Potato Day 2012

Potatoes and people filled Drimpton Village Hall for the 5th Annual Potato Day. Pennard Plants filled the centre of the hall, with clearly labelled buckets containing a wide range of potatoes to suit most soils and tastes. There were also fruit bushes, asparagus crowns, rhubarb, onions, shallots, garlic and a huge variety of Heritage & Heirloom Vegetable Seeds.

Plenty of good advice was on hand, plus an opportunity (which 30 people took) to enter the annual Potato Growing Competition - the weigh-in on Show Day, 11th August, should be interesting, if the techniques and tips on getting a good crop from just one seed potato, that I overheard, are anything to go by. The variety of the seed potato supplied by Pennards for the competition this year was Lady Christl (not a spelling mistake - have a look on the European Cultivated Potato Database).

It wasn't all spuds and snacks, on stage there was much shaping of potato prints and application of paint to produce Drimpton's own version of that picture of happiness: Van Gogh's Sunflowers. (Have a look at the National Gallery page - our effort is not on it - yet!)

Teas, breakfasts, lunches, cakes, coffees and friendly smiles crossed the counter from the kitchen from early-on till the last visitor left for home. There is quite a team who work hard to put this on, but the fun and interest makes that all worth while.

Ready for visitors

Gathering gardeners and growers

Potato Growing Competition

Potato Prints

Baskets, buckets and bushels?

Children of all ages

Drimpton Sunflowers

There are more things ...

... going on round here than just the garden club ....

Potato Day is nearly here

Potato Day

Saturday 11th February 2012, 

10:30 to 3:30

Perfect timing to buy your Valentine gift. If it doesn't go down well, you can always plant it!


Please see the entry below Christmas Luncheon for more information.

Christmas Luncheon at Clapton Village Hall

Table decorations made by Barbara, Kate and Rosemary

A great time to chat about good earthy topics

On Thursday 15th December, round about 40 members and friends gathered in Clapton Village Hall for the annual Christmas luncheon. Helen Furness exceeded our expectations, giving us a wonderful meal, thank you to her and her team. Here are a couple of photographs as we gathered.

Potato Day - Saturday 11th February 2012

Potato Day
Saturday 11th February 2012, 
10:30 to 3:30
Drimpton Village Hall: for food, fun and advice

Welcome to our 5th Annual Potato Day, with Pennard Plants offering dozens of  Seed Potato varieties for sale, by the tuber or in bags, with information on type, cultivation and disease resistance for each one.  Our Potato Day is organised for gardeners, by gardeners; you will find plenty of help and information.

There will also be Heritage Vegetable seeds, a selection of Garlic, Onion and Shallot sets, plus herbs, fruit bushes, rhubarb and more. There will also be an opportunity to enter our popular Potato Growing competition, (classes for young people and adults – weigh-in on Show Day, Saturday 11th August)

There will of course be the renowned Drimpton food, all Day Brunches available including new and unusual ways with potatoes - prices from £2.50 - £4.00, as well as warming drinks. As ever, the popular activities for young people will be here, so there's fun for everyone.

Please join us, whether you are an experienced grower or just starting out on veggies, you will find this a friendly and useful event.

There is no need to book, but for further information please contact 01308 868843.  We are on Chard Road (B3162), Drimpton, between Chard and Beaminster. For SatNav: DT8 3RF


If you get a new diary for Christmas you can put at least 2 dates in it now, not just the Potato Day, but also:


Drimpton Open Gardens' Day
Sunday 10th June 2012 from 1pm to 6pm

An invitation to visit 12 real village gardens.
Some are well established. Some have only been created in the last few years.
All are the work of enthusiastic amateurs.

Parking at Drimpton Village Hall in the centre of the village

The ticket/guide is a one-off payment of £3-50. It gives you entry to ALL the gardens.
You can plan your own route and start wherever you see a ‘Daisy’ sign.

PLANTS, PRODUCE & TEAS will be available.

Parking at Drimpton Village Hall in the centre of the village.
 Proceeds are to help fund developments at the Village Hall.

Annual Christmas Lunch

Today, at Clapton Village Hall
12:30 for 1:00 pm

See you there,

Happy Christmas

The Big Lunch

Although not strictly a Horticultural Society event, we have promoted the Big Lunch a couple of times and already have the village hall booked for the The Big Jubilee Lunch, on 3rd June 2012.

To see what other parts of the country did this year and have started planning for this Eden Project next year, there is a website just for the purpose: The Big Lunch