Clatford valley gardening club
CLATFORD VALLEY GARDENING CLUB
What an entertaining evening we had in June when Kate Bennett and Eleanor Waterhouse came to give us an insight into how they became involved in the television production of The Big Allotment Challenge last year becoming runners up after competing against nine other couples.
How it all began
Eleanor had a friend who saw a flier at the Winchester farmers’ market advertising for people with experience of growing and cooking to enter. A form was filled in and to their great surprise a telephone call invited them to London for an interview and screen test. The screen test involved a flower arrangement which was very successful and so they went through to the next round.
The BBC decided to make a programme which would include: flowers, fruit and vegetables and it was hoped it would encourage viewers to take up an allotment.
The presenter was Fern Britten and there were three judges.
What the ladies found interesting was just how little the producers actually knew about gardening themselves.
There were many challenges throughout the series but they kept changing which made things tricky at times. Fruit growing proved difficult as it didn’t always ripen to order.
The BBC employed a ‘garden expert’ to show the viewer how to grow the perfect veg but she didn’t appear on the programme which suggested the programme wasn’t about teaching people how to grow successfully, but more about competition.
Filming was constant starting at 7am and even involved being filmed at home for a day although only 30 seconds of it was actually shown on TV.
What did they learn from the experience?
Sarah Raven is to be avoided. SB Plant Invigorator kills bugs and feeds plants and is obtainable from Amazon. Tomorite is a magic product and should be used twice a week to feed plants during the growing season. Labelling is important.
Why did they do so well?
They looked carefully at the criteria and studied the rules in detail. They were used to working together and got on well. They had lots of luck but also visited the plot regularly to make sure everything was on track.
They were very relaxed and amusing and engaged well with the members. Everyone learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the talk.
August will bring another annual show so please make sure you enter and have some fun.
The speaker at the next meeting will be Geoff Hawkins and he will be talking about ‘Garden Design’ which should be very interesting so please come along and join us on 24th August where you will be sure of a warm welcome.
What an entertaining evening we had in June when Kate Bennett and Eleanor Waterhouse came to give us an insight into how they became involved in the television production of The Big Allotment Challenge last year becoming runners up after competing against nine other couples.
How it all began
Eleanor had a friend who saw a flier at the Winchester farmers’ market advertising for people with experience of growing and cooking to enter. A form was filled in and to their great surprise a telephone call invited them to London for an interview and screen test. The screen test involved a flower arrangement which was very successful and so they went through to the next round.
The BBC decided to make a programme which would include: flowers, fruit and vegetables and it was hoped it would encourage viewers to take up an allotment.
The presenter was Fern Britten and there were three judges.
What the ladies found interesting was just how little the producers actually knew about gardening themselves.
There were many challenges throughout the series but they kept changing which made things tricky at times. Fruit growing proved difficult as it didn’t always ripen to order.
The BBC employed a ‘garden expert’ to show the viewer how to grow the perfect veg but she didn’t appear on the programme which suggested the programme wasn’t about teaching people how to grow successfully, but more about competition.
Filming was constant starting at 7am and even involved being filmed at home for a day although only 30 seconds of it was actually shown on TV.
What did they learn from the experience?
Sarah Raven is to be avoided. SB Plant Invigorator kills bugs and feeds plants and is obtainable from Amazon. Tomorite is a magic product and should be used twice a week to feed plants during the growing season. Labelling is important.
Why did they do so well?
They looked carefully at the criteria and studied the rules in detail. They were used to working together and got on well. They had lots of luck but also visited the plot regularly to make sure everything was on track.
They were very relaxed and amusing and engaged well with the members. Everyone learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the talk.
August will bring another annual show so please make sure you enter and have some fun.
The speaker at the next meeting will be Geoff Hawkins and he will be talking about ‘Garden Design’ which should be very interesting so please come along and join us on 24th August where you will be sure of a warm welcome.
