Friday, 22 March 2013

Guest Post: Wonder

Star struck in Kenilworth
by Mandy and Kaz - @2_littlepeas

We’ve been so pleased to get to know Tom the Hapless Gardener on Twitter - especially as like him we’re allotment newbies. There’s so much to learn and everyone else seems like an expert - we feel like we’re Mandy and Kaz the Hapless Allotmenteers!


So we were really excited about our visit last weekend to the Edible Garden Show near Kenilworth: a chance for us to learn a few things and to do some allotment goodie shopping to help us get started ...



And here are some of the brilliant things that happened to us, all in one day!



We met James Wong, of BBC and “Grow Your Own Drugs” fame! The last time I saw him he was Cornish wrestling on BBC1’s Country File, and it was great to meet him for real! He was giving a talk about how to grow your own kitchen micro garden, and he was really happy to stop and chat (and be photographed with!!) afterwards.



Then amazingly we got chatting to ‘Kathy Perks’ (real name Hedli Niklaus) from the Archers at the Archers Addicts stall. Kaz is one of the biggest followers of the Archers, and couldn’t believe her luck. We got the inside information on all the shenanigans in Borsetshire ... As well as a free Archers Addicts mug - could things get any better?!

We then listened to a fantastic talk by Alys Fowler. Alys presented an amazing BBC series the Edible Garden a couple of years ago and has presented Gardeners World as well, and her talk was all about life on her vegetable garden. We picked up some great tips - we especially liked her use of a brood of chickens to de-slug the allotment - labour-saving and effective! Result!



We loved looking round the stalls as well - we bought some great things for the allotments - lots of lovely seeds (especially pleased with some brilliant wildflower seeds), plug plants, tomato plants, and some great tools - and also found a man who sold the most amazing fudge and olives! Mmm!

What more could we have asked for? Great gardening tips, lots of interesting people to meet, some fabulous shopping, stepping into the world of the Archers - and a photo opportunity with James Wong!

We’re not sure if we’ll turn into anything other than Hapless Allotmenteers - but we’ll be back at the EDS next year! :-) 

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Mandy and Kaz, aka @2_littlepeas on Twitter have been among the most enthusiastic new allotmenteers I've had the pleasure of chatting with.

They've got a lovely website called Little Beginnings and I get the feeling will be very happy to make new gardening friends on their Facebook site too 

Thank you both for writing, I don't think it'll be long before you have a little pitch at EDS and we'll be coming to have our pics taken!

Right, having had such energetic company, I can't let this bed get cold. If you're up for writing a piece on the emotion that gets you most in the garden drop me an email - or if you think there's someone I should ask to write then do let me know: Thehaplessgardener@gmail.com or @haplessgardener




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The Hapless Kitchen Gardener

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I only feel hapless because some people make it look easy to grow 10 ft marrows or a banquet of greens whereas my courgettes got nabbed by killer slugs and I only got one raspberry. So tips and stories from people less hapless than I are more than welcome. As a disclaimer though, none of my comments should be taken as expert advice on which you can rely! © Unless stated otherwise, and with the exception of guest content where that guest retains copyright, all photos and posts are the copyright of Tom Carpen and may not be used without permission.