Get ready to the Harvest Festival 2016

Harvest Festival 2016

The Queen’s Orchard in Greenwich Park

Sunday 2nd October

11:00am to 4:00pm

You are invited to come and see the fruits of our endeavours and discover The Queen’s Orchard - a hidden gem in Greenwich Park close to Maze Hill train station.

• There will be a representative from The Royal Parks Guild, who can answer any questions you have on food growing;

• You can enjoy some short talks about Bees together with some honey tasting and candle making, given by Camilla of Capital Bees;

• An arts and craft stand run by Ginger Cat, will have children's activities such as face painting, and activities relating to being in an Orchard, and will be coming along with The Royal Parks Bear.

• There will be a chance for the children to get involved in some pond dipping which will be run by our education providers, Field Studies Council. Visitors will be able to take part in the big dig of the potato crop.

• There will be a display demonstrating the range of seasonal vegetables you can grow at

different times in the year e.g.: peas, brassicas etc.

• The Orchard Garden, now in its fourth season and run by a number of volunteers, who will be giving out lavender bags to take home for a donation. Donations to The Queen’s Orchard will be gratefully received and help to fund essentials like seeds and equipment.

So come and join us for a great day out - it's all free!

The Queen’s Orchard Allotment is located in Greenwich Park – beside the children’s playground. MAP HERE

www.royalparks.org.uk

Beloved Lavender

Summer is almost gone, but the fantastic scent of lavender is still alive in the flowers we had cut and dried and it will be preserved in nice fabric bags for the next season and beyond.

The north wall of the Queen's Orchard has a colourful border of lavender in different shades of purple-blue, light blue, lilac, and also pink and white flowered spikes.

Each variety shows different characteristic in shape, colour, and also scent.

Hybrid varieties of Lavandula angustifolia such as "Grosso" can have longer spikes and a very strong scent, other varieties are shorter or have a lighter fragrance but they can be richer in colour as "Peter Pan" and "Hidcote" with their dark purple flowers. But if you are looking for some unusual colour you can have a look at the hybrid "Edelweiss" with its white spikes, or at the "Rosea" variety, the one with pink flowers, that also presents a quite sweet honey-like aroma.

Better be sure the variety you chose has the right characteristic you are looking for before plant it into your spot, anyway lavender is a gorgeous plant and can show its best in any kind of garden, from a formal bed to a country cottage border: for sure bees (and humans) will love it.

Last but not least: Lavender is also good for cooking, and we have a "lavender recipe" for you from the Pebble Soup's blog, enjoy it!

Lavender biscuits aka Cookies à la Lavande

Ingredients

125g butter (soften)

175g flour (sieved)

75g lavender sugar* or caster sugar with 1 small tablespoon lavender

2 drops of vanilla

Method

In a bowl mix the butter and sugar until fluffy (use a hand-mixer or fork)

Add the lavender sugar and the flour, mix it all together

Leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven 200C = 180C fan = 400F = Gas mark 6

On a floured board, flatten the mixture and use a shaped cutter or a cookies press to make shapes.

Place the biscuits on a baking tray covered with baking parchement

After 8 minutes take a look and cook a little longer if necessary up to 12 minutes no more.

*Lavender sugar. To make your own, requires patience (a month of) but it's worth it, and makes nice presents. 1 tablespoon of lavender per 100g of caster sugar, seal in jars and leave for a month. Sieve it before using if you don't want the bit or use as such.

Three Sisters Planting System

Do you know that growing sweetcorn, beans, and squashes in the same field, or in the same bed like at the Queen's Orchard, can help you get the best from your crops?

This vegetable trio is known as the "Three Sisters System" or "Central America System"as these three plants are native to the New Continent and they are also strictly connected to the native american folklore representing three inseparable Sisters:

Corn, the oldest one, is also the tallest and can provide a support for bean vines to climb.

Squash, the second sister, reveals bright yellow flowers and her large leaves trap water evaporation from the soil; she is also a living mulch.

Bean, the third sister, has a mechanism whereby fixing nitrogen to her roots she can improve the fertility of the soil for the next year.

These three vegetable can also complement each other in terms of nutrition: corn is a source of carbohydrates, beans can provide protein, and squash is rich of vitamins and oil from seeds, a perfect balanced diet.

Speaking of balanced diet, food and vegetables: The Harvest Festival is coming!

On Sunday 2nd October from 11am to 4pm the Queen’s Orchard of Greenwich will be open to the public to celebrate the London Harvest Festival week with free activities and workshop for any age.

Save the date, and see you there at the Orchard!