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Days before Christmas - gifts for gardeners

 

As I write this, looking out onto a white world, it really does feel wintry, and yes, so Christmassy. With only thirteen days to go until the big day though, I can assure you I'm not one of those who is already smiling smugly knowing that every single card has been written and every present chosen and wrapped.

 

Oh no, this year I'm one of the "Oh it can't be that time already, and what the hell am I going to buy for x, y and z " gang. Before you start tut-tutting though, I have bought the cards, and even written over half of them.

 

So if you're like me and a little tardy shall we say, I thought I would suggest some perfect presents for anyone interested in gardening. ....items that I've already road tested by reviewing,and by buying.

 

Firstly, if anyone asks me what I would like for Christmas, books are usually top of my list. Cookbooks, gardening books, history books, novels by favourite authors, or book tokens make me a very appreciative person!

 

Here, I've chosen three gardening books which have made me smile, think and given me inspiration.

 

The first is "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben. I have loved reading this paperback which talks about trees not only communicating with each other through their roots, but supporting each other. In the author's eyes, trees in forests form a real society where older trees look after younger ones and other trees close by.

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently, they can definitely feel pain (and I am now so dreadfully guilty about having my old ash tree chopped down after it was severely damaged by Storm Doris.) I'm not surprised at that statement but do they have emotions? Peter Wohlleben says they have, and his book is so persuasive, I believe him.

 

This is a fascinating book about why trees growing in a forest grow stronger and can learn from each other. It may sound provocative, but I'll be certainly looking at trees in a different way.

Published by William Collins Books and costing £9.99, this will certainly get you talking over Christmas! 

 


A glossy, beautifully photographed and well-written book is a joy, and this is one of my favourite gardening books this year. Ideal for a present, "The Secret Gardens of  East Anglia" by Barbara Segall and photographed by Marcus Harpur shortly before his death this summer, is packed with inspiration.

Although these gardens are described as secret, many of them open their gates for charity each year.
The photographs here are beguiling , capturing the wonderful light in this part of the country, secret corners, lavish borders, and grand vistas.

  Barbara takes you on a magical journey through such different landscapes with stories of how these gardens were designed or evolved. It's as if she's introducing you to the owners and you are there in the gardens with them having a private tour. You also get a feel of the challenges involved too....which I always relish, because then I don't feel so inadequate when things go wrong.



There's only one garden in this book that I've actually visited, and that's The Manor at Hemingford Grey in Cambridgeshire, so I was particularly interested to read Barbara's take on this. Her opening sentence is
"If only gardens could talk. Were it so, then the garden at the Manor, Hemingford Grey would have more stories to tell than most, for it surrounds the atmospheric home of the late Lucy Boston, an acclaimed writer of children's novels."

That sets the tone for this garden and house with the echoes of ghosts throughout the centuries, both real and imagined, but as well as dealing with the historical and fanciful, there's practicality too with the names of striking plants.

A fair number of the gardens selected are quite large, some are rather grand and I'd love to see inside the houses too - but then I'm insatiably curious. However, there are so many ideas that could be scaled down successfully to smaller plots and there are lots of ideas to be inspired by.

Whether you are seduced by a parterre, a rose bower, a knot garden , a herb garden, terraces, kitchen gardens, or innovative planting, there's something for everyone in this book. Barbara's keen eyes have spotted everything...and I know because I've actually walked around a couple of other gardens with her. She immediately hones on little pockets of beauty or will stand and stare, taking in  the bigger picture.

I'm already planning to visit some of the gardens featured next spring and summer.
The Secret Gardens in East Anglia" by Barbara Segall and photographed by Marcus Harpur is published by Frances Lincoln and costs £20.00.


"Growing Self Sufficiency " by Sally Nex is an ideal present for anyone thinking about growing their own fruit and vegetables, and taking things one step further.

Written in a very straightforward, engaging style, this introductory guide gives immediate suggestions of what Sally calls "the easy hits" - the things you can grow on a window sill or an allotment and get immediate success.

This book then romps through how to sow, plant, make a hot box, grow your own drinks or medicine cabinet or even how to take on a few animals for meat and eggs.

Broad brushstrokes may be, but Sally is enthusiastic and motivating through each chapter, and she knows what she's talking about, moving on from a tiny handkerchief London garden to keeping chickens and sheep and acres of land. An enjoyable read and I've picked up some useful tips. This book could be the springboard for someone to dive into a life of self-sufficiency!
Growing Self Sufficiency by Sally Nex is published by Green Books and costs £17.99


Onto a very practical present now for the gardener in your life - a pair of gardening gloves. Now don't go thinking these are the gardening equivalent of being given socks and pants for Christmas. These aren't just any garden gloves  - when I was given these back in September, it was like finding the Holy Grail.

I've got through so many pairs of gardening gloves in the past...cheap cotton ones for the summer and when I say the summer, they last for exactly that long, one summer only.

I tried thicker gloves, always finding the right fit a problem and tried gloves which made my hands sweat terribly. I've never found the right pair specifically for dealing with thistles, holly, brambles, and my ever expanding collection of nettles on the allotment until now.

These though fit wonderfully well, I haven't had a single scratch on my hands (a miracle, they're warm enough in December, and they still look remarkably good considering how much I've been using them.

Tough Touch Ladies deerskin gardening gloves, from Gold Leaf Gloves cost around £25 depending on where you buy them. Men's gloves in the same range are available too.

Onto some stocking filler presents now, and I love these seed tins full of seeds from Suttons for successional sowing. Try saying that on air....I did try but made a real hash of it. I must have sounded as if I was drunk but obviously, that wasn't the case darlings....

  There are six different varieties of veg seeds to sow- carrots, red and white spring onions, beetroots, and spring onions and each tin costs £4.95 for 2,000 seeds divided into three different packets. Very practical. If you buy all six though, the cost is £24.95.

 

 

I always think you're never too old or too young to get a kick out of watching something grow, and these packets of seeds would be lovely for children to sow. Brightly packaged, there's added value with a paper tape measure in with the sunflower seeds, and bug stickers to accompany the calendula seeds for example..

 

 

 

 

Obviously, there's lots of other seed collections from other seed companies which are available which would also make fabulous prezzies too!



So, Happy Christmas shopping....and whatever you buy for the gardeners in your life, remember to treat yourself at the end of your shopping expeditions too.  I find a glass of fizz always perks me up a right treat.....Cheers!

 

Days of Christmas - best books for gardeners

Days of past, present and future at Winstanley House

If you want to go to out to eat in Leicester these days, there's so much more choice than say ten years ago. Some of the big boy chains moved in, some small independents are flourishing, some have fallen by the wayside.

 I couldn't have forecast ten years ago where the latest restaurant would open though. It's called the Black Iron at Winstanley House and is two miles away from the city centre set in one hundred and sixty acres of public parkland. Next to a housing estate.There's a hotel as well, with huge function rooms for up to four hundred people, ripe and ready for the wedding market.

It's a far cry from a number of years ago, when the building was in a sorry state. Neglected and unloved for years, no one quite knew what to do it  - a crying shame for somewhere which meant so much to many people.

The Winstanleys were local landowners who commissioned the house in 1775, and who lived here
for a hundred and fifty years. Then, thousands of local children went to school here from 1932 until 1996.

But that's in the past....years of work and £2 million later, it was the press launch. My friend Tim and I were whisked straight thorough Reception

 to the dining room, oh so tastefully done in shades of grey.

Menus were promptly presented with a flourish and our orders taken for drinks. Yes, let's mention them first because I was pleasantly surprised with the wine list. An inviting long list with interesting wines I'd not heard of before. Tim and I both loved the Zapa Oak aged  Malbec....which was far classier than the £24 price tag would lead you to believe.

So onto dinner....a set meal with three courses....

I decided to go for the vegetarian option and began with the beetroot salad. Pretty on the plate, four very finely sliced heritage varieties of beetroot were dressed with honey and hazelnuts. Crunchy, light and tasty.

The mains was a courgette flan with perfectly roasted vegetables, but the flan needed something  added. Not enough flavour for me, and it was a fairly dry plate...a puddle of a sauce would have been welcome. I improvised and swiped some of the delicious peppercorn sauce which was served with Tim's " fantastic" - his words -rib eye steak. To be fair I also quality control tested a few of the dripping fries on his plate too. It's a wonder I didn't steal the whole lot.

As for the dessert, well here I have to apologise here as this photo doesn't do this rich, moist, tangy toffee pudding justice. This did everything a sticky thing like this should do, but without making me feel as if I needed a lie down afterwards.

 

 

 

So, an enjoyable meal, followed by a fleeting trip to the bar with lots of animated chat about the food , the décor etc.

 

I couldn't help but admire the lights before being whisked off for a sneaky peek  at what the accommodation in the hotel is like.

I can sum this up in a few words.

Sleek, stylish and as fresh as paint. Literally so fresh as paint we could still smell it.

There's so much attention to detail here, even in the ladies loos....somewhere I always check out whenever I'm on a press trip or visit. These are impeccable.



 

 

There endeth my initial visit, but a couple of weeks later I was back, together with four hundred visitors who were all at school here in the dim, distant and less glossy past. I was there to record a radio feature,  they were all there to see what had been done to their old school and to reminisce. The noise levels were off the Richter scale as they laughed and gossiped and everyone I spoke to was blown away by the transformation of this building.

 

 

The acid test of reviewing anywhere is to ask yourself the question "Would I go back and would I take my friends?" Well yes, and I fancy trying the bar menu one lunchtime. I even know what I want to eat.

There again, I've also got my eye on the bottomless brunch. Cooked breakfast ( full English or steak and eggs anyone?) plus unlimited Prosecco, beer or soft drinks for an hour, all for £20. That would do me, but not on a school day obviously - the ghosts of previous headmasters might not approve.....