Toby Buckland’s Garden Festival Highlights 2014

ph: Matt Austin

Here’s a video of the festival which was a great success for both exhibitors and visitors and we had a lot of fun too.

Watch it here: Toby Buckland Garden Festival 2014 Film  2min 26 sec

The festival brings together celebrity gardener, horticulturist and author, Toby Buckland, Powderham Castle and the leading South West specialist gardening magazine Country Gardener in a gardening event unique to Devon. A perfect festival for every type of gardener.

The annual event takes place on the first May bank holiday of the year. Exact dates and times for 2015 will be announced shortly. See the website for details http://www.tobygardenfest.co.uk/

ThIs video was produced by: Tony Gray Productions

 tonygray014@gmail.com M:0779 2010 758

Wild Garlic Season is here again

Wild Garlic pasta pesto

It’s wild garlic season again, whoopie! I just ate a fabulous sandwich of local Devonian Curworthy cheese with a perfect accompaniment of garlic leaves.  Here are some more ideas of how to use this abundant spring herb.

Things to do with wild garlic:

Pesto – Whizz the leaves with pine nuts, grated Parmesan and olive oil to make pesto. Or add pancetta, and egg to make a variation of wild garlic carbonara

Rice – Wild garlic risotto

Mash – Chop the leaves and mix them into mashed potato

Fish – Wrap the leaves around fillets of buttered trout and bake gently in the oven. The leaves also compliment smoked fish

Mayo – Chop the leaves into sour cream or fresh mayonnaise and use as a dip

Salad – Use whole leaves in salads and decorate with the flowers.

Sandwiches – Add the leaves to cheese or ham and mustard sandwiches.

Spinach – steam with spinach, I prefer to mix as they are a bit watery steamed alone.

Puree – puree with oil and use as a drizzle or dressing.

Scrambled eggs – chopped into creamy scrambled eggs, divine.

Butter – flavour softened butter with chopped leaves and harden in the fridge

Frittata – one of the best

Hummus – tahini, chickpeas, wild garlic

or try my wild garlic flower tempura

Wild Garlic Tempura

or use wild garlic instead of nettles in my gnocci recipe

Nettle/wild garlic gnocci

Enjoy.