Kitchen Garden Guides

Sunday, September 21, 2008

BLOGGERS DAY IN OXFORD

image They arrived in dribs and drabs, as bloggers are want to do, and there were laughs and introductions and handshakes as faces and blogs were paired, like playing snap! Talk was of posts, vegetables, comments and the weather - which was warm and sunnier than the whole rest of summer put together, evidently. There were about 15 people in all. We moved the chairs outside, some seeking the sun, some the shade.....actually it was like a cool spring day in Adelaide but the locals thought it was quite hot! The Oxford Botanic Gardens have lawns that any Australian would die for....soft, fine,dense, brilliant green.....heavenly.

 

 

image There was a bloke there with no blog! He turned out to be Ben, the guest speaker from Real Seeds and what an absolutely lovely bloke. He spoke about the importance of seedsaving....much along the lines of the thing I wrote called 'Sowing the Seeds of Civilisation' and cleverly used a string time line and pegs to illustrate where we have come from and what devastation lies ahead if we don't take care of our seeds. He even said that seed companies should only sell each type of seeds once to each customer, after that the grower should save them for themselves.....not bad for a bloke whose job it is to sell seeds! His passion for biodiversity is paramount. Most of these bloggers don't save seeds and that was a bit of a surprise to me, seeing as how all the people in Adelaide I know do try to save seeds and it is just a part of what we do; a part of growing food and treading lightly on the earth. I hope they will think more about it after hearing Ben's wonderful talk.

image Then Patrick spoke on his passion for growing garlic....he is growing 100 varieties and has 1000 plants....and that is a lot of garlic!! Needless to say he brought lots to give away and I have some now to give to the people in France who I will be visiting soon. It was so good to meet Patrick...he is a little different to what I expected...but who isn't, in blogland?image

Next Simon spoke about the changing face of allotment gardens and about his shed and his love of sitting there, outside his shed, and having a chat with other gardeners.....and he even has written some poems about it. He feels connected to the history of the place and all the other people who have gardened in what is temporarily his space, for longer than white people have lived in Australia. All this is a side I hadn't thought about before because in Australia we are focused on the produce more than the history..... and as more people take up plots like Simon's because of talk of food miles and peak oil and chemicals, the less emphasis the history and the vibes and the connections there may be and the more the plots may become a commodity. Nothing is what it seems, in life, and I really enjoyed hearing what Simon had to say and would like to talk more with him and for him to show me his plot.

image We set up rugs under the trees and shared our lunch...it was great to eat tomatoes from Patrick's garden....it is that whole connection thing and the fact that I haven't had a home-grown tomato since the end of our last summer, about March! There we all were, most having never met before, talking and laughing like old friends because everyone has a blog and everyone reads at least some of the other blogs....even this one!image

 

 

 

 

image Back inside we shared our seeds and plants and I have quite a selection to now take to France and I gave away some of our seeds ....soon Joy's cos, Kathy's celery, my chrysanthemum greens, the Bari cucumber and Cath's capsicums etc etc will hopefully be growing in gardens and greenhouses around England and in Amsterdam. And some of Wilson's tropical beans will grace the greenhouses in gardens far and wide.

Along with many other people out to enjoy the sunshine, we wandered around the Botanic gardens and it was interesting to see what what worthy of note to people from these colder climates. Succulents were individually displayed in the glasshouses along with many plants we would consider very ordinary! Nobody seemed interested in the cottage gardens and that wonderful winding pathway of lawn with not a blade missing!! But everyone was interested in the vegetables and I was totally astounded at the size of the rhubarb leaves and stems!image

After most people had left, some of us went and got a coffee at a cafe across the road (which badly needs lessons in making a decent coffee.....but the lemon cake was good!) and then later, Patrick, Steph and I had dinner and got to know each other better which was lovely. All this....just because of blogs and vegetables.....who would have thought....image

 

 

 

 

 

Look Wilson, look what I found growing in Oxford!!

 

 

I am off now to do some washing as I have been away for almost a week and that is the limit of my clothes, which fit nicely into what most people carry onto a plane as hand luggage....it is just the electronics that are cramping my minimalist approach to travel! Here is the list of the all the bloggers  that came yesterday.....

Bifurcated Carrots

Vegplotting

Spadework

The Plot Thickens

Fluffetus Muppetus

Soilman

Manor Stables Vegetable Plot

Mustardplaster

Daughter of the Soil 

Real Seeds

7 comments:

Maggie said...

HI Kate, sounds like a great day.
Fluffius Muppetus has some photos too.
Simon sounds a real character, I love his award winning shed, its written up under Castles of the Soil 09/07/08.
Well next we shall see you in France.
Post lots of pastry pictures for me, oh! and gardens and markets of course.

Kate said...

Maggie, if I didn't know you better I would think you did nothing but eat pastries! I think you have mentioned them in every comment! Once in France I will be sure to not only photograph them but eat them and report on them too!

Soilman said...

Great to meet you, Kate, and thanks for the Mooli seeds! They'll be growing down the allotment next April.
Hope your trip continues well, and that you get home safe and sound.

Kate said...

Thanks Soilman....call in again and let me know how the seeds go.Nice to meet you too, shame you had to go early.

VP said...

Kate - lovely to meet you! I wish I could have stayed to dinner and got to know you, Patrick and Steph a little better. But that's the beauty of blogland - we can catch up on here as well!

Enjoy the rest of your trip :D

Maggie said...

Hi Kate, I notice you are changing the names of the places you visit. Can we vote on this? I reckon Frogpond is a better name than Oxfrod!
Now as for looking at food on the blog and eating it, well I am always happy to see one of Pattie's vegetarian pizza's and I have not put on weight yet.
Um what else would I like to see while you are in France!

Patrick said...

Hi Kate,

This is a great post!

I hope all is going well with the rest of your trip. It was nice to meet you.