Troops march to RHS Chelsea Flower Show
, by John Clowes
Residents and staff of Headley Court growing plants in their greenhouse
Gardeners from Headley Court, with support from Scotts Miracle-Gro, are building a garden at the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
You may have read previously on lovethegarden about the Horticultural Therapy Unit at Headley Court, which uses gardening as a means of providing physical, psychological and cognitive rehabilitation to injured service personnel.
The project in the walled garden of Britain’s leading hospital for injured soldiers in Leatherhead, Surrey, seeks to do exactly that – providing an outdoor space where battle casualties can find their varying needs met through the medium of horticulture.
As a support to this therapy unit, Scotts Miracle-Gro provides useful composts, plant foods and sundries to help the troops grow more beautiful plants, while they learn to effectively use artificial limbs and to cope with the psychological problems they often encounter after battle injuries.
Major Pete Le Feuvre and Paula Parker, Scotts’ Head of Marketing, at Headley Court
This year, to raise the profile of this Defence Medical Rehabilitation Unit and the work and support provided by Help For Heroes Charity they are planning to create a garden next to the Miracle-Gro’wers Flower Garden at the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Their garden, to be built in the Great Pavilion, is to be designed by Geoff Whiten who will also design our schools’ red, white and blue Jubilee-themed floral tribute. The therapy unit will show that gardens can be beautiful, as well as provide space that improves strength, endurance, fine motor skills and concentration to the injured. The garden will be wheelchair friendly and provide a covered work area known as the ‘Potting Shed’. Let’s hope that the shed is fitted with a kettle for the gardeners’ traditional, therapeutic cup of tea!
Freshness: 3 days ago
Winner of the dangling carrot!
, by Geoff Hodge
The winner – Carrot Halva
As the judge of the LoveTheGarden Christmas Carrot Competition, Niamh Shields, food writer and blogger at eatlikeagirl.com, has been on a quest for the perfect recipe to quench her craving for carrots. The dangling carrots that motivated many bloggers from all over the country to share their recipes was a restaurant voucher worth £200 for the winner and three copies of Niamh Shields’ cookbook Comfort & Spice for the runners up.
The winning recipe is the Carrot Halva by Paula and Tim, from Wanton Flavours. Niamh: “I loved this eclectic recipe with carrots, orange blossom water and pistachio, to name but a few ingredients. It’s detailed and well thought out as well as delicious. A deserving winner!”
The first runner-up is Mel from Chef Mel’s Kitchen. Mel cooked up a delish recipe for Carrot, Maple & Bacon Soup. “This is definitely a recipe for a sweet tooth, but maple and carrot work really well together and the bacon crouton is a nice savoury addition. A little naughty and very nice! Enjoy your copy of Comfort & Spice!”
The second runner-up is Di from Super Lucky with her recipe for Carrot Meringues. Niamh: “I loved the idea of these carrot meringues instantly. They really bring out the sweetness of carrots, and don’t these look like the perfect treat for January?”
And last but not least, a copy of Comfort & Spice will be going to Alicia from Foodycat, who impressed Niamh with her Carrot Pakoras with Tamarind Dipping Sauce. “I can’t resist a good pakora,” said Niamh. “This is a lovely version with good spicing and a lovely sweet sour balance with the jaggery and tamarind. It was tough work choosing a set of finalists and then a winner. Congrats to all of you!”
In 2011, LoveTheGarden organised 4 vegetable competitions, which all yielded an abundance of healthy recipes. We are about to sow the seeds of the first contest of 2012, so watch this space!
Freshness: 26 days ago
All pulling together for Hope for Hannah
, by Doug Hamilton
The boat pull team – Adrian, Tim, Vicky, Lynne and Steve
Colleagues from Scotts Miracle-Gro came together recently to help out one of our local charities – and had a bit of a work-out at the same time! This was in the form of a ‘boat pull’, to help raise money for and awareness of a worthy charitable cause – Hope for Hannah.
Hannah Bradley is 27 years old and lives in Elstead, Surrey. In February this year Hannah suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with brain cancer. The treatment Hannah needs to give her a chance of survival is a pioneering treatment by Dr Burzynsk, only available in the USA and costing around £150,000.
To help raise funds, a team of volunteers from Scotts, with the help and support from the Godalming Packet Boat Company, arranged to pull IONA – a full-length narrow boat, weighing 17.5 tonnes – on a round-trip of a mile and a half along the Wey Navigation. The trip was timed, and whoever bought a ticket and guessed the nearest time won a prize!
Lynne Roberts, Adrian Picken, Tim Farrant, Steve Fuller and Vicky Page from Scotts, along with some help from Hannah’s best friend, Gemma White, managed to do the round-trip – which included a lock on the way out and on the way back – in 53 minutes 30 seconds.
We raised £167.62 on the day and would also like to thank former Scotts employee Simon Pell – now Surrey Garden Services – for matching our funds and also donating £170 to the cause. This gave us a grand total of £332.62 to help give Hannah hope.
A big thank you to all who have helped raise funds for this cause. You can see how Hannah is doing at www.teamhannah.com.
Freshness: 29 days ago
