Delicious Garden: A Yummy Book About Seasons (Yummy Board Books)

Product Information

In this month’s podcast, Fiona chats to environmentalist Jane Davidson – our new Vice President - about the impact of climate change on her life and her gardening.

We're doing a lot of work conserving Scottish native flora, as well as plants that are dying out in the rest of the world,” says Kirsty. “It’s important to understand biodiversity and plant life – and the species that are struggling - so we can protect them…and raise awareness with governments.” She shares the benefits of permeable paths and gravel gardens for absorbing run off. And growing a short flowering lawn – with beneficial plants - for attracting insects. Fiona and Emma also discuss how low hedges of lavender and herbs can function as pollinator corridors, and which wildlife habitats can be slotted into a small garden.Everything we do at THE PIGs is drive by the Kitchen Garden, and we know so many people share our passion for all things plot to plate! New for 2022, we have launched an exciting series of ‘grow your own' workshops at THE PIG-at Combe, our Elizabethan gem in the Otter Valley – ‘Kitchen Garden Gurus’. These workshops are hosted by our Group Head Kitchen Gardener Ollie Hutson and a local friend of ours Mark Diacono along with a few members of THE PIG team. When putting these workshops together we couldn’t think of anyone better to join us than Mark Diacono! Local to THE PIG-at Combe and with over two decades of experience pioneering Kitchen Gardening across the generations with River Cottage and Otter Farm, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge to share alongside our own PIG expertise. Chris shares insights into tomato blight, and how to bring a pop of autumn colour into your planting schemes. And from the postbag, Anton discusses harvesting carrots and parsnips and autumn seed sowing. The August garden might be bursting at the seams but now’s a great time to be planning for next year.

Nuts include almonds, macadamia, hazelnut, and pecan. Grains include quinoa, amaranth, and oat. Culinary herbs include flavourful oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, basil, bay, and chives. Spice plants include horseradish, ginger, garlic, and wasabi. Teas grown in the food garden include peppermint, fennel, chamomile, lemon balm, and bergamot. He chats to Kirsty Wilson, herbaceous supervisor at the botanic gardens, to discover more about its 350-year-old living collection of plants and its research projects. In the afternoon everyone enjoyed a locally-sourced 25 mile sharing lunch in The Folly with THE PIG-at Combe’s Head Chef, Dan Gavriilidis, taking them through the menu and their lunch, explaining the importance of our 25-mile suppliers. After lunch was the time to ask those all-important questions! Mark and Ollie held a Q&A session to end the day so we could really get into the nitty-gritty of growing at home.The purpose of a food garden is, of course, to grow food. A garden may be to supplement a bit of your produce, grow and can a year’s worth of pasta sauce, or feed your entire family. Whatever your garden goal, planning out the food garden is a key part of success. Here are some crop idea lists to help you plan out your own food garden. Vegetable food garden crops The day started with a light breakfast on arrival in The Folly, followed by an introduction to Mark and Ollie and then teas and coffees – of course! Our group then headed to explore the Kitchen Garden to take a look at everything our team are growing currently which includes various different mustards, various brightly coloured chards and oyster mushrooms. We all then enjoyed a delicious garden-inspired soft tipple followed by Mark and Ollie discussing how to start your own Kitchen Garden and top tips for growing undercover. We’ve lost 70 per cent of species in my lifetime…and we’re likely to exceed the crucial 1.5 degrees this year - and that's a massive wake-up call,” says Jane, who is Chair of Wales Net Zero 2035. “I'm absolutely passionate about the idea that if we teach young children about the value of nature, then we actually breed habits that can sustain forevermore.