African gardening techniques come to Devon
The inaugural Garden Festival’ at the stunning Edwardian Coombe Trenchard Estate (17th and 18th June 2011) will innovatively mix African garden techniques with quintessentially English styles as the event plays host to the Send a Cow charity.
For over 20 years Send a Cow has been helping thousands of African families grow enough food to eat, sell their produce and develop small businesses. During the Festival, on the Devon and Cornwall border, the organisation will be exhibiting a range of ‘grow your own’ gardening techniques which they regularly teach.
African farmer, Charles Mulwana of Nabale in Uganda, will be joining Coombe Trenchard owner Sarah Marsh and a host of festival-goers to showcase the methods he was taught by Send a Cow, such as the creation of Keyhole Gardens and Bag Gardens.
Charles will also be providing hands-on advice on how attendees can build African gardens at home and make the most of the vegetables that they are already growing. Throughout the Festival, Send a Cow will be promoting the organic methods for growing plants used in Africa and sharing a whole host of crossover information and advice.
The Coombe Trenchard Garden Festival is set to bring a raft of innovative traditional and contemporary craftsman together with recognised plant specialists, to share their knowledge and showcase their work. Exhibitors have been chosen for their creativity, skill and quality, truly epitomising the Edwardian ‘Arts & Crafts’ movement, which advocated being true to materials and traditional craftsmanship.
“Send a Cow was a charity that we really wanted to support as part of the Festival. We are pleased that they will be able to provide such a terrific educational programme during the Festival as well as fundraising through the teas that they will be selling each day,” said owner and organiser, Sarah Marsh. “I am sure that visitors to the Festival will be absolutely fascinated by the different gardening styles used by African farmers taught by the Charity. This global mixing of tips and techniques will undoubtedly benefit our own gardens this summer!”
“Send a Cow works hand in hand with poor families to provide training, livestock, seeds and support to enable them to live free from poverty and hunger. A great deal of our work focuses on training people to cultivate crops and plants. Therefore there couldn’t be a better occasion, and more suitable audience, to showcase our work and the techniques that we teach,” said Martin Geake, Chief Executive at Send A Cow.
For over 50 years, Coombe Trenchard, has been ‘closed’ to visitors and had settled into ‘gentle decline’. However, new owners have begun restoring the gardens back to their original glory. The Festival will offer anyone with an interest in gardens the opportunity to explore this wonderful setting. The two- day event will take inspiration from English Edwardian traditions and values, whilst weaving a range of modern and contemporary twists to create a refreshingly new Garden Festival experience.
The Festival will be officially opened by celebrity Gardener Toby Buckland at 10am on the 17th June 2011.
For more information: coombetrenchard.co.uk
