too. If anyone sees them there, call the police urgently; it seems to be happening at all hours, not just night time.

Volunteers are certified

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:43:00 +0000

Several of the Kitchen Garden’s most long-serving and hard-working volunteers received thank you certificates this week from the Volunteer Centre Hounslow.

Jutta Wagner received hers for all the work she puts into designing and planning the garden, timetabling sowing and planting so effectively that the school visits always have a selection of growing tasks, and making the garden beautiful and harmonious.

Alan Wadner received his for keeping the garden running on a day-to-day basis so effectively, ensuring that equipment and all other practical aspects of the project are well managed.

Helen Whitman runs the gardening club and the plant stall in the café with great panache.

Jennie Figaro is responsible for the school picnics that follow each gardening session, and also takes special responsibility for ensuring the greenhouses are always spic and span.

Madeleine Dinkel has taken responsibility for the mature lemon trees discovered dying in a locked greenhouse, which she has nursed back to health over the past three years.

Nicky Milligan has been in charge of seed-sowing with the schools, ensuring a continual supply of accurately sown and evenly spaced seedlings from the hands of small children.

Mary Walker is one of the longest-established and most reliable members of the school team.

Sarah Morris-Bray, Volunteer Support Project Manager, said: ‘It was lovely to have the chance to come down and present these awards in such a nice setting. This kind of project just couldn’t function without the hours of hard work, enthusiasm and dedication of volunteers like these.’

Project Co-ordinator Karen Liebreich commented: ‘We were only allowed to choose about half-a-dozen, and in fact there are 30 or 40 of us working very hard on this project, so it was almost impossible to choose. But these guys have been outstanding in their commitment.’

Open Day, Sunday June 8th, 1-5pm

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Come and admire the garden, try the herbal maze, buy some plants, have a nice cup of tea, test your seed knowledge, make a plant collage, do a treasure trail in the scary magic forest. 25 different varieties of potato, 19 varieties of sweet corn (although two have been devoured by some strange beast), fruit including banana plants, blue berries and avocados...

Entrance free, via the car park on the A4. Photo shows kids from Belmont preparing for the Open Day and drawing pictures for the exhibition.

May update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:20:00 +0000

Everywhere in the garden things are bursting forth, with plants and weeds enjoying the alternate rain and sun. The herbal maze is in flower, the potatoes are beautifully heaped, and the fruit is ripening promisingly.

We had a bit of a surprise a few weeks ago when we suddenly heard that we would no longer have access to the greenhouses during working hours, so we needed a very urgent complete re-think of the way we work. If the kids were no longer able to pot up and sow seeds in the greenhouse, what would happen to our seed-sowing timetable? Luckily we recalled seeing a roll of old polytunnel cover in the back sheds, and with the help of the building contractors, UPM Tilhill (thanks guys!) we covered the decrepit shade tunnel and transformed it – with a lot of hard work – into our new greenhouse replacement. Just in time for a torrential downpour during the school session last Thursday.

We also have a new tadpole tank, with some of the fattest tadpoles in town, and they are enjoying weekly free-range steak off-cuts from Mackens that send them into a piranha-like frenzy that is scary to behold. Don't put your hand in the tank kids..

Other park news
Building work has started. The portakabins in the back yards are almost gone, and construction of an enormous new compost heap is to start soon. The path alongside the lake is being re-routed and re-surfaced. The bricked-up arch from the A4 car park is reopened, and this now forms the new entry from the car park. The archaeologists in front of the café are happily digging away, logging and photographing the remains of the old service wing (stables, brewery, etc), and the volerie (Lady Burlington’s bird garden), old walls, pathways and drains.
The geese have had goslings, the moorhens have chicks, the mallards as usual have nothing. This year, after rolling two eggs off a sloping nest into the lake, the swans finally produced two cygnets, only for the male swan to die earlier this week, probably by crashing into the bridge defending his brood. The single mother is now working over-time; if you can’t see the cygnets, they may well be hiding on her back where they are almost invisible.

Spring Open Day

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:57:00 +0000

It is true that we all got drenched just as the gates opened, and then it remained threatening but not actually raining, until the sun came out brightly - just as we shut the gates on the last visitors.

But: the keen plant seekers were still queuing at the gates for the best seedlings and were rewarded with many excellent quality, competitively priced and unusual plants. Where else can you browse through so many varieties of mint – lavender mint, ginger mint, orange mint, apple, pineapple, English lamb… all lovingly potted up through winter by the strict Mint Monitor. Herbs, flowers, vegetable seedlings surplus to requirement were snapped up.

The garden looked fabulous, though we say so ourselves, although it is early in the season and it will get even better. The tulips were lovely, held back by the cold and the wet, and all looked neat and full of promise. The treasure trail through the sodden forest was busy, storytime by popular demand starred the Gruffalo, and weet pea wigwams were woven by the brave (and we have a couple of extra ones to sell now, if anyone needs one).

The Bee Man showed off his hive and sold his special local honey, which is not only one of the tastiest in town, but also has, it is rumoured, special anti-allergenic properties for hayfever sufferers from the same locality as the bees. And let’s not forget the Breadshop, who have – along with the Bee Man – been to every single Kitchen Garden opening. They are always first to arrive for set up in the morning , and they always spend the first hour scratching their head over the gazebo, but they are still the first to be ready when everyone else is panicking. And they have a special place in our affections because, every week, rain or shine, all through the year, the Breadshop – based on Chiswick High Road, but with a few select branches throughout London - supply our school sessions with free loaves of their extremely delicious bread to accompany the salad picnics or soups that the school kids devour after their work sessions in the Kitchen Garden.

Open Day Sunday 27th April, 1-5pm

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:48:00 +0000

A rare opportunity to visit one of London’s rare working kitchen gardens this Sunday. Only open to the public on three occasions this year.

A chance to buy interesting plants - unusual herbs, vegetables and cutting flowers – 14 different types of mint, thymes, artichokes, etc.

Have a go at willow weaving, plant a pea or a bean planting, do a treasure trail in the magic forest. Stalls include fresh bread, local honey, aloe vera products and refreshments.

Entrance free.

Lizzie Slater, 29 June 1956 - 5 April 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:30:00 +0000

The Kitchen Garden was much saddened at the death of Lizzie Slater whose funeral was held yesterday.

Lizzie and I first became acquainted in Budgens a few years ago where we stood and blocked an aisle for 40 minutes and bemoaned the fate of our local park, Chiswick House Grounds. Lizzie began to try and extract information from the authorities about their plans for the future, but she soon became an integral part of the Kitchen Garden project itself.

Every Thursday, rain or shine, a different class of schoolchildren attends, and for the last two years Lizzie was one of the main helpers at these sessions. Her speciality was potatoes – first planting them and then digging them up, with the children. If I could explain that we have 25 different varieties this year, you will understand that this is no small task. I could in fact assign Lizzie to any job, knowing that the kids would have fun, would learn a lot, and that the job would be well done. I gave a talk to Kew last month on our educational work, and I used an image of Lizzie with her group of kids planting away to show best practice.

She often commented that walking round Chiswick now kids would acknowledge her, particularly noting her curly hair – Frizzy Lizzie - and remembering the good time they had had digging in the garden and chatting to her.

On Kitchen Garden open days, Lizzie’s first task was to draw an artistic and baffling treasure trail for the kids to follow in the magic forest. Then her job was to police the maze, which she did with the same combination of humour and firmness that she used while working with the kids.

The other job Lizzie took on was running the little plant stall in the café. Her flower arrangements were particularly successful. She would pick the ingredients, say dahlias and verbenas, and then spend quite a bit of time making the bunches really beautiful.

The last Thursday, the day before she died, Lizzie had a lovely day. We got to the garden about 10 and we stayed there until gone 3. She sowed seeds, potted up angelica seedlings, and a few of us sat in the sun and chatted, and we were happy. When we left, Lizzie took chard and kale for herself, and for her neighbour. Lizzie found a haven and a respite in the Kitchen Garden.

The Kitchen Gardeners will miss her, on a personal and on a practical level. The garden is heaving with plants that Lizzie tended, and the greenhouse is bursting forth with seedlings – nasturtiums, melons, kohl rabi - that Lizzie sowed. We hope to get an olive tree for the centre of the herbal maze in her memory. It is terrible that she will not be there to see the spring, but she will be very much missed and very much present.

Karen Liebreich
Friend and Kitchen Garden co-ordinator

If anyone would like to contribute towards Lizzie's olive tree, please get in touch.

BBC's Jelly the Frog comes to film

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Liebreich) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Spring is sprung and we have had some glorious days – and one or two really nasty cold wet ones, usually when one of the toddler groups has been visiting. Seeing their little hands all frost-bitten as they try to dig in a howling gale, sometimes makes us wonder if we are being too tough on them. But then, again, they each went home with a planted pea in a pot, and apparently they are all happy and want to come again, so I guess we were not tough enough.

The early potatoes are in, the broad beans are growing away, the first rows of parsnips and carrots have been sown. Heaps of leaf mould and compost have been enthusiastically barrowed around the gardens by wobbly learner drivers. This week we started to sow all the tender stuff in the greenhouse – aubergines, chillis, tomatoes…

Wildlife ‘pond’

We have ‘acquired’ a large water tank that was in danger of being demolished, and some frog spawn has been rescued from the jaws of the ducks in the lake, another blob from a drying-up puddle, so we plan to install some kind of rough and ready wildlife pond this weekend. We hope to build up some logs rescued from the tree felling in the park to create a happy frog paradise around the tank, and camouflage it a bit; perhaps we will plant the resulting structure with some alpines that we have been donated. Hopefully this will be done on the April drop-in session.

Famous visitor: A frog named Jelly...

A propos, frog paradise, Jelly - who is a fluorescent green frog puppet - from Cbeebies (BBC digital children’s TV) came to visit the garden to do some filming. This meant little to those of us who are over five years old, but it turns out Jelly is a big star… Some children from St Mary’s came to help Jelly plant potatoes, spinach and peas, and the Kitchen Gardeners tried very hard to talk with a straight face about vegetables to a chatty frog puppet. The episode should be transmitted next year (!) and we will of course be boasting about it nearer the time. Congratulations to the children who had to barrow their load past the camera so many times that the worms in the compost got quite dizzy.

Dukes Meadows wildlife garden
The plug plants that some of the kids planted up in autumn have been transferred up to the new wildlife garden in the old paddling pools, and planted up by Cavendish school. They don’t look like much yet, so if anyone is up there, don’t play on them! Hopefully there will be a lovely meadow up there soon. Many thanks to Barretts for providing the subsoil, and to Burleys – the park gardeners – for transporting the plants over. And of course thanks to all the kids, under the firm direction of Nicky Milligan, for all the planting.

Park news

Tree cutting has finished for now, in order to let the birds get on with some nesting. The camellia shrubbery in particular, and the far bank of the lake saw quite a bit of felling. The archaeologists are moving in next week to check out the area that is to be covered by the new café, which was the old stable area, and part of the volerie (bird garden) of Lady Burlington (opposite the current café). Otherwise all is waiting on the appointment of a new site director, and the start of works, initially around the access yard (behind the conservatory).

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

These have been held on alternate weekends, but are about to switch to Mondays after-school. If anyone can’t make the after-school sessions, they can continue with the monthly drop-ins, along with some additional help, for instance at the Open Day.

The team is very strong this year (well, there are lots of them, anyhow) and they have cleared ivy and brambles from a row of elderberry trees, with some finishing touches from some muscular Belmont school parents, so we hope for elderberry champagne and cordial later in the year. Then the teenagers were dragged through bushes backwards in the undergrowth of the northern garden to retrieve useful bits of wire, and emerged tousled but triumphant.