Tudor greens

Yesterday to visit the new vegetable patch, about a walled acre, at Hampton Court Palace, presumably not once Tudor as my recollection is that rich people at that time ate very few vegetables and suffered in consequence.

I place the garden at gmaps 51.405659, -0.340155, the aerial photograph for which suggests that there must have been some chain saw activity, as I recall the patch clear of mature trees. But, to make up, they have planted a lot of fruit trees, particularly apple trees, with the ones against walls being espaliered. We shall see how the ones on north facing walls do in the years to come. There were also a lot of gooseberry bushes, interplanted in the lines of apple trees. I dare say they were all heritage varieties.

The vegetable department was very neat and tidy, would have put my allotment to shame, and included a lot of cabbage and kale. These looked fairly ordinary and not particularly heritage. There were some nets against birds, but I was still impressed by how little sign of bird damage there was, given that the nets were mostly down at the time of our visit. A lot of cabbages to be messing around with nets coming up and down with the waves of visitors.

There was also a lot of other green stuff which I did not recognise at all, so perhaps that was particularly heritage.

There was even quite a lot of what looked like pea, which was odd as in my allotment days it was normal to plant peas in the spring when danger of frost was mostly past and one would certainly not have pea plants upstanding boldly in the middle of the winter. Maybe as much as a foot high. Further confused by reference 1 which suggests that some varieties can be sown in the autumn without being clear about whether it is the peas or the plants which have to overwinter.

Signs suggested that some of the produce will be sold, perhaps with a special dispensation from HRH The Prince of Wales to use his special brand name (see reference 2) without paying him the special fee. I expect they will also shift some in their various restaurants, which will be able to make hay out of 'produce from our own gardens', in the way of the National Trust. Will they complement the actors and actresses wandering around in court gear with some wandering around in garden gear? Complete with period wheel barrows and so and and so forth? It would be much more democratic and fit in well with our predilection for, fascination with upstairs downstairs, as in, for example, Downton Abbey.

Reference 1: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-peas.

Reference 2: http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news-and-diary/wednesday-11th-september-2013-1.