BBC One Show’s gardening guru Christine Walkden joins The Edible Garden Show’s celebrity panel of experts
Popular TV presenter Christine Walkden has joined the line-up of celebrity speakers for the award-winning The Edible Garden Show, the only national event dedicated to grow-your- own and the ‘good life’.
Christine, the resident gardening guru of BBC 1’s The One Show and a regular presenter across a range of TV and radio shows, is an award-winning broadcaster, author and gardening writer and a Gardeners’ Question Time Panellist. She has received an honorary doctorate for services to horticulture from the University of Essex and her latest book, ‘Christine Walkden’s No-nonsense Container Gardening’, extols the secrets of growing vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers in small spaces.
Christine will join TV botanist James Wong on the experts panel at The Edible Garden Show when it moves to Alexandra Palace, London, from 28-30 March, 2014. She has visited the event twice before but this will be the first time she has joined the celebrity line-up.
The passionate grow-your-own enthusiast says: “I am really looking forward to attending the show and meeting all the gardeners and exhibitors at this fast developing specialist event. The range of products, plants and talks provide the visitor with a one-stop shop for all you need for the coming exciting season. It’s a must for the home producer.”
Entrepreneur Christine first landed an allotment at the age of 10 and started growing vegetables and flowers, which she sold to her school teachers and local residents. As well as her TV and radio career, Christine works as a plants-woman and horticulturist and gives lectures all over the world.
Grow-your-own has become the UK’s hottest hobby with more and more young people and families digging for the dinner plate. Latest official statistics from Defra show 5% of all fresh fruit and vegetables consumed in UK homes came from free sources, mainly gardens and allotments. This compares to 2.9% in 2008. The percentage of garden owners who grow their own fruit and vegetables has risen to 43%, up from 34% over the same period.
It was against this backdrop that The Edible Garden Show was launched in 2011. Held at the beginning of the growing season, it has become a popular fixture in the gardening calendar. Bursting with innovative products, exciting exhibitors, home-grown produce, livestock, cookery demonstrations and lively talks from celebrity experts, the show has everything from bees, chickens, seeds and sheds to bread-making, beer-making, water and energy saving.
It’s not just those living in rural areas or with large gardens who have embraced grow-your-own. Town and city dwellers are also catching the bug and growing fruit and veg in pots on patios or balconies as well as window boxes. Increasing numbers of people have joined the grow-your-own revolution in a bid to live a healthier lifestyle and slash family food bills.
Home growers are also becoming more adventurous. James Wong has been a hugely popular speaker at The Edible Garden Show encouraging them to ditch the spuds and sprouts and plant more exotic edibles that will happily grow in the UK climate.
There are 300,000 allotment holders in the UK – and a further 150,000 people have their names on waiting lists. In some areas of the country you will die before you get to the top of the list. But while plots are in short supply, The Edible Garden Show 2014 will promote numerous alternate ways to harvest your own crop of home-grown, fresh and healthy produce.
The Edible Garden Show will be staged at Alexandra Palace, London, from 28-30 March, 2014. Tickets cost £16 on the door (£12 in advance) with concessions for children and seniors. For more information or to buy tickets visit: www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk or ring the ticket hotline on 0844 338 8001