An Exploration of the Kitchen Garden

 A kitchen garden is a garden created with the sole purpose of producing edible plants. Vegetables, fruits, herbs, medicinal plants and even edible flowers, a kitchen garden can be as small or as large as one pleases. Historically, for more wealthy landowners, kitchen gardens often feature impressive orchards, beehives and even areas for livestock. The management of the gardens would have been overseen by teams of gardeners who would work for the house with the intention of supplying bountiful harvests to the kitchens who would then create lavish meals for the family or for their guests.

Nestled within the forests of Nottinghamshire, England sits the glorious estate of Clumber Park. Now owned by The National Trust, the area was owned for many years by the Dukes of Newcastle and passed down throughout their family. Originally a large mansion complete with stables sat upon the edge of the river, however after intense damage was done to the building after, not one, but two fires in the years 1879 and 1912 respectively, the 9th Duke of Newcastle decided to deconstruct and demolish the main building. Some of the buildings still remain such as the church and what is now the site’s shop, leaving the estate as a place that numerous dog walkers and families now retreat to on the weekends in order to reconnect with nature and all it has to offer. 

Amongst the trees and the rhododendrons, lives another surviving feature from the times of the Dukes. Clumber Park’s walled kitchen garden and glasshouse is something that I have been fortunate enough to visit on multiple occasions and at various times of the year, allowing me to see the progression of the crops that grow there throughout the changing of the seasons. From crisp autumn afternoons to sunny spring mornings, I find the garden to be a charming snapshot of what life was like in decades gone by and a must see to anyone who is visiting the park.

Clumber Park’s kitchen garden sets itself apart from most others, despite no household remaining for it to provide food for, the site boasts two national collections, one of rhubarb and one of apples. Not only does it have a national collection of rhubarb with more than 130 different varieties of the plant, it is also the second largest collection of rhubarb in the world, runner up only to a collection located in the Netherlands. Some varieties include ‘Fulton’s Strawberry Surprise’ ‘Stockbridge Arrow’ ‘Hawkes Champagne’ and ‘Thompson's Terrifically Tasty,’ all differing in purpose, taste, texture and appearance. The crops grown in this garden are used in the park’s cafe as well as sold to the public through a little kiosk located at the front gate as a means to generate more income for the site. When I visited last, the charming kiosk was stocked with plenty of herbs as well as tomato plants. Personally, I am not a fan of rhubarb’s sour taste, but I am able to acknowledge that it is a quintessentially British flavour, whether featured in a boiled sweet or a hearty crumble. Despite your preferences, it is impossible not to acknowledge the skill and impressive nature of this collection, but for now, I’m going to stick to apples in my crumble.

Next up on the tour is The Glasshouse, a building located between the 2 large herbaceous borders that run through the middle of the yard. The building opens up into a large conservatory-like space filled with a gorgeous display of plants, comfortably sitting inside their chic yet functional terracotta pots. The glasshouse then shoots off into two long corridors at opposite ends of the principal room, yielding more space into which plants are grown. This area of Clumber Park’s kitchen garden is one of the most recently renovated areas after previously being left in a derelict state after decades of it being out of use. Originally glasshouses like this were built as a way to grow exotic, more tropical kinds of fruit, unlike ones that were able to be grown naturally in the UK’s climate. Having a glasshouse that was able to produce fruits such as pineapples, mangoes or bananas became the ultimate status symbol as it took large amounts of money to build, operate and heat these rooms.

Whilst walking through the garden I found that many different elements caught my eye and drew my attention towards them. The garden is not only full of many different types of fruits and vegetables but also filled with large borders filled with bright clusters of flowers such as peonies, lupines and irises. This time the blooms that seemed to be out were all various tones of red, oranges and rusty tones, with huge billowing poppies and alliums peeking out of the variegated foliage. On previous visits the borders were bursting with buttery yellow and white flowers, whilst other sections feature vibrant sky blues and deep midnight hues. The flowers help to break up the 4 acres worth of land and add another element of intrigue, as well as the tall brick walls that encompass the land. Upon these walls climb the trees that sport the small beginnings of apples, pears and a mass array of stone fruits such as peaches, apricots, plums, nectarines and cherries. I think it is also worth noting that everything here is grown organically, meaning that no chemicals and pesticides are used throughout the growing process, instead methods such as ‘Companion Planting’ are used. This is a natural way of deterring pests by growing certain species of plants alongside each other in a way that the natural properties of each plant can help the other to thrive. For example, here carrots were grown alongside onions, the smell of the onions deters carrot root fly and the smell of carrots deters onion fly, allowing each plant to grow peacefully. You can read more about companion plant pairings here.

Another section of the garden which particularly impressed me was the range of berries which I had never ever heard of before. I’m always interested in learning about new flavours and ingredients so I have included a little section underneath that goes into a bit more detail about some of the berries which are grown within the soft fruit garden.

Silvanberry - A type of hybrid plant that was developed in 1970. It produces dark red/purple fruit and is most like a blackberry.

Youngberry - Another variation of a blackberry, hybridized with raspberry and dewberry.

Tummelberry - Similar to a raspberry, produces large red fruits that are said to be extra tasty and juicy.

Tayberry - Very similar to Tummelberry but the fruits produced are generally longer in size.

Japanese Wineberry - An Asian variety of raspberry with roundish red/orange fruits produced.

Loganberry - Another cross between a raspberry and a blackberry but one that produces a fruit with a much more tart flavour. 

Boysenberry - A combination of the loganberry ,dewberry, raspberry and blackberry this fruit creates large dark purple berries.

As I finally came to the end of my walk amongst the kitchen garden, I left via the herb garden. A very neatly cultivated area with large paths surrounding borders of different types of herbs such as sage, mint, oregano and chive. I was incredibly surprised by the scale and variety of food which this garden creates, from garlic to artichoke, or asparagus to celeriac, there definitely isn't a shortage in what the team here creates. Every time I visit there is something new to see and I appreciate the effort, detail and skill that goes into creating something as interesting and flourishing as this garden. By the time I get chance to visit again, it's possible by then that Autumn will be in full swing, I remember last time I visited in autumn there were huge varieties of pumpkin and squash on display, something I enjoyed immensely as there is nothing that represents my favourite time of the year so much as a well grown pumpkin. If you yourself ever have the chance to visit the park or have neglected to visit this area on previous visits, I urge any plant or food lovers to take a stroll inside its walls and to discover something special within.

Bibliography:

The walled kitchen garden at Clumber Park: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/clumber-park/the-walled-kitchen-garden-at-clumber-park

The history of Clumber Park: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/clumber-park/history-of-clumber-park