Potager Garden Talk - Aberdeen

[elsie-scot]

Heard about this talk on Thursday, like the sound of it but I can't go


Potager Garden

On Thursday April 8th, Howard Drury, a well-known horticultural expert, will talk about the possibilities of mixing flowers and vegetables in the garden. His talk, at 7.30 pm in the Zoology Building, University, Old Aberdeen, is hosted by the Friends of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden, and immediately follows their AGM. All are welcome; the talk is free to Friends, £3 to members of the public.

Howard will give a different angle on this new approach and the reasons why it is important, and explain how to go about creating a modern potager garden

[snohare]

Oh, if only I could go. I went to a very good talk on organic veg growing organised by the same folks a while back, and while it was a tad disconcerting to be the youngest person there, it was well worth the going. Once I move back to Aberdeen, I hope to get more involved with the Botanic Garden. But meantime, I'm sixty miles away...
Thanks for posting, you obviously still have good contacts in Aberdeen Elsie !

[elsie-scot]

I asked to be kept on email list incase any talks are on at the same time I am through visiting.

The RHS group do good talks over the winter, they are usually free or for a small donation, often held at Duthie Park. Website So maybe once you move to the big smoke you can give one a try

[basketcase]

Thanks Elsie - I'd have missed this! Am going to make it if I can.

If they do handouts, I'll scan and Email them to interested parties!

[elsie-scot]

Thanks Elsie - I'd have missed this! Am going to make it if I can.

If they do handouts, I'll scan and Email them to interested parties!

That would be great if you make it

[basketcase]

Update

Well, I made it to the talk.

No handouts, but I can give you a summary.

The first thing he did was ask whether we really wanted that talk, or would prefer one on Ashwood Nurseries (who they? )

Most of it was very general and aimed at people who'd never considered potager-ing before. So OK as far as it went, but it's all been covered on the Vine.

As I've mentioned on the Beechgrove thread, he suggested that if we successionally planted sweet peas and runner beans (together) from now we could be picking them up to October! This drew unseemly snorts from the people behind me...

There were lots of pretty pictures but not a lot of detail, which there wouldn't be in a general talk. T&M featured quite a lot as an illustration for mixed planting in trial beds and he's a great fan of link-a-bord, which was interesting.

One handy tip was putting 'new' manure into the greenhouse and using it as a hotbed/gh heater for the winter. A bit like Harry Dodson growing strawberries on top of manure in a coldframe IIRC.

That summed it up, more or less.

[elsie-scot]

Thanks. I'd have been really annoyed if I had gone to a talk advertised on one thing and then he tried to talk about something else.

Wonder if he is sponsored by a few different companies!

Interested re thoughts on the succesion planting bit, will have a look on beechgrove thread to see if any comments.

I recommend the Joy Larkman book on creative vegetable gardening if interested in potager, I've got it out of the library and it is packed with info

[basketcase]

Thanks. I'd have been really annoyed if I had gone to a talk advertised on one thing and then he tried to talk about something else.

Wonder if he is sponsored by a few different companies!

Interested re thoughts on the succesion planting bit, will have a look on beechgrove thread to see if any comments.

I recommend the Joy Larkman book on creative vegetable gardening if interested in potager, I've got it out of the library and it is packed with info

Will do. Thanks.

Geoff Hamilton's Ornamental Kitchen Garden is good too.