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The
rebuilt orchard house, a large greenhouse, is awash with figs,
peaches, cherries, peaches and pears and some vegetables.
Along one side grow varieties from the HDRA's seed library
of Victorian varieties -- many of which face extinction -- with
exotic names like Pear Josephine de Malines 1830 and Plum Cool
Golden Drop 1790. Thurlow proudly points out a Victorian pea variety
that is seldom seen.
In all, the garden has 85 varieties of
apples, 45 types of pears and 10 cherry varieties. Other unusual
plantings include whitecurrants, prized by the Victorians, but
overlooked now.
The current gardeners have followed the
Victorian practice of planting one area of fruit, another of
vegetables, with flowers and herbs separate. Vegetable crops are
carefully grouped and rotated to prevent the soil becoming depleted,
and peaches susceptible to leaf curl are protected with screens in
the Victorian manner.
But instead of using arsenic or burnt
laurel leaves -- which release chemicals -- today's gardeners rely
on ladybugs to kill aphids and release the parasite encarsia to
finish off whitefly. Weeding is all done by hand.
Produce is
sold to smart London hotels and restaurants as well as local
residents. In the summer months, a shop operates on the site.
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