What we've done for the Victorians - 10 years at Audley End
Garden Organic's Mike Thurlow, Head Gardener at Audley End
The Audley End Organic Kitchen Garden is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its latest incarnation. Garden Organic's Mike Thurlow, Head Gardener of this walled kitchen garden from the outset, reflects on the decade.
When I accepted the post of Head Gardener for Audley End Organic Kitchen Garden little did I know that I was about to embark on one of the most exciting gardening journeys imaginable. Alan and Jackie Gear (former directors of Garden Organic from 1986-2003) had been approached by English Heritage to collaborate with them to bring back to life the derelict two-acre kitchen garden at Audley End House in Essex. English Heritage wanted it to be an example of a working Victorian kitchen garden managed using modern organic methods.
Things happened so quickly that we had no tools or equipment to work with at the outset. It didn't make any difference; we couldn't do any work on the ground because there were archaeologists and construction workers all over the place. We explored the site and buildings behind the vinery, where we found a stack of bamboo canes in a junk filled room. These we used to mark the intended planting positions of the apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines and cherries around the walls of the kitchen garden. At least we had something to show for our first day at Audley End.
Audley End is a glorious Jacobean stately home
Audley End is a glorious Jacobean stately home. Its organic kitchen garden now looks much as it would have done in late Victorian times: full of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers to supply the household Varieties from the Heritage Seed Library are ideally suited to the aims of the kitchen garden: to supply vegetables every day of the year.The head gardener's house can be seen in the background
Only three action-packed months later, the kitchen garden at Audley End opened to the public for the first time in its history. I'll never forget opening the door to be greeted by two local ladies standing in the drizzle. They were waiting to be the first visitors to the garden: the first of many tens of thousands. We have had help from volunteers from the start, and most of the original volunteers are still with us today. Their contribution has played a major part in the garden's success. We will always be grateful for all their hard work and enthusiasm.
Use the microclimate
The Victorians were masters at using the garden's different microclimates, created by the north, south, east and west facing walls, to produce food over as long a period as possible. Observe the sun's passage across your own garden. It is useful to know the earliest sunny, warm sites and the areas the sun never touches. Cool, shady sites are particularly valuable in a hot summer.
The vinery
The vines are now over 150 years old.
They were planted outside and trained in through the windows of the vinery
The restoration of the magnificent vinery, one of the earliest and largest in the country, was central to the project. In its heyday, using an array of growing and storage techniques, grapes would have been available from August until May. Although the vine houses had fallen into decay, amazingly some of the original vines, such as 'Black Hamburgh' and 'Lady Downes Seedling', planted a century and a half previously, had survived.
It took years for the vines to be retrained completely, but now they are fully productive andunder control once more. We have tried many techniques to deal with powdery mildew, which is a major problem on grapes indoors (see page 14). Up until the fruit begins to colour up, we now use a monthly spray of wettable sulphur. Making sure the roots never dry out is vital too.
Strawberry pots
On the back wall of one of the vineries we discovered what turned out to be the remains of strawberry forcing shelves. Each was able to carry 75 pots to provide the "big house" with fresh strawberries in March. Strawberries are well suited to pot cultivation. In July pot up healthy runners into 20cm pots (no larger) filled with a soil based compost. We use a barrow full of ordinary garden soil to which we add a bucket of sharp grit and 100g of pelleted poultry manure. If your soil is sandy then include leaf mould or old potting compost to improve its structure.
The orchard house
The orchard house in spring
We discovered the remains of a Thomas Rivers orchard house in the centre of the kitchen garden. By fortuitous circumstances the original plans for the orchard house came to light, and it stands once more. Thomas Rivers, one of the country's leading nurseryman and plant breeders in the 1800s, was based in Cambridgeshire. In the days before dwarfing rootstocks he had developed a technique that allowed fruit trees to be grown in pots for up to nine years before repotting. The orchard house promotes early growth, which is then protected from the elements, ensuring a successful, early crop of fruit.
Heritage varieties suit
A decade of growing has proved which varieties are best suited to this garden and can always be relied upon to perform: something the Victorians who originally worked the garden were well aware of. We have found that varieties from the Heritage Seed Library (HSL) are ideally suited to the aims of the kitchen garden, which is to supply vegetables every day of the year. The garden is now an excellent showcase for the HSL.
A successful decade
So much has happened at Audley End since those early days. My main conclusion must be that we have shown it is possible to manage a large, walled garden organically, while still retaining the historic appearance.
Victorian gardening was very similar to modern organic methods. We have inherited a system that works extremely well. The techniques are the same; it is only the materials, such as horticultural fleece instead of muslin sheets, that differ.
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