How do you grow Cassia in the UK? You have to make it up as you go along…. We have found a lovely, short interview about growing the botanicals for Bombay Sapphire Gin in 2 glasshouses in Hampshire (near where we learnt to garden just outside Basingstoke!) According to the gardener Chris Cottrell, who runs the glasshouses at Laverstoke Mill, the only other place in the country that is growing cassia is Kew, so when it starts to look unhealthy there are not a lot of places to turn for advice. It is the bark of the cassia tree that …

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You come to fetch me from my work to-night When supper’s on the table, and we’ll see If I can leave off burying the white Soft petals fallen from the apple tree (Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you came for and become like me, Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed On through the watching for that early birth When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The …

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We want to share with you this incredible edible orchestra!   Just take a look at 1 minute 38 seconds in, at the cucumber and red pepper trumpet! Based in Vienna, they use both fresh and dried fruit and vegetables to create their instruments, peeling and honing each one ‘fresh’ for every concert. At the end of the concert, vegetables are made into soup that is then shared with the audience. Who would have thought a carrot marimba, a radish flute or a leek violin could sound so good? Though we really aren’t sure what they do with the cabbage…. … actually, we might go …

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