Newsletter
Congratulations to Monty Don on winning the PPA's Columnist of the Year award. It's reassuring to see that first class writing still wins out in a media world largely driven by scoops, stories, sleaze and sex. Over the years Monty's Observer columns helped me
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I've been keeping a close eye on the sweetcorn, watching as the tops started to turn brown and anticipating that first, buttery, barbecued corn on the cob. And then last night the badgers crossed the meadow, worked their way through the stock beds, stepped delicately over the courgettes
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Is this the most perfect Dahlia? The warmth and complexity of colour, the rich dark foliage gently supporting the flowers with their perfect neat form. That 'Frank Cooper Oxford Cut Marmalade' blend of soft orange. I love it.
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My RHS Diploma practical results are due any day and I must be subconsciously more jittery about it than I'm prepared to admit. Last night I dreamt I'd got the results through and though I'd scraped a pass, I got 0/100 on one
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My first weekly spot on Channel M went out last night - not bad for my first self-scripted and presenter-led broadcast! Looks like I'm getting a regular slot on Mondays. Click here for Channel M's site.... http://www.channelm.co.uk/
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I have much to thank Christopher Lloyd for, though I never met him. Perhaps it's Fergus Garrett's influence I really owe, who I've met several times and liked very much. Essentially friendly but with no time for pointless small talk. A man more at
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The first rule of veg growing is that it is impossible not to grow a surplus of runner beans. And they aren't the most versatile of cooking ingredients. Once you've steamed them, or steamed them then sauted with garlic or whatever, you've just about
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Last year Hazel, Holly and I collected seeds from the Woodland Trust meadow at the top of the lane. Dave and I sowed them in a patch of spare ground near the car park and here's the result. Not only does it look great, but its a starter
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Getting to the veg plot now entails full waterproofs and a machete to cut through the overhanging and dripping stock beds. Once there, the scene is straight out of 'The Day of the Triffids' - the runner bean canes are listing perilously under the weight of plants towering
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I've been presented with a small window of opportunity to apply for a garden space at Chelsea next year. I've got a couple of half-cooked ideas, but can only contemplate it with sponsorship. My instinctive style is naturalistic with a contemporary feel, not edgy or uber-modernistic.
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We picked up our all-important Tatton sign off slip today confirming that we've cleared the site and can go home. The paving and walls went to the Levenshume allotment team who arrived in force yesterday with a large van and seemingly limitless energy. Pics and details to follow.
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You can set your clock by it - at 4pm on the last day of Tatton Show the heavens will open, and the exhibitors will squelchily haul plants out of the ground and hand bags of plant and mud to passers by in exchange for a few quid. Funny really