A Summing Up
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Thursday, February 4, 2010, saw the return of the annual Garden Press Event of the Garden Media Guild held at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Halls in London's Westminster.
I have had the pleasure of having been invited again this year and this has now been my third year and as enjoyable as always.
Having been attending this event now for three years running it is interesting to be able to note and notice the changes.
“Grow your Own” is definitely becoming a predominate trend in gardening and this as much at shows as well as with our gardeners in general. Everyone seems to want to grow their own food and this has to do with food security in the same way as with knowing where the food comes from and what it has been treated with.
A number of new faces and new products were to be seen and that really is what this event is all about, new products and also new companies entering the garden supplies market, and yours truly left loaded down a little like a packhorse with samples for review and those reviews I shall share with you in the near future.
Among those present at the event were some old familiar faces such as Bulldog (Rollins Tools), Gardening Direct, Sutton Seeds, Brother, and others, such as Bahco, and some others, were conspicuous by their absence.
Fiskars/Sankey was, as far as I am aware, a newcomer to this even and showed some rather innovative pruners. Wilkinson Sword also was present with a new range and new, interesting and innovative products.
The new products of old and new companies were of great interest to me and, I should think, will be so also to the gardeners out there.
Carbon Gold's Concentrated Biochar Soil Improver intended as a soil enhancer should be great for tired soil that so many of us work with because all too often we feed the plants instead of the soil. For more on biochar as a soil improver and other information I recommend the book “The Biochar Debate” (Schumacher Briefing No.16) by James Bruges.
Other new products are those from EcoCharlie based in Godalming, Surrey. One of the products of interest is the Aqua Drip Water Spike, which converts an empty plastic soda bottle into drip irrigation device for your plants. While I understood from my talking with the proprietor the product to be British made the back of the pack states “Made in Taiwan” and this has me a little miffed, I must say. It may have been a misunderstanding on my part though, having talked to so many people. EcoCarlie also donated a percentage of all sales to the OXFAM charity.
Another most interesting product,to say the least, in the Ladder Allotment, allowing food to be grown in containers in very limited spaces, such as patios and even balconies.
The idea of the Ladder Allotment is based on, as the name suggests, a wooden ladder, the old-style wooden step ladder in this instance, and it is brilliant, in my opinion and the brilliance come from its simplicity.
The Bagm8 (pronounce it “bag mate”) seems another great and innovative product. It is intended to work with any size, basically, of refuse sack, keeping it open while you fill it up. This should also be a great tool for the municipal litter picker. It appears to me to be easier too use than similar devices from Baggo and other companies. Years ago I saw a similar device in use with the Parks Service of several American State and National Parks.
We shall be looking at some of those new products by way of review or editorial, in the not so distant future, to give you more information with regards to them.
In closing I would like to thank the Garden Media Guild for hosting and Unique Events for organizing yet another great and informative Garden Press Event.
My thanks also, once again, to Neil Gow of GIMA for having facilitated the first invite to this event now three years ago.
I look forward very much, I must say, to next year's Garden Press Event.
© 2010
