The RHS Kitchen Garden

The RHS brought edible growing to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

For the first time, the RHS has promoted a garden with innovative, cost-efficient ways of growing fresh food at home.
 
Award-winning garden designer, Juliet Sargeant, who won Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year, created an entirely edible garden packed with simple and creative growing ideas and inspiration for visitors and viewers to take home to their own gardens and communities.

Exciting growing methods, mainly used only by commercial growers, such as aquaponics (where plants receive nourishment from fish), and hydroponics (growing plants without using soil), were also highlighted. The garden also featured cost-saving growing techniques, such as planting-up straw bales - which enables the growing of fruit such as melons without an expensive greenhouse.

Juliet said: "Through this new partnership at the world's largest flower show, we want to demonstrate to people, communities and organisations that it can be easy, cheap and fun to grow what you eat at home, in public spaces, at work, in fact wherever you like - I want to show that anyone can grow food anywhere!"
 

The garden demonstrated simple and innovative growing techniques and recipe ideas for small spaces aimed at gardeners of all ages and abilities. At the same time, popular TV duo, The Hairy Bikers, presented live cookery programes using ingredients from the garden every day of the show. 

Si King and Dave Myers - aka - The Hairy Bikers - said: "We are thrilled to be presenting a week of live telly from the show. It’s gonna have everything we love: beautiful flowers and amazing gardens, delicious food, entertaining celeb guests and crowds of enthusiastic visitors that we can have a laugh with. We can’t wait!”

More Information:

Saturday Kitchen broadcasted live from the show on Saturday 8 July. In addition, a spin-off series called ‘Kitchen Garden Live with the Hairy Bikers’, was also broadcast live on BBC One at 11am every day of the show.