telegenic bucolic idylls...

[Guest guest]

A Good Life for all as 'grow your own' booms

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2170318,00.html

Jamie Doward and Johnny McDevitt

Sunday September 16, 2007

 

 

TV chefs are inspiring the nation to use plant pots, allotments and even

window sills to provide fresh and exotic vegetables for our plates

 

 

Some call it the 'Titchmarsh factor'. Others cite the popularity of Hugh

Fearnley-Whittingstall's Tales from River Cottage or Jamie Oliver's latest

series, Jamie At Home, in which the TV chefs cook mouth-watering produce

plucked from their well-stocked gardens nestling in telegenic bucolic

idylls. Whatever the reason, an increasing number of Britons want to bring

a bit of the Good Life into their homes and the phenomenon is even

extending to flat-dwellers in big cities.

 

 

Figures from the Horticultural Trades Association, which represents more

than 2,500 garden centres and businesses, reveal a new-found desire among

Britons to grow their own, even in the most tiny, unprepossessing spaces.

 

At a time when sales of all plants and bulbs are, at best, static, and in

many cases declining, sales of seeds used to grow edible plants and herbs

are already up 7 per cent on last year and are set to break the

double-digit percentage increase by the end of 2007.

 

The most popular seeds in Britain's supermarkets and garden centres are

peas and beans, herbs, salads and tomatoes, but the growing demand for

exotic vegetables suggests growers are becoming more adventurous. The surge

in popularity of grow-your-own comes at a time when the increasing number

of people living alone means many city-dwellers don't have access to

gardens. The government estimates one in three new homes are built on

former gardens.

 

As a result, green-fingered enthusiasts are having to resort to tubs and

window boxes to make the most of available space. In the past year Tesco

has seen an 18 per cent rise in demand for edible plant seeds, with the

biggest rises coming from sales of more unusual vegetables such as chillies

(up 42 per cent), sorrel (38 per cent) and garlic (34 per cent), which can

all be grown in pots on windowsills or tubs. The supermarket giant has also

recorded a 27 per cent rise in sales of growing boxes.

 

'There are several reasons for the current boom, but the increase in TV

gardening programmes has had a major effect in boosting interest in

horticulture - a fact the industry calls the Titchmarsh factor,' said Tesco

horticulture buyer Louisa Knowles. Alan Titchmarsh, who has become an

unlikely hero for men and women of all ages, has pulled in millions of

viewers to his Gardener's World series, which at its peak attracted 12

million viewers. Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver's latest series is attracting some

2.4 million. As with the Fearnley-Whittingstall programmes filmed at his

Dorset cottage, Oliver professes the joy of eating fresh home-grown produce

that has travelled only a few yards to the kitchen.

 

Both have tapped into public concern about the carbon footprint of food and

how it is produced. 'Celebrity chefs have done a lot to encourage people to

start growing their own vegetables and herbs through the large number of

cookery shows on television,' Knowles said. 'Food traceability is another

key factor; more and more people want to know where their food comes from

and that it is free from pesticides.'

 

In January, 3.8 million people tuned into Grow Your Own Veg on BBC2,

compared with the 3.6 million who watched Celebrity Big Brother. The Royal

Horticultural Society's (RHS) book Grow Your Own Veg reached number two in

the UK hardback non-fiction chart this year, while its website dedicated to

the subject regularly receives 15,000 hits a day. 'People are feeling

disconnected from their food,' said Guy Barter, head adviser at the RHS.

'And they are iffy about where their food is produced. By growing their own

they're reclaiming control. They're not looking to be self-sufficient, but

they want something fresh and tasty to add to their diet.'

 

The society believes much of the drive is coming from parents who want to

show their children where food comes from. 'They'll keep a pot of potatoes

by the back door; children are astounded when they discover that potatoes

grow in the ground,' Barter said.

 

The market in edible plant seeds, now worth more than £40m in Britain, is

the latest indication of consumers' rekindled love affair with going back

to nature. Specialist websites allowing enthusiasts to swap ideas have

experienced a surge in popularity, while there are long waiting lists for

allotments after decades in the doldrums. 'Two years ago at my allotment in

Woking there were hundreds of vacant plots,' Barter said. 'Now we've got 60

people on the waiting list.'

 

As part of its Grow Your Own campaign, the RHS is touring Britain with a 3m

x 3m display garden showing what can be grown on a small patch. At present

the garden boasts lettuces, endives, Chinese greens, spinach, edible

flowers, baby carrots and salad onions.

 

The society believes its display garden reflects shifting consumer tastes.

An increasing number of the society's recruits are under 40, the majority

of them women, many of whom have children. As a result of this change,

tastes in grow-your-own are becoming more varied, with enthusiasts opting

for easy-to-maintain raised beds and a wider selection of increasingly

exotic garden produce.

 

Britain's garden centres, which received 144 million visits last year, have

reported a surge in demand for polythene tunnels to protect the new

varieties of vegetables being produced. 'In the old days it was all cabbage

and potatoes,' Barter said. 'Now it's tomatoes, aubergines and beans of all

different colours.'

 

But he warned that such horticultural exoticism can come at a price. 'These

plants are much more difficult to grow,' he said. 'It's fine if you have a

nice hot summer, but this year a lot of people have come a cropper.'

[Guest guest]

It is strange. I don't watch any of the programmes you mention, but I am

becoming more interested in having a go at growing more veg.

 

Jo

 

-

<yarrow

 

Sunday, September 16, 2007 6:10 PM

telegenic bucolic idylls...

 

 

A Good Life for all as 'grow your own' booms

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2170318,00.html

Jamie Doward and Johnny McDevitt

Sunday September 16, 2007

 

 

TV chefs are inspiring the nation to use plant pots, allotments and even

window sills to provide fresh and exotic vegetables for our plates

 

 

Some call it the 'Titchmarsh factor'. Others cite the popularity of Hugh

Fearnley-Whittingstall's Tales from River Cottage or Jamie Oliver's latest

series, Jamie At Home, in which the TV chefs cook mouth-watering produce

plucked from their well-stocked gardens nestling in telegenic bucolic

idylls. Whatever the reason, an increasing number of Britons want to bring

a bit of the Good Life into their homes and the phenomenon is even

extending to flat-dwellers in big cities.

 

 

Figures from the Horticultural Trades Association, which represents more

than 2,500 garden centres and businesses, reveal a new-found desire among

Britons to grow their own, even in the most tiny, unprepossessing spaces.

 

At a time when sales of all plants and bulbs are, at best, static, and in

many cases declining, sales of seeds used to grow edible plants and herbs

are already up 7 per cent on last year and are set to break the

double-digit percentage increase by the end of 2007.

 

The most popular seeds in Britain's supermarkets and garden centres are

peas and beans, herbs, salads and tomatoes, but the growing demand for

exotic vegetables suggests growers are becoming more adventurous. The surge

in popularity of grow-your-own comes at a time when the increasing number

of people living alone means many city-dwellers don't have access to

gardens. The government estimates one in three new homes are built on

former gardens.

 

As a result, green-fingered enthusiasts are having to resort to tubs and

window boxes to make the most of available space. In the past year Tesco

has seen an 18 per cent rise in demand for edible plant seeds, with the

biggest rises coming from sales of more unusual vegetables such as chillies

(up 42 per cent), sorrel (38 per cent) and garlic (34 per cent), which can

all be grown in pots on windowsills or tubs. The supermarket giant has also

recorded a 27 per cent rise in sales of growing boxes.

 

'There are several reasons for the current boom, but the increase in TV

gardening programmes has had a major effect in boosting interest in

horticulture - a fact the industry calls the Titchmarsh factor,' said Tesco

horticulture buyer Louisa Knowles. Alan Titchmarsh, who has become an

unlikely hero for men and women of all ages, has pulled in millions of

viewers to his Gardener's World series, which at its peak attracted 12

million viewers. Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver's latest series is attracting some

2.4 million. As with the Fearnley-Whittingstall programmes filmed at his

Dorset cottage, Oliver professes the joy of eating fresh home-grown produce

that has travelled only a few yards to the kitchen.

 

Both have tapped into public concern about the carbon footprint of food and

how it is produced. 'Celebrity chefs have done a lot to encourage people to

start growing their own vegetables and herbs through the large number of

cookery shows on television,' Knowles said. 'Food traceability is another

key factor; more and more people want to know where their food comes from

and that it is free from pesticides.'

 

In January, 3.8 million people tuned into Grow Your Own Veg on BBC2,

compared with the 3.6 million who watched Celebrity Big Brother. The Royal

Horticultural Society's (RHS) book Grow Your Own Veg reached number two in

the UK hardback non-fiction chart this year, while its website dedicated to

the subject regularly receives 15,000 hits a day. 'People are feeling

disconnected from their food,' said Guy Barter, head adviser at the RHS.

'And they are iffy about where their food is produced. By growing their own

they're reclaiming control. They're not looking to be self-sufficient, but

they want something fresh and tasty to add to their diet.'

 

The society believes much of the drive is coming from parents who want to

show their children where food comes from. 'They'll keep a pot of potatoes

by the back door; children are astounded when they discover that potatoes

grow in the ground,' Barter said.

 

The market in edible plant seeds, now worth more than £40m in Britain, is

the latest indication of consumers' rekindled love affair with going back

to nature. Specialist websites allowing enthusiasts to swap ideas have

experienced a surge in popularity, while there are long waiting lists for

allotments after decades in the doldrums. 'Two years ago at my allotment in

Woking there were hundreds of vacant plots,' Barter said. 'Now we've got 60

people on the waiting list.'

 

As part of its Grow Your Own campaign, the RHS is touring Britain with a 3m

x 3m display garden showing what can be grown on a small patch. At present

the garden boasts lettuces, endives, Chinese greens, spinach, edible

flowers, baby carrots and salad onions.

 

The society believes its display garden reflects shifting consumer tastes.

An increasing number of the society's recruits are under 40, the majority

of them women, many of whom have children. As a result of this change,

tastes in grow-your-own are becoming more varied, with enthusiasts opting

for easy-to-maintain raised beds and a wider selection of increasingly

exotic garden produce.

 

Britain's garden centres, which received 144 million visits last year, have

reported a surge in demand for polythene tunnels to protect the new

varieties of vegetables being produced. 'In the old days it was all cabbage

and potatoes,' Barter said. 'Now it's tomatoes, aubergines and beans of all

different colours.'

 

But he warned that such horticultural exoticism can come at a price. 'These

plants are much more difficult to grow,' he said. 'It's fine if you have a

nice hot summer, but this year a lot of people have come a cropper.'

 

 

 

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