Chelsea Flower Show 2011
Sculpture of Chelsea Pensioner a welcome sight!
The Chelsea Flower Show is always an exciting and fascinating experience and now with the emphasis on environmental concern this year’s event will highlight the many ways we can take more care of and care for our gardens and open spaces, especially in view of the ongoing drought.
Some of the trends and concerns of the general public include moving to non-powered lawn mowers and planting specifically to encourage wildlife and there will be much to see and take inspiration from this year. Many garden designers have chosen the environment and the responsibility of garden owners to help protect our green spaces.
Ringo and his wife
Anyway, all being well I’ll be there on Press Day when I get to meet and interview some of the celebs who usually attend. Some are really approachable, Gloria Hunniford is always good for a quote, Ringo is usually so popular I don’t get to speak to him, Kim Wilde has always been helpful. Some are not friendly at all, surprisingly I’ve been given the brush off by Chris Tarrant and Martin Clunes. And yet one of the most friendly and surprisingly knowledgeable was David Spinks who played Keith Miller in East Enders.
Dairmud Gavin is always friendly and willing to talk
Dairmuid Gavin is always willing to talk gardening and good for a laugh and joke.
Rachel de Thame
Filming Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen for the day's programme
The one celeb who is always aloof and not at all approachable is the great man himself Alan Titchmarsh, he has purposefully looked the other way whenever I have tried to take his photograph, not sure why, never been able to ask him! Maybe this year I’ll be luckier.
Press Day is a bit a slog really, we are admitted to the showground really early, it used to be 5 am, these days it’s a bit later. We have to leave by 3 pm when the Queen arrives for her personal visit, by which time I’m just about keeping upright … not the wine … just sheer exhaustion from being on my feet for ten hours without a break!
Many of you of course will be able to follow the show on BBC tv and will get a better view of many features than the visitors on foot! There is so much to see that I always seem to miss something really interesting – I get to catch up in tv programmes in the week. Even better, I’ll be able to go to BBC iPlayer for those programmes I missed, what joy! I never could fathom the CD and the DVD recorders, now I don’t have to worry, all can be viewed on my laptop, when I like and for free!
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
By the way www.ourfrontgarden.com is the website we write about the ongoing renovation and care of a front garden in a garden city
Owl Energy Monitor Were You a Winner?
Owl Energy Monitor
The winners of the Owl Energy Monitor were:
S Collinge, Blackpool
S Purser, Stoney Stanton
Sharon Wallis, Prestwich
To enter our giveaway draws be sure to subscribe – see below – so you know when and what is on offer.
Were You a Winner? Dress Book
Colour me Slimmer by Veronique Henderson
The winners of the Colour Me Slimmer books offered in our feature, are:
J Bryan, Peterborough
S Pearmain, Harrow
J Reynolds, Waterlooville
New Survey throws up Fascinating Insights into Family Life
Do these findings line up with your family experience?
What does the body language tell you?
Three quarters of all important family decisions are now made by women, a study found:
- Women decide what a couple eats
- Where they live
- When they have children
- Where they go on holiday
- How to spend their money
By contrast men are only involved in decisions about what car a couple buys.
Women are also responsible for 85 per cent of day to day family decisions from
- what they do with their spare time
- what they eat for dinner
- what time they go to bed
- and even how high they have the heating
Brussel flowers from Marks and Spencer, surprisingly tasty
The research on behalf of Ginsters, which has just launched a series of new TV adverts entitled ‘We need to talk … about Ginsters’, consulted 3,000 couples anonymously about their relationships and who took the most responsibility for family decision making.
An Italian chocolate mousse
Larry File, a spokesperson at Ginsters said: “It seems men are no longer the domineering head of the family and they know it. We were surprised by how honest and open men were about their lack of say in their day to day lives. But most men didn’t seem to mind having to ask permission before doing things.” Nearly two thirds said that they rely on their partner to decide what and when they eat and nearly half admitted they asked permission before eating certain foods.
Men took no responsibility at all for how healthy they were, leaving their diet and choice of food up to their partner. More than half of men even consulted their partner before having a drink, with three quarters asking her before eating unhealthy food. Sixty per cent of men admit that their partner has complete control over when and how frequently they have sex.
Celebrating the Dutch Queen's Day in Trafalgar Square
Women take the responsibility for running the house and ensuring that chores and work gets done and also take primary responsibility for making decisions about the children. They are most likely to choose the names of children as well as what clothes they wear and where they go to school.
Larry said: “Men reported to trust their partner’s advice above all others. So it makes sense that they would want to consult with them before taking a decision. The idea of a man heading up the house is a thing of the past with most couples agreeing that the woman is now the key decision maker. Women are now more likely to be consulted before their partner makes any important decision and likely to get their way.”
The survey also revealed that women used a range of tricks to persuade their partner to take their advice and get their own way. Women were most likely to try and use their sexuality by flirting and wearing skimpy clothing whereas men tried to butter their partner up with treats like food or chocolate. Most men admitted that they had less success at getting their own way with their partner.
Does this line up with your experience? Want to comment?
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Gorgeous, meaty, tasty … Cornish Pasty
Gorgeous, meaty, tasty, great pastry, a good mouthful … just some of the remarks made when we tried the Ginsters Original Cornish Pasty, no, not the chefs! – you’ll see them later!
Ginsters Cornish Pasty
Considering the recipe hasn’t changed since Ginsters set up business in 1968, the remarks are testament to its pedigree!
All ingredients used are sourced locally to ensure they are the freshest possible and Cornish. This includes the meat, the cheese, double cream and vegetables.
So, what did we try and what did we think?
We tried the Chicken and Mushroom Slice:
Mm, delicious, great pastry, distinctive sauce. One of us would have liked more meat. One mum said it would be a good standby in the freezer when having a hard day and not wanting to produce something substantial for the family. We had a carrot and celery salad to go with it on a hot day, and spinach and broccoli on a cool day. We heated the slices up on both occasions. Overall the women preferred this product.
Steak Slice: Popular with the men, we thought it was a good snack. Heated up it would be a good meal with vegetables. It was very meaty and well seasoned.
Cornish Pasty: This authentic recipe went down well with the men who like a satisfying filling product. Good pastry texture, could really taste the meat, good pub grub! Great heated up and makes a good meal with vegs.
Eaten hot or cold our findings were positive enough for us to be sure to look for them on our next trip to the supermarket. They are good for on the go, to take on picnics and a great fall back if we don’t have much time to cook. In fact, the freezability of all the products made them very desirable indeed, and with the reassurance of quality ingredients they are a knockout!
We’ll be keeping a look out for other Ginsters products especially the new Cornish Bara, 
a new creation of the creative chefs at Ginsters.
A cross between a sandwich and a pasty, they are designed to be ideal for eating on the go, without any mess. Can see the kids liking these!
Toby, Graham, Stefan
More information on www.ginsters.co.uk.
The New You Beauty Show – Giveaway Tickets
The New You Beauty Show
We’re making a point of getting to the Health & Beauty Show at Hertford on 19 June not just because we heard a whisper, well more than a whisper actually! of some rather special goody bags with some of our favourite skincare products, oh no, but because it promises to be an interesting event for anyone really into wellbeing for themselves and those they love. There will be the chance for treatments and to watch demonstrations.
Thank you for your response. ✨
Get bug-eyed about minibeasts – Join in a UK survey
Capsid Bug
Bugs Count is a chance to better understand how and where bugs live. Hunt for bugs in soil and short grass; look on paving and the outsides of buildings; and search on plants and shrubs. Anyone can take part in this national study, led by Open Air Laboratories.
John Tweddle, Natural History Museum, commented, ‘We want everyone to get outside and discover the nature on their doorstep – look in your streets, playgrounds and local parks. With our towns and cities expanding, it’s vital we get a better understanding of how our wildlife is being affected by these changes, Taking part is great fun too!’
But why are bugs so important? They may be tiny, but bugs play a crucial role in pollinating our plants, recycling nutrients by breaking down waste, controlling pests and providing food for birds and other animals.
Cranefly
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Easy Potato Growing – A Delicious Treat
What a waste it felt to put the plastic bags used for the potting compost we had bought
in the dustbin, correction – plastic recycling bin. This year we are growing potatoes re-using those plastic compost bags – an idea we picked up from one of Monty Don’s Gardener’s World videos on the BBC website.
We have been keeping the bags back as they are heavy duty plastic – each bag only needs three potatoes to grow a crop – and the results are so delicious and so economical. We turn the bags inside out so they are less obtrusive and they are behind an open fence as they are not the most beautiful sight to behold. 
Here’s the latest bag we have used that contained peat-free compost. We have added some polystyrene pieces that seem to give plants added vigour. Not sure why, but it is true.
Another suggestion is to use several rubbish or gardening sacks one inside the other, more than one to get extra strength, a bit like carrying wine bottles using more than one plastic carry bags.
We’ll be experimenting with hessian sacks to see what we can grow – we got this idea from the charity Send A Cow who promote bag gardens – see the video.
Do you have an economical tip to pass on?
Val Reynolds Brown, editor
By the way www.ourfrontgarden.com is the website we write about the ongoing renovation and care of a front garden in a garden city
Broad bean problem – HELP needed
Broad bean leaf damage
A reader has emailed in with this photo – can you identify what it is. Is it a virus, fungus, insect?
The plants have been growing well until now. I hope we can help her. Editor
The problem has been identified as frost damage and nothing to worry about. The plants look very healthy and should produce a fine crop. A growing tip from Sine Chesterman* is to pinch out the tops once the first beans are forming on the lower stems. This stops blackfly colonising the tops of the beans and working their way down and ruining the crop. She used to give the tops to their goats who loved them. When the last goat died Sine used to cook them, boiled with a little salt, strained and warmed with a little pepper and butter – superb!
* Sine Chesterman’s interest in gardening and botany started at an early age with her own patch in her parent’s garden and learning which plants were natural healers.
Brought up with old and tested remedies and gardening methods, now termed organic, she still practises natural ways of pest control. We will be publishing a series of features about herbs written by Sine in the near future.
Editor
By the way www.ourfrontgarden.com is the website we write about the ongoing renovation and care of a front garden in a garden city
Prize Draw – Supa Drippa Taps
We are great fans of these extremely useful devices that help the busy gardener with watering precious plants. You can control the flow of water and spread watering over a period of a week using a discarded plastic milk container and a dinky little tap.
Inexpensive, efficient and fuss free we love these Supa Drippas – see our feature.
We have three packs of ten worth £11.95 + £1 pp provided by The Organic Catalogue, to giveaway to our readers. To enter the prize draw just send an email to editorinbalance@me.com, with Supa Drippa in the subject box and full contact details in the text box.
One entry per household, closing date is 12 June 2011.
By the way www.ourfrontgarden.com is the website we write about the ongoing renovation and care of a front garden in a garden city
In Balance 