Allotment part 5, the AGM and Jim Buttress

The allotments are owned by the Land Charity, and the idea is that the poor of the parish will be able to grow produce - or at least benefit from the produce of the allotments. We have nine acres in the middle of Weybridge, and if the Charity decided to sell the land they would have a huge lump of capital to invest and give the proceeds to the charitable causes. So we are in danger because:

the allotmenteers love growing fruit and veg, but we are, on average, quite old, and on average, quite well off. You know the price of carrots? Well, it costs more to grow them, on the whole. We are not the people for whom the Land Charity exists.

The trustees of the Land Charity visited last June and gave a list of recommendations to the Committee, along the lines of:

1, We must grow mainly vegetables and not just fruit trees.
2. If you have a shed it must be small and in good repair.
3 You are not supposed to have a greenhouse, but if you have one it must be small and in good repair.
4. If your blackberries are growing in an unsightly clump they will be cut down.
5. You must get rid of your rubbish.
6-8 I can't remember.

In short: housekeeping. But the allotmenteers were quite cross about the shed warnings: some of them have been served notice that their dilapidated sheds will be forcibly taken away unless they do something about them.

Eventually, after some discussion, we all understood that we would be crazy to pick a quarrel with the trustees of the Land Charity.

After the meeting we had a guest speaker, who gave prizes to the keepers of the best allotments, and then gave a long talk. This was a great garden personality called Jim Buttress. He is a traditional gardener and erstwhile keeper of the Royal Parks. Now he is a judge for the RHS flower shows, and invented the method of judging, which used to be done by titled gardeners who really knew nothing about growing, and who all followed each other's lead, and which is now entirely transparent and "scientific".

Jim in bowler hat, judging apples.

So he told us about filming the Great Allotment Challenge (a BBC reality show not unlike the Great British Bake-off), and going for the audition at the BBC. He told us he refused to be the Nasty Judge because he likes to encourage everyone to have a go at gardening. He told us what he thought of the production and the people.

He told us about his other big project, in which he helps his friend Tom Hart Dyke.

Tom first became famous when he was held prisoner in Columbia by kidnappers while he was looking for (I seem to remember) orchids. He was a very keen plant-hunter, anyway, and he was held prisoner, with another enthusiast, for years in the jungle with some very dangerous men. He hit upon the idea of a world garden, and he has made been making this, in his garden at Lullingstone Castle, Kent. Jim Buttress told us about his first meeting with Tom and how he thought he was mad, and indeed, Tom first opened his garden when he had nothing to show but weeds.
Guardian news on tom's world garden

This project sounds fascinating and we shall have to go.

He told us about being one of the first promoters for London in Bloom and Britain in Bloom. This is, apparently, our largest voluntary undertaking as a country. Jim has retired from his former position in this organisation but still judges the south-east region.

Jim actually talked for hours and had some great stories to tell.

 Jim interviewing the winner of the Allotment challenge