Our Heale volunteer @rachelwillis555 has lent me a wonderful book, which I have dipped in and out of, called The Country House Kitchen Garden 1600-1950 published with the National Trust. It recalls all sorts of fascinating facts about the role of a Head Gardener through the years and it is amazing how things have changed. Through some of the records kept by the Gardeners at the time, we seem to have moved on but only just! And I can certainly see where the modern Gardeners role has come from by reading such historical accounts. One thing I have noticed is how we haven't always moved on for the better. In times gone by the HG would not only be growing more variety of plants for the garden and to sell but would have more time, more helpers and invest time in (and be expected to have the skills to be able to work with) Bee keeping. "Bee houses may always be rendered agreeable, and often ornamental objects: they are particularly suitable for flower gardens and enliven a kitchen garden, communicating a particular impression of industry and usefulness". There would be teams working in glass houses producing the finest and exotic fruits; Grapes, Figs, Pineapples. Work was hugely labour intensive but also productive.
We have certainly lost productivity in many ways. Both of my clients have my help to grow fruit and veg and still buy to fill the gap. Of course now we have more choice and there is less need to produce because we can just pop to the supermarket.
I am interested in the rise of the Restaurant which aims to have the Kitchen Garden at the heart of its operation in the modern day. These are the Restaurants I prefer to visit. The Ethicurean in Bristol will always be my favourite. A huge, beautifully situated Walled garden with a fantastic and experimental restaurant attached to it in the old glasshouse. The food is almost entirely sourced from the garden or locally.
Another is Pythouse, near Tisbury, again a beautiful Walled garden, maintained to serve the restaurant with veg, herbs and flowers.
I visited The Pig, Brockenhurst, this week. A Hotel which claims "it all starts in the Kitchen Garden". Upon arrival you can meander along a brick path to view the Walled garden and take a look in the greenhouses, where I found lots of micro greens ready for service. Just outside by the pond, there were the Bee hives! And Chickens and many beautifully tended raised beds filled with spinach, Beets, Leaves, Turnip, Swede, Lettuce. Managed very well.
Inside my lunch was from Carrots raised just outside (a bright orange Carrot Rissotto), salads grown in the greenhouse, herbs too.
This type of veg growing is fantastic to see but ultimately is for those of us who can afford such luxury (Yes I am lucky to be able to sometimes, I am aware!) and not for the masses. The masses have to find a spot big enough to grow their own or maintain an allotment for themselves.
So, have we moved on with our a Kitchen Gardens, have we lost them in many ways and are we creating them anew because it is a trendy way of selling the idea to a new generation? I am not sure. I do find it fascinating though and I will continue to love every detail of the way we used to grow veg whilst all the time trying to move onwards and upwards!
