APRIL 2019

What do Gordon Ramsay, Cinderella, The Gruffalo and The Gingerbread Man have in common?  They all put in an appearance at Wheal Martyn on Saturday 30th March at the free Spring Planting workshop!

Preparing for the Cornwall Garden Society 2019 Spring Flower Show, we hosted a Spring Planting workshop led by Perennial Harvest.  Families came along and created the most amazing entries for the show, exhibiting great imagination and creativity.

The ‘Story in a Box’ competition category was very popular at Wheal Martyn.  Several children came prepared with a few props and designed beautiful gardens that represented some well-loved children’s stories.  Of note was ‘The Gruffalo’, complete with snake, mouse, owl, fox, a wood pile and the Gruffalo sporting his purple prickles. ‘The Gingerbread Man’ was also fantastic, with clothes peg characters, a little house with an oven, baking tray and a miniature gingerbread man!

The ‘Best Dressed Vegetable’ entries were fantastic and showed great imagination and resourcefulness.  Gemma Martin, Education Officer at Wheal Martyn, commented, “The children’s ideas were inspired.  We had a parsnip Gordon Ramsay, complete with apron and chopping board; a butternut squash Minion; Simon Swede and his alter-ego Toby Turnip; and a parsnip Cinderella in her gown with slippers!”

Tam Pemberton from Perennial Harvest was delighted with the entries made by visiting families: “The creations at the Wheal Martyn workshop were really unique and they are sure to catch the eye of the judges on Friday!”  Perennial Harvest is a Social Enterprise based in St Austell and mid-Cornwall.  Their aim is to make it really easy for people from all walks of life to grow their own vegetables, fruit and herbs successfully in their own spaces.  They believe that everyone can grow, no matter their age, background or physical ability.  Perennial Harvest has supported many planting workshops in the community and in schools, preparing entries for this year’s Spring Flower Show.

Tam and her team staged the entries and kept them in great condition before the show. She added, “So many children have entered the show; it’s really heartening”.