I’m just back from next door, after sharing some white wine with Julie ND, and chatting about, among other things, my trip on Wednesday to Down House. Down House was the home of Charles Darwin from 1842 to 1882, when he died. The house is beautiful, quite peaceful and maintained by English Heritage in an extremely accessible manner. The garden is restful too, and I was particularly excited to discover a long, walled garden which contained both ornamental and kitchen plants.
It was here I found help in identifying one of the mysterious plants in the girls’ raised bed. It’s not that we hadn’t labelled our sowings, it’s just I may have been a bit random with the seeds and hence the lines of seeds weren’t very straight. Anyway, the gardeners at Down House had the luxury of more space and it was clear that the plants labelled “parsnips” were these ones:
From the garden at Down House
Comapre and contrast with:
From our allotment
I reckon it’s a match and we don’t have to pull those as weeds!
The gardeners were doing well with their magnificent rhubarb plants:
And I wouldn’t like to stumble into the artichokes without some protection:
This is somewhere else that I’ve got on my places to visit list!
Impressive looking rhubarb and artichokes, neither of which I eat.
I love these big, old fashioned kitchen gardens. There is something so restful about them. Although it must have been hard work to provide all the vegetables for the house in Darwin’s time.
I don’t have time to visit gardens at the moment so it’s a treat to visit them with you. Thanks.
Flighty – it really is a lovely place and I can’t believe I hadn’t visited it before, when I have lived within 10 miles of it for the best part of my life.
CSH – the house is quite modestly-sized but with seven children running around the place, there would have been quite a few mouths to feed.
I think that we all tend to overlook worthwhile places to visit that are on our own doorstep!
Great garden!
Wow, what great pictures and interesting history. I am not much on eating my veggies, but if they looked as good cooked as in your pictures I may would change my mind. I see that you enjoy visiting places and people. Here’s a tip for you and a friend. Read “Diary of a Wannabe Gardener.” It is a humorous account of an aspiring gardener. You can preview the book at http://www.bbotw.com. It is by Dorothy Guyton. Reading her book is what gardeners do, when there is no gardening to do. Keep up the good work. I truely enjoyed the pictures and comments.