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Greenhouse

Ventnor Botanic Garden

21 Years

 

Informal meetings in the Palm Court Café

On the first Tuesday of each month, (excluding January), members are invited to meet in the Palm Court Café, Ventnor Botanic Garden, for an informal get-together at 11am. Just a leisurely time to get to know one another and get more insight into what is happening in the garden, and in good weather perhaps to take a stroll and appreciate the changing seasons.

Hop Trail
Photo hops at VBG photo by Jonyth Hill

A newly developed area of meadow is under development for growing hops. Head Gardener Chris Kidd explains:

"After nearly ten years of trying, in the summer of 2008 it was finally decided that the wildflower meadow at Ventnor Botanic Garden was simply unsustainable, due to the effects of rabbits and the encroachment of pernicious weeds. Instead of simply grassing the area over, it was decided to develop a commercial hop yard. Hop growing was once an important part of the Island's economy and in 1852 the Isle of Wight was the fifth largest hop-producing county in the UK. Due to economic pressures, and changes in the brewing industry, there is not a single hop yard or oast house left.

Growing hops has been a learning experience for us; there is a dearth of printed literature on the subject. We were greatly helped by Peter Davies, a retired hop grower from Hereford, whose family has been growing hops for generations. One of his early revelations was that we needed a licence to grow them!

Hop growing will be a useful educational subject for visitors to the garden and there are many ways we can link this to the Island's heritage."

Anthony Goddard from Goddard's Brewery at Bullen Farm, Ryde has agreed to be involved in the development of the hop crop.