THE MYSTERY OF PERENNIAL VEG?

The mystery was solved by ex-police detective inspector James Ellson, who is now a renowned author. He and his wife are living the good life in their smallholding in Hayfield, he also has a passion for fruit trees, especially apples.

James gave a informative talk on sustainability as he explained the facts and expressed a clear case for perennial veg, delving into the case and separating fact from fiction with great enthusiasm, why in this day and age we should be planting perennial veg. He put up a good case in favour of perennial vegetables taking into account climate changes; we all can do our bit to help improve our soil vitality and help the environment.

We will all be talking and thinking about this for weeks to come and how to implement some, if not all, of the hints and tips into our daily lives.

Following the theme of perennial planting, Darley Dale Horticultural Society visited Breezy Knees, which is the largest garden in the north of England. To put this into perspective, not many people have heard of Breezy Knees, but have heard of Monty Don’s garden Longmeadow which is 2 acres, while Breezy Knees is ten times larger at 20 acres.

It is hard image a huge garden which is a labour of love with quirky statues and cascading borders and beds. The scenes rejoice with the gentle drift of colours and scents as they waft through the air and we walk around the themed areas, with some 10,000 different varieties. This gives flowering succession while each area is dedicated to a month May to September. This is definitely one of Yorkshire’s best kept secrets.

As we approach the start of our autumn programme, we had a coach trip to the RHS Garden at Harlow Carr, which is an inspirational garden with plenty of ideas to take home, and a vast garden centre which caters to all tastes. The gardens vibrated with live music with humorous songs about vegetables. There was numerous food outlets with something to tempt every pallet. The theme throughout the garden was ‘plot to plate’ with several live lectures.

We will be hosting Gardeners’ Question Time, a BBC Radio 4 programme, on Tuesday 23rd September at The Whitworth Institute, all tickets are now sold out. Refreshments will be available.

The next meeting is on Friday 26th September, with a talk on ‘The importance of native planting’ by Edward Cook. All meetings are held at the Methodist Hall at 7.30pm. Visitors are always welcome.