About The Secret Garden Club
Since I started The Underground Restaurant, I got too busy to tend the garden. I met Zia Mays when she came as a guest. She’s helped me sort it out. We’ve put in sleepers to delineate and raise the beds for instance.
My concept for the garden is quite romantic; a mix of vegetables, fruit and flowers, all planted together, making the most of the Victorian style of the house. I want a secret garden, just like in the book.
I started The Secret Garden Club to strengthen the link between gardening and cooking. One goes with the other. I’m a quasi-vegetarian (pescatarian) so fruit, herbs and vegetables are essential for my cooking.
Zia is running monthly workshops teaching an aspect of gardening or say, learning how to smoke food, and then I provide a supper inspired by the subject of the workshop.
Usually it’s on a Sunday afternoon, we start with a one hour workshop then food and drink. You get a little gardening goodie bag to take home.
You can book here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/undergroundrestaurant
Secret Garden Club: Heritage potatoes £30
Find out how you can grow a crop of potatoes on your balcony or patio – no vast garden required.We’ll use a wide variety of heritage potatoes for different flavours – and colours. A potato-based meal follows the workshop. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197292
Sun 26th May, 2013
Secret Garden Club: growing Oriental food £30
Oriental salads, stir fries and curries have never been so popular. Here’s how to grow your own ingredients. Oriental supper included. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197293
Sun 30th Jun, 2013
Secret Garden Club: Summer fruits £30
There is nothing quite so delicious as summer fruit picked when ripened to perfection. Tips and tricks for successfully growing soft fruit in our unpredictable climate. Followed by afternoon tea. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197294
Sun 28th Jul, 2013
Secret Garden Club: edible flowers £40
Back by popular request – flowers that not only look beautiful and smell wonderful, but taste delicious as well. A food and crafts workshop. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197295
Sun 1st Sep, 2013
Secret Garden Club: Food from the Americas £30
Growing food the American way: corn, squash, beans, sweet potatoes, tomatillos. Traditional planting methods with the Three Sisters. An American influenced meal rounds off the afternoon.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197296
Sun 29th Sep, 2013
Secret Garden Club: Italian vegetables for summer and winter £30
Beautiful, bright colours, flavours ripened by sunshine – Italian vegetables are both familiar and exotic at the same time. Tips on growing these warmth-loving varieties in an English garden. Delicious Mediterranean style tea afterwards. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197297
Sun 27th Oct, 2013
Secret Garden Club: Preserving, salting, smoking, drying £40
Pickles, chutneys, salted and smoked foods carry some of the most tantalising flavours. How to keep your harvest going throughout the winter. Condiment-rich supper follows the workshop. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197298
Sun 24th Nov, 2013
Secret Garden Club: kitchen table hydroponics £30
An exciting and highly sustainable way to grow vegetables, salads and herbs, both indoors and out … with no soil required. Find out how easy it is to start your own hydroponicum. Meal included. Starts 2pm.
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/197299
Press:
April 2012:
Live with ….on Channel 5. April 26th Secret Garden Club’s Mediterranean Vegetables.
Country Living Magazine Uk: Louise Elliot’s Country in the City column on The Secret Garden Club.
March 2012:
Daily Telegraph: on the Secret Garden Club by Lia Leendertz on our herb workshop
BBC News: on popup businesses showing the Spud u like potato workshop