We had a fabulous trip to Hidcote Manor Gardens in Gloucestershire last Friday. We enjoyed a really interesting tour of the Kitchen Gardens with gardener Sarah Malleson, who has restored the whole area, now full of wonderful fruit and veg. We also had a good look at the compost heaps and the in-vessel composter used to deal with any waste from the kitchens.

Sarah Mallison tells us all about the Kitchen Garden

It was really interesting to hear about how the kitchen garden is managed organically and food grown for use in the restaurant.

After our tour we had a lovely graduation ceremony in the orchard, and were joined by Head Gardener, Glyn Jones, who kindly handed out certificates and thanked our Master gardeners, appreciating the value of volunteers, both at Hidcote and Garden Organic. Then it was time to crack open the wine! The prize won by Warwickshire Master Gardeners for Group Acheivement 2011.

Hidcote Head Gardener, Glyn Jones, presents Steve Penny with his graduation certificate

A lovely day was had by all, a great opportunity to learn about the Kitchen Gardens at Hidcote, a time to celebrate our acheivements and even some time to appreciate  the flowers.

Are you interested in becoming a Master Gardener this Autumn? Click here

For more pictures from our trip click on a picture in the flickr stream (on the right of the screen)

Sarah tells us all about the in-vessel composting at Hidcote