Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2011 | Page 95

Garlic garden

strikes gold

Garlic turned to gold once again this
year for Colin Boswell and his team at
the prestigious Hampton Court Flower
Show.
The Garlic Farm at Newchurch
struck gold for the seventh successive
year with a breathtaking display that
depicted a garlic plaiter’s cottage
garden. It was not only the best entry
in the Grow Your Own marquee, but
was generally recognised as being one
of the best of overall at what is the
largest flower show in the world.
Islanders and visitors will have
the opportunity to view part of the
magnificent stand for themselves at
this year’s Garlic Show.
Colin said: “We like to think it was
the best stand we have ever done at
Hampton Court, and the feedback we
received from several sources was that
it was among the best, if not the best,
garden on show. And it does get more
difficult each year because the bar is
continually being raised.
“The actual planning of the garden
took nearly 12 months, but as for
setting it up, we started on the
Thursday and finished on the Sunday

night. This year we decided not just to
have garlic, but everything to do with
the Allium family (informally referred
to as the onion genus). We had
different types of allium on the stand
with different types of field parsleys,
and everything bonded together very
well.
“Around the outside of the stand we
used clay tiles and boards dating back
to 1800; the fence was made from
trays that had been used for 50 years,
and the whole structure was made of
400-year-old oak
beams which had
been taken out of
various building
on the farm over
the years.”
He added: “All
credit must go
to Paul Barney
of Edulis, who
was the designer,
and to Nicky
Hayward and her
daughter Jules,
who have both
been involved

with the projects for the last seven
years.”
The stand will be reconstructed
in part at the Garlic Festival at
Newchurch, which takes place on
August 20 and 21. Meanwhile, Colin
and his team are already looking ahead
to the 2012 Hampton Court Flower
Show. That is when they hope to
convert their medal collection from the
Magnificent Seven to the Great Garlic
Eight!

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