Welcome to the Wrenthorpe Gardening website.

Everyone has somewhere where they can grow plants. For some it may be a windowsill while others may be fortunate enough to have an enormous garden. A number of people in the village rent an allotment. Of course not everyone is a keen gardener, many just doing enough (hopefully) to keep their property tidy; others put great effort into their manicured lawns, develop complicated landscapes or grow specimen plants to show standard.

Here in Wrenthorpe we are fortunate that there is a wealth of gardening resource on our doorstep. Most houses have a garden and a surprising number of them are really exceptionally beautiful. Even the two pubs in the village centre put on a great display with window boxes. There are two village shows and a gardening club, several nearby garden centres and two allotment sites within easy reach. There is even a specialist society that operates mainly from the village and in the wider Wakefield area there are a number of ‘experts’ on a variety horticultural subjects.

Whatever your personal preference, this website aims to provide help and encouragement, information and a source for advice.

Misunderstandings over the term ‘fruit’ are common. To the botanist it is the part of a
plant that bears seeds, whatever its form; pea pods, walnuts, marrows, rose hips and
poppy seed heads as well as apples and raspberries. Tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits
but rhubarb is not, since its sticks are in fact edible leaf stalks like those of celery.Types of fruit include ‘berry’ (e.g. grapes) where the seed is enclosed in a fleshy coat;
‘drupe’ (cherries, peaches) whose seed is covered by a soft flesh; ‘compound drupe’
(raspberry), a mass of several small drupes; ‘pome’ (apples, pears) where cells
contain the seeds within a fleshy body. The strawberry, with seeds on the surface of its
flesh, is a ‘false fruit’.

Slugs and snails are classed as gastropods. They are herbivores and therefore live on vegetation of one kind or another. In the garden, therefore, they are generally not welcome. However, this is perhaps a little unfair. Of course they are often responsible for ravishing our vegetable plots and we need to employ some protection measures, especially with young plants, if our efforts to grow our own food is not to be thwarted. However, the effect in the flower garden is less pronounced (though try persuading growers of delphiniums of that!) and in a wildlife garden they are actually beneficial in that some are useful in recycling organic matter and all provide a source of food for several reptiles, mammals and birds, e.g. frogs, hedgehogs and thrushes.If you feel that you do need to reduce your slug and snail population, here are a few suggestions, supplied originally by Ian Carthew for an article in a Wrenthorpe Gardening Club journal.

1. Encourage frogs and toads into your garden; you done need a pond, plenty of ground cover will do. Hedgehogs also eat slugs and you can encourage them to visit regularly by leaving out some cat or dog food at night.

2. Cloches for individual plants can be made from plastic drink bottles. Just cut off the bottom and remove the screw top for ventilation.

3. Slug traps may be made from old margarine tubs. Cut some holes in the side of the tub near the top for the slugs to enter, then part fill with beer; replace the top and partially sink the trap into the soil. Or you could use a wine bottle sunk into the soil at an angle so that the neck is level with the surface of the surface and place about an inch of beer in that. (Editor’s note: This a good one as you also get to drink the rest of the beer!)

4. If your not squeamish, you can crush snails with your boot and chop slugs in half with a hoe. (Editor’s note: Not a nice way to go!)

5. Tender plants in pots can be protected by smearing a ring of Vaseline around the rim. Barriers of course grit placed round the plants are also a very good deterrent.

6. Finally, make a good friend of your local thrush if you have one. They are nature’s own vacuum cleaners where snails are concerned and they make a much nicer sound if I may say so!
Editor’s Comments

You will note that Ian makes no reference to the use of pellets or other chemical agents.
While some companies claim that their products are environmentally friendly, many
gardeners remain to be convinced and would rather avoid their use. A more acceptable
solution is the use of nematodes, a biological agent which attacks the slugs when
watered on the soil and is harmless to other animals and plants.

There is another way. My wife is an animal lover and when I contemplate drastic action
to eliminate these pests, she insists that I collect them in a bucket with a lid on and
containing some ‘food’. After several nightly forays, I then have to take them to a
suitable grassy field where they will not cause anyone else a problem and release them.

I visited the Project in mid October in pouring rain; not a problem in the two indoor greenhouses but a considerable one outside, bearing in mind that this part covers by far the largest area, especially if you are hoping to take photographs. In addition, although the growing season in Cornwall goes on longer than in Yorkshire, some of the planted areas were past their best.A few facts …….

- the exhausted china clay pit in which the Project is built covers an area the equivalent
of 35 football pitches

- 83,000 tonnes of soil was made from recycled waste to provide the growing medium

- the Tower of London would fit inside the Rainforest Biome

- the rainforest biome is officially the biggest lean-to greenhouse in the world

- the idea for the bubble-like structures came to the architect while he was doing the
washing up

- the steel frame of the biomes consists of two layers, mainly in the form of hexagons

- there are three layers of the transparent covering material which has a twenty-five
year guaranteed lifespan

- the biomes are so lightweight for their size, that in high winds they are more likely to
blow away than blow down; however, they are firmly held down with ground anchors!
Travelling to the Project is along purpose made roads to a series of car parks; each named after a fruit; I parked in ‘Lime’. You need to remember which one you are leaving car in, as it would take some finding if you forget! Parking is free and a bus takes visitors to the Visitor Centre through which you pass to pay and enter the site. Once through you can either walk down the zigzag path or if you find this a daunting, take the land train. There is also a lift not too far away.

On entering, you will receive A Guide. Try to take a few minutes to read it before you set off to get some idea of the site layout and some of the information. Reading it afterwards only makes you realise how much you have missed or ignored! If you can, visit the website, www.edenproject.com which gives lots of information to help plan your visit.

There are four main areas ……

- the Outdoor biome

- the Rainforest biome

- the Mediterranean biome

- the Core

The Outdoor Biome doesn’t need a roof because it is our own climate, i.e. that found between the Mediterranean and the Arctic. It covers 30 of the 35 football pitches (about 85% of the whole site). It is built into the base and around the steep slopes of the pit and is accessed through the Visitor Centre and down a zigzag path between banks of ferns and horsetails, some of the earliest plants to grow on the planet. At the bottom is an area in which familiar vegetables and flowers are growing just like they do at home or at the allotment - only to an impressive standard! Other paths then wind up and down the slopes through a series of other gardens featuring crops and other plants from various parts of the world. The poor weather on the day precluded a more in depth look, which leaves me with an incentive to make a future visit! Also in the bottom part of the site is the amphitheatre which provides a venue in the summer for live music concerts and in winter an ice skating rink.

Access to the indoor biomes is via The Link, literally a building linking the two biomes and housing a range of facilities, including toilets, information, cafes, restaurant, etc. There is even a small cloakroom (unattended).

The Rainforest Biome is the larger of the two ‘greenhouses’ with a daytime temperature from 18 to 35 degrees C and a humidity level of 60% (rising to 90% at night). There is a cool room for any visitor who finds the heat too much. The path winds through various tropical zones up into the top of the back wall, often between massive jungle plants from tropical islands, Malaysia, West Africa and tropical South America. Rubber, bananas, bamboo, sugar cane, coffee, pineapples, cocoa, spices, etc. all come from plants growing in this climate. Many of the plants grow at a phenomenal rate in these conditions and have to be pruned regularly. This job is carried out using cherry pickers and abseilers.

The Mediterranean Biome is far more open than the tropical one and the temperature is a comfortable 25 degrees C maximum. Although smaller than the rainforest biome, it is still enormous. Areas of the world covered, in addition to the Mediterranean basin itself, include South Africa and California. Plants from these parts of the world often have to cope with drought and poor thin soils. However, irrigation, fertilisers, etc. make this climatic zone a rich environment for vegetable, wine, fruit and flower production. There are citrus fruit, grape vines, olive trees and peppers, together with a wide range of flowers grown for the florist trade.

The Core is the newest part of the Project, opened in 2006, as the education centre. Architecturally, it is as spectacular as the domes if you take the time to look at it and to read up on its design, with its roof spirals which take its inspiration from plant forms such as pinecones, pineapples and sunflowers. The centre has two exhibition areas. The ground floor concentrates on environmental issues such as conservation, food production, climate change, renewable energy, etc., while the upper floor provides for schools programmes, more exhibitions, workshops, etc. In the middle of the building is a 70-tonne sculpture ‘Seed’; made from Cornish granite; it is the largest sculpture from a single piece of rock since Egyptian times and is twice the weight of any of the stones at Stonehenge. The spiral concept also carries on through this very impressive work of art.

Back up to the top at the Visitor Centre, there is the expected plant sale area and gift shop that has an extensive and excellent range of products on offer.

The £14 entrance fee (£10 for seniors, £5 for children 5 yrs and over, £35 for a family of five) is not cheap but is good value for money.

I make no apology if all this sounds like a free advertisement for the Project. It is a fascinating place, even if you are not into gardening; to an enthusiast like me it is doubly so and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

Following the Harvest Festivals and success at Bretton and the Paxton Society flower shows, many people have asked, knowing my breathing problems, how I was able to keep up such high standards.  My answer came in three simple words ’ON MY KNEES’.  This year I grew most of my vegetables and flowers in little pots and then planted them out with a trowel later.  I found my breathing was better nearer the ground and left slightly larger gaps between rows.

When the weeds started to grow I found the ground too hard to hoe so worked along the rows on my knees pulling out weeds by hand.  Down near the soil I soon became aware of another world.  The variety of insect life was quite amazing.  I never realised what a multitude of beetles of all shapes and sizes and colours there are.  I found at least eight different types of ladybirds, some with more spots than others, one all yellow with red spots and a few with no spots at all.  The ladybirds I collected carefully into a matchbox and transferred to the dahlia plants to sort out the greenfly!

The overlords of the territory were the spiders and again I was surprised at the varied sizes and colours.  I remembered advice when I first started gardening:  “Get rid of the slow moving pests, the quick moving ones are harmless”.  I realised how sensible this is because you can’t catch the quick mover anyway!

Most of my plot was sprayed with weed killer and then rotovated so the weeds that grew were mostly annuals.  I never realised how some of the weeds like speedwell, white and yellow daisies, and the old ‘fat hen’ have beautiful flowers when you get down to their level.  Why don’t our hybridists concentrate on improving the size and colour of some of our native annual plants instead of importing from all round the world and then finding that they are not suitable for our climate?

The birds are also more friendly to kneeling figures and only fly off when the figure stands.  Hand weeding also means that none of crops are damaged by the hoe.  There is one final advantage of the hands and knees approach.  Like Prince Charles and Alan Titchmarsh, I too often talk to my plants.  Getting nearer the soil means you can whisper to them at ground level without the rest of my family and neighbours thinking that I am going bonkers!!!