Wells Voice Article October 2024

Photo: Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff  at Barrington Court. An arresting planting.

The Strawberry: Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.

When the French writer Marcel Proust settled down to an afternoon snack in his garden, he took one nibble of a madeleine which set him off to produce volumes of reminiscences and fictional deliberations that clutter the shelves of libraries all over the globe. It's quite possible that some people have read the lot though they must belong to an especially dedicated band of literary enthusiasts. All this after a small French cake. Goodness knows what Proust would have achieved after a bowl of strawberries and cream, or a bite from a sun ripened peach. Had he never had a similar experience on tasting a fruit that the French grow so well, a Doyenne du Comice pear for example, or cherries from the tree?

The fruits of summer and autumn have particular fragrances which evoke feelings and long memories. When food was short back in the middle of the last century, the two large cherry trees in our garden were protected against the invading starlings in a continuance of the previous warfare. My father, crouched behind the hen hut, thought himself invisible as he took pot shots at the chattering birds with an ancient air rifle. He hit more White Heart cherries than marauders who scattered for a while and then returned to plunder the other tree, the Morello cherry with its deep red shiny fruits, sharp to the taste. When it comes down to it there's a bit of Proust in all of us.

Nowadays there is a need to grow more of our own food, to plant fruit trees in our gardens and allotments. The old tradition grew out of common-sense necessity. Transporting fruit was a problem, so people grew their own to ensure freshness and supply. The larger the garden, the more ambitious the result. The Big House would grow peaches, pineapples, melons, citrus fruits and vines. Of course, the gardeners grew them, but the owners would grab the credit. Their ambition pushed things to the limit. Competition and rivalry were rife and intense. In 1870 the vinery at Chiswick contained 83 vines of 26 varieties. At Manresa House in Roehampton 807 bunches of Black Hamburg grapes were cut in 1888. Grapes would be presented on the table all the year round in some houses. This level of fruit growing became an obsession. Here’s Dr Underhill in the Gardener's Weekly 1860 offering some advice on digestion - grape eating as a science.

' When in health swallow only the pulp. When costive, swallow the seeds with the pulp, ejecting the skin.' If overdone, then he advised the patient to ' swallow the pulp with the skin ejecting the seeds. Thus, may the grape be used as a medicine, while at the same time it serves as a luxury unsurpassed by any other cultivated fruit. An adult may eat from three to four pounds a day with benefit. It is well to take them with or immediately after meals.'  

Well indeed. You can have too much of a good thing. On which gastronomic note we turn with much pleasure to the next meeting of the season. In October we are delighted to welcome back Neil Ross who will be talking about how we can enliven our gardens even more with a bit of a wow factor. Dahlias, perhaps as at Barrington.  Neil is a gardener, designer, teacher and writer. His experience ranges from Sissinghurst and Great Dixter to New Zealand and the Mendip area which makes him a knowledgeable and interesting speaker. Details as follows:

Thursday 10th October in Wells Town Hall at 7.30pm

Neil Ross - The X Factor - 10 tips to give your garden the wow factor.

Everyone is very welcome especially those new to the area

Admission: Members £1 Visitors £3 Refreshments