Gardening club

OUR speaker on Monday, 9 November was Mike Dunnett, a retired horticulturist, resident in Worcestershire. His talk was entitled plants with attitude, interest and history.There are over 2,000 varieties of apples, among which is the Worcester Pearmain, grown originally in 1876 at Blenheim Palace. A one- year-old tree would have cost one guinea, the equivalent price today being £100.

Pears, of which there are 500 varieties, were not as popular as apples. We were interested to learn that the Black Pear was taken to the Battle of Agincourt by the Worcester bowmen and is now on the Worcester Coat of Arms. It could have been used as a weapon, being picked in October and boiled until ready to eat in July.Beetroot is full of nitrates and good for lowering high blood pressure. During blockades in the Napoleonic Wars, sugar beet provided Europe with a source of sugar, cane being unobtainable.The Orange Carrot evolved in the Dutch Underground Movement, grown especially for William of Orange. Carrots had previously been several different colours.During The Second World War it was rumoured, possibly by the RAF, that eating carrots improved ones night sight.The record for the longest carrot stands at 19-feet and the heaviest weighed in at 8.7 kg.Pineapples were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and it was alarming to learn that they were used to tenderise human flesh by cannibals. They became a status symbol for the wealthy in the Georgian era and could be hired for a guinea a night as decoration only and not to be eaten.Nettles have many medicinal properties being full of Vitamin C and also provide an excellent, if very smelly, fertiliser. In The First World War, they were used by the Germans to make cloth for as they are full of fibres.Moss, of which there are 12,000 varieties has medical properties and can absorb 12 times its weight in fluids. Dried, cleaned and packed in muslin bags it was used as dressings.

Potatoes, which originated in south America, were grown for human consumption in Germany and Ireland but used for animal fodder elsewhere. They became a staple food for Irish peasants and in 1845, when blight rapidly destroyed the crops, one million Irish died and three million were affected by the tragedy.Mike was thanked by the chair for his very entertaining and informative talk.The monthly competition, Autumn Colour in any format, was won by Dinah Pickard and Sian Ward. Raffle prizes were won by Anita Gatehouse, Pauline Lewis and Dorothy Round.Our next meeting will be the Christmas Party on Monday, 14 December.