MP joins Arundel Food Festival event
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert took a tour of Arundel Castle's organic kitchen garden as part of this year's Arundel Food Festival (21 October). The nine day Festival has been running in the town since 15 October.
The organised tour was led by Head Gardener, Martin Duncan, who was delighted to show off the castle's home grown produce. The ‘Meet the Gardener' tour gave visitors the opportunity to learn more about the castle's kitchen garden and ask questions directly to the horticulturalists and gardeners.
The tour, one of many run as part of the Arundel Food Festival, hoped to inspire visitors to consider growing their own vegetables, and the gardeners were happy to offer advice and tips to achieve results. The Festival itself was recognised at the recent CPRE Awards (Campaign to Protect Rural England), where the organisers were Highly Commended in the ‘Field to Table' category.
The MP met Martin Duncan and some of his team in one of the many greenhouses where they grow a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. A colourful display of produce was on show which included many varieties of squash, apples, pears, quince, chillis and much more.
Martin proudly spoke of the hard work that goes into managing the gardens, and introduced Mr Herbert to a vast variety of plants inside the greenhouses and outside in the stunning grounds of the castle. The gardens were conceived by the Duchess of Norfolk in the 1970's, and have evolved into a wonderful display of year-round flora.
Mr Herbert was also given a tour around The Collector Earl's Garden which was opened in 2008 by HRH The Prince Of Wales. He was able to see how the garden has matured and developed since the opening, which he attended. This part of the garden occupies part of the Georgian and Victorian walled kitchen garden, which for the last forty years had been an ugly tarmac and concrete car park.
Nick Herbert commented: "It was a treat to be shown round this wonderful garden by Martin and to see how it has developed. The tours as part of Food Festival are a great idea, giving people the opportunity not just to see a unique and beautiful garden but also to be shown around by the experts who look after it. It was a great way to celebrate the Arundel Food Festival, which goes from strength to strength".
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Notes for Editors
1. For more information about the Arundel Castle's Gardens and forthcoming events, please see their website: www.arundelcastle.org/_pages/02_gardens.htm
2. For more information about the Arundel Food Festival, please see the website www.arundelfoodfestival.org.uk