Sissinghurst Smallholding Fair

I’d seen this advertised months ago and it just so happened we were free this weekend so decided, if the weather was fair, we’d go.

And after a bit of drizzle Saturday morning (and some umming and aahing as to whether we should risk it) it brightened up into a lovely afternoon and we were glad we made the effort to go.

It was a small Fair, compared to a lot that we’d been to, almost not big enough for the number of people who came. Either way, for £4 per adult we couldn’t grumble. We arrived just before 11, and headed, with tea and cake in hand, to a talk by Simon from ‘Rough Old Wife’ Cider on Cider Making. Quite interesting, I would say. I now know the difference between the West Country cloudy ciders, and the clear Kentish ciders. And no, its not just the alcohol content. It’s all to do with starch and the apples they use. Dis you know, the worse an apple tastes, the better it is for cider? We decided to buy some to try. I’ll give you the verdict once I’ve cracked it open.

This was the first of 5 talks scheduled for the day (I had the one at 1.30 earmarked, but more of that in a moment) each lasted about 45 minutes.

The second was by Mark Diacono, the Head Gardener at River Cottage (I know, I know, anything River Cottage and I’m there) – we skipped this as we’d seen him before. Nothing bad, just wanted to go round the stalls.

The ladies from Blooming Green were there with a stall. I don’t know if you remember the TV programme? They were on C4 a while back, ‘My Dream Farm’ with Monty Don? It was nice to chat, albeit briefly, to them, and give them our support. I then got chatting to one of the ladies from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (now known as British Hen Welfare Trust!). As I’d re-homed about 40 of their ex bats over the past 10 years, I was on good territory, and knowing a bit about chickens, we hit it off. I’ll put her details in a separate post later.

I purchased, for the princely sum of £5, a reclaimed Cultivator for the allotment from Kent Smallholders. I’ve wanted one for a while, and couldn’t grumble when I saw this one for only a fiver.

We also got a purple chilli plant for the kitchen windowsill. Not having a garden or greenhouse, we’ve been a bit jinxed with chillis. We rigged up a polythene cloche last year over a small 1m x 1m bed to try growing them outside, but to no avail. Apparently these mini chillis have the same heat as a normal sized one.

Now, the speaker at 1.30 was a big draw for me...wait for it...none other than the man himself, Mr Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall! I know, contain yourselves. Knowing he would be popular, we headed to the talk tent early, but not early enough. By 12.45, the tent was full and people were standing. Now, I know I’m a fan, but he’s not Madonna, so I wasn’t going to stand in the baking sun for 45 minutes. So we decided to go for a wander, found the loo’s (wait for the post on them, they deserve their own mention!) etc. About 15 minutes before he was due on, we grabbed a spot, with a cup of tea, in the sun on the grass outside. Well, by 1.30, the place was heaving, too many people for the little tent. Disappointment number one was we couldn’t see him, disappointment number two, was we couldn’t hear him very well, because the PA system wasn’t up to the football stadium style addresses needed for this number of people, and disappointment number three was that it was a Q&A style session, where the audience had to ask the questions. So we couldn’t hear Hugh very well, and, if the lovely lady with the microphone (very important job) couldn’t get to the audience member in time, we couldn’t hear the question asked either. And to top it all, people were asking questions I already knew the answer to! I know I have all the books and DVD’s but come on!

So we upped and left his talk to get some lunch. We had lamb and mint burgers...not in a bun, but with a tomato sauce over the top (a la meatballs), new potatoes and veg. It was lovely. All the veg. for the cafe at Sissinghurst comes from the Sissinghurst vegetable garden (pics below). Now let me tell you why I didn’t have the Hog Roast from the Hog Roast tent. I normally would have, they had a whole pig being roasted, loads of crackling, I was positively salivating when I looked in the tent earlier in the morning, however, upon closer inspection, they were serving it in burger baps – now come on guys...this is supposed to be about food, smallholding, local yada yada yada, and they were using commercial soft baps. You know the sweet doughey ones that stick to the roof of your mouth?

Now, don’t go getting all upset for me missing my idol HFW, I have found a new one (well, temporarily at least) in Sarah Raven. Did you know she used to be a Doctor before turning her hand to gardening? She was giving a talk too during the afternoon and it was really interesting. I wish I’d taken a pad. She was telling us about the plight of the pollinators and the decline of wild flowerd in Britain, as well as her favourite varieties of veg. to grow. ‘White Lady’ Runner Beans is about all I can remember. I think her science background appealed to me too, as, as a scientist too, I like that extra bit of information about gardening, plants, wildlife etc. She is also very opinionated/passionate about what she believes in and I like that too. She was ever so easy to listen to, and was very knowledgeable. I’d recommend her. And she’s got a new book out too – plug - £50 though – Amazon already have it on discount and it’s not out until October.

So that was our day. All in all, a nice day out, and I’d recommend it. I wouldn’t say it was big for kids. There were animals, but not too many, and nothing hands on. Just to look at. We didn’t even make it into the rest of Sissinghurst. Vita Sackville-West will have to wait for another day.