Lynne Allbutt.......(also sometimes known as The Green Goddess because of her strong green beliefs) has championed the green and DIY gardening cause for many years and writes regular columns in the Western Mail on the subject. Both Lynne and the Western Mail have kindly allowed us to reproduce these articles for you. We will be changing them regularly so remember to visit frequently to catch up on the latest from Lynne! You can also look at Lynne's own website which is www.lynneallbutt.com . Her recent appearance on the Paul O'Grady show has made her even more well known!
Top Talk with Celebrity Astrologer - Russell Grant
Celebrity astrologer Russell Grant refers fondly to his 44 acre Victorian Estate near Portmeirion, “We have the most wonderful primrose lawn, a tennis lawn, a croquet lawn, greenhouses, vegetable gardens, herb beds. And”, he adds excitedly, “an acid oak forest. There are only a couple of those in the World.”
The popular media personality continues enthusiastically, “I am a great lover and admirer of the garden but I’m afraid to touch anything as it’ll almost certainly die. I am the most useless gardener but thankfully I have two wonderful helpers, Graeme and Phil, who have made the gardens look wonderful again.”
“I don’t do anything strenuous,” the charismatic author tells me. “ I supervise the water features and ponds and I want to get the natural waterfalls flowing again in all of their Victorian glory – if you know any landscape gardeners up here?” He adds cheekily.
“I love walking around the garden. I love the herbs and I love the veg as I love to cook. And seeing the Lupins today with about 20 bees buzzing around them was just wonderful. I always ask Phil and Graeme to plant things that will attract the wildlife,” Russell (who incidentally, was the very first astrologer for the Western Mail) adds cheerfully.
“But I don’t like slugs and I don’t like the rabbits, he adds dramatically,” they have eaten everything; I wish they would just bounce off somewhere else.”
I wonder what stars signs make the best gardeners? “Well, every sign can do something,” he insists, in his well known flamboyant manner. “ Leos and Pisces are creative and even the intensity of Scorpio could see them starting a vineyard but I think the best gardeners are the Earth Signs, as you would expect; Graeme is a Taurus and Phil is a Capricorn.” he makes his point passionately and explains, “Astrology is a guide to your potential. It can help you make choices that lead to a better life. It’s not about fortune telling or the paranormal,” he snorts in disgust, “ in these modern times it’s more of a psychological tool helping you to discover potential and possibilities. I have just released a new Nintendo which is appealing to a whole new audience,” he shrieks with delight, “it’s so sexy, so cool and so contemporary. Darling, you must have a look and whilst you at it, have a look at your birth chart – it’s free.” He adds without drawing breath. How can a girl refuse. Check out your birth chart at http://www.russellgrant.com/ or find out more about Russell’s exciting new Nintendo at http://www.astrologyds.com/
Top Talk with The Hairy Bikers!
Self confessed ‘foodies’, Dave Myers and Si King are better known on our TV screens as The Hairy Bikers. The unconventional celebrity chefs, or ‘ The Hairies’ as they are affectionately known, have just finished filming their fourth programme in Wales. Dave explained, “We have a new series travelling around Britain and have managed to visit four of the 12 Welsh counties. We both love Wales and have had a great time. The strong cultural identity is followed through in the Welsh food. And you’ve got everything – great Welsh Black beef in the fields, tasty Welsh lamb on the hills, Sewin in the rivers and even cockles on the coasts. Though I think my favourite is probably laver bread.” he adds.
Si disagrees. “It’s an acquired taste,” he muses, “though I’ve noticed the Welsh have got a salty tooth” he adds. “I’m more of a beach forager myself and love sea beet. Though, we both enjoy foraging blackberries and sloes from the hedgerows too.”
“With gin or vodka,” Dave laughs loudly , “there hasn’t been much call for deserts in the programmes as yet.”
“Although we love eating and cooking, neither of us have got around to growing our own food yet,” admits Dave. “I live on a small island anyway so all I can grow is mildew.”
The hilarious double act continues as Si confesses, “My wife’s dead good at growing stuff, it might not be what I want but it’s nice anyway. We are about to buy a plot so she can grow more. I did grow some leeks once but whilst I was away she turned it into a herb bed.”
“I think it’s important to focus on what you do best,” says Dave wisely, “and for us that’s cooking, eating, biking, travelling and talking rubbish.”
“We do that so well,” agrees Si, adding “98% of good cooking is about good shopping or sourcing good food. Local produce is always better and we have discovered some terrific Welsh flavours that we didn’t expect, like the charcuterie from Triley and the Welsh mead we sampled the other night.”
The Welsh are clever,” says Dave, “they do lots of nice takes on traditional food. I think my favourite might be the Welsh Black fillet,” he adds, contradicting his first choice. “Three quick tips for cooking it,” adds sidekick Si, “never cook straight from the fridge; only turn it twice whilst cooking (it stretches otherwise) and leave it to relax for a bit before you eat it.”
You can see the Hairy Bikers in action on BBC 1 in the autumn or visit http://www.harybikers.com/ in the meantime for more details of tours, programmes, recipes and cookbooks
Top Talk with Julie Peasgood
TV presenter, actress and author Julie Peasgood recently won the Best Sex Writer Award for her book ‘Greatest Sex Tips in the World’ and as a consequence is currently the resident ‘Sexpert’ on the Alan Titchmarsh Show. “Funnily enough,” she explained, “I wrote the book as a result of filming a Gardening programme with Steve Brooks . He told me about a publishing company he had set up called thegreatestintheworldltd.com. He had written the Greatest Gardening Tips himself and had commissioned other titles on golf, travel. Yoga etc. I jokingly asked who had written the Greatest Sex Tips? And he said ‘no one yet – how did I fancy doing it ?’.
“I laughed it off at first then, after the third Gin and Tonic, agreed. After reading 32 books on sex, attending loads of seminars, interviewing friends and testing all sorts of ‘toys’ (our local Postie thought it was all hilarious!) I got the book together and won the Award which I am thrilled about.”
I met Julie when we both worked on Turf Wars a couple of years ago and wondered if she was still ‘gardening’ as well as, other things...
“Yes, I love gardening, as you know,” she laughed, “though I’m still not very good at it. We have a lovely Holiday Cottage that we let out in Cornwall so we have a gardener there, Liz Watson (we call her ‘busy Lizzie) to help us keep it tidy. My husband says he can always tell if Lizzie has planted something or if I have. If Lizzie has, it’s all nice and neat and done properly but if I do, the plant is always on a sort of tump. I HATE digging holes and I don’t dig very deep – I always think, ‘Crumbs I can’t dig anymore’ and the plant ends up on top of a mound of soil.”
“My favourite plants are the fragrant ones, like jasmine, honeysuckle, stargazer lilies (though I don’t grow those)and roses. And I love naturalised daffodils. I don’t like just green or desert type stuff. And I hate digging,” she reminds me.
“My Mum was the most green-fingered person ever and even grew an avocado plant from a stone. She was wonderful and me and my brother have happy early memories of watching things grow. We had our own veg plot from about 7 years old and grew potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. I learnt at a young age just how much pleasure gardening and growing things can bring. My Mum also recycled before the word was invented; I remember her tying up old bean sticks with her old tights.”
Has Julie inherited her Mother’s commitment to the environment? “Patrick (my husband) and I are avid recyclers and he soon pulls me up if I don’t wash out a Marmite jar! I am absolutely thrilled that it’s all now mainstream news – it’s a bit late in the day but we can still all do our bit to lighten our carbon footprints. I love walking, and always walk wherever I can, and only drive a small car – it’s so small I look like Noddy on speed driving it. We have just managed to get our Council to collect plastic bottle after continuous campaigning. It’s great to get a result and goes to show if you push hard enough and shout load enough, Councils will eventually listen!
Top Talk with Sharon Marshall...........
I met TV personality and columnist, Sharon Marshall whilst I was training ‘recruits’ at an Army style Boot Camp recently. As we walked together on a midnight mountain trek, she told me about her garden.
“I’ve only got a garden because I have a cat. It’s an absolute wilderness. I have no idea what to do with it.” Sharon admitted. “My Mum has a huge garden at home in Lincolnshire and she’s a brilliant gardener. I bought her a lovely posh pair of leather gardening gloves from Fortnum & Mason for Mother’s Day but she said they were too good for gardening and wore them to the family Christening instead. I’ve told her the next time I’m home I want to see them dirty and full of thorns.”
“I haven’t inherited her gardening skills, (I got the cooking skills instead). Here in London, I just kill everything. I had the flat Feng Shui’d and put a Money Plant in the Wealth corner but I had to throw it out a couple of weeks ago ‘cos it died ... along with a Yucca Plant that was placed in my Creative corner . That died too. I’ve decided that I’m going to get plastic ivy now and let Mum arrange it with her new gloves. I get frustrated because I don’t know anything. I even took my two houseplants into the Gardening Expert on This Morning to fix but even with professional help, I still managed to kill them.”
“I’d like my garden to be an adventure for the cat, Merlot (as in the wine) to play hide and seek. I’d like to have a nice area to be able to eat out in instead of trotting over to the park for a picnic and I’d like lots of big, clipped shrubs and bushes that weren’t too posh – just nice, a bit like an Edward Scissorhand garden.”
Does she enjoy the outdoors then? “Definately!” She refers to the Army-style training we are doing in the Brecon Beacons and confides, “Before I came to Wales, I didn’t even own a flat pair of shoes and the only coat I had was a blue velvet Vivian Westwood. I had to go and spend a fortune in Millets! My asthma is already better,” she continues, “ and I do love the fresh Welsh air. In London, I run along the Thames or picnic in the Parks but you’ve always got a face full of fumes! I’ve become a bit of a soft-Southener now and would rather do Pilates in heated studios.”
Sharon goes on, “There’s a gardening tip in the book I’ve written with Tara Palmer Tompkinson, (The Naughty Girl’s Guide to Life.) It’s full of tips on how to cope with Life’s little hiccups and grenades, you know, if your boss is a swine to you or if your fella dumps you,” she explains.
And the gardening tip? “Nip out in the middle of the night with a bottle of weed-killer and write an obscenity on their lawn,” she laughs, “it takes a while to show in the grass, so they’re really surprised!”
Has she actually done that? “Of course – all the tips are tried and tested. Luckily my ex thought it was funny too.” As we reach the top of the mountain and look down on the little lights of the towns and villages, it seems a good time to ask if she cares about the Environment? “I cycle, walk or take the bus when I’m in London. No-one can afford to use a car there anymore anyway, thanks to Ken Livingstone , so we are all forced into reducing our carbon footprints. My carbon stiletto print is tiny!” She grins, “which reminds me, I must buy a pair of Stella McCartney’s vegetarian knee high boots when I get back – that’ll help won’t it?”
Boot-iful
Vegetarian boots, shoes and other clothing, are gaining popularity. Made in synthetic material that’s breathable, or natural non-leather materials, the range and styles are surprisingly good. http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/ utilises a material that is also used for yachting upholstery and also offers jackets, trousers and gloves. Contact Rob Webb on 01273685685 for more details. http://www.alternativesoles.com/ is a little more funky and offers jazz shoes, ballet pumps, trainers, wellingtons and a whole host of other goodies from food and gifts to health products and babywear. They can be contacted on 01912361043
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Good Luck’ Gardening
Feng Shui is an ancient Oriental method of divining good and bad forces. Plants can be used to bring good chi, or energy, into the house or office space. Each room should have one good sized plant in it to freshen energy and cleanse the atmosphere and as Sharon said, placing certain plants in specific places can enhance different areas of your life. Similarly, a vase of pink flowers in the bedroom can improve romance, chrysanthemums will bring happiness and laughter and the narcissus will encourage good fortune. Round leaved plants increase harmony and good energy but spikey plants can produce negative energy.
Did You Know?
The narcissus (daffodil) is also known as the ‘Lent Lily’ as its blooms in Spring with the flowers usually dropping before Easter. Narcissus comes from the Greek for ‘numbness’ which refers to the narcotic properties of the plant.
If you put cut daffodils into water with a few drops of food colouring the dye will be taken up the stem and into the flower-head producing a ‘bespoke bloom’.
Top Talk with Enzo Calzaghe..........
I have never been a big fan of boxing but after talking to BBC Coach of the Year, Enzo Calzaghe, I have to admit to having learnt tremendous respect and admiration for the discipline and psychology behind training (three) World Class Boxing Champions. I am mightily impressed by the fact that in a single year, eight members of Team Calzaghe, all trained in the modest Newbridge gym, went unbeaten.
Enzo himself is a human dynamo – he exudes passion and confidence in what he does and it’s very infectious. Paradoxically he admits to not really caring about gardening , “You’ve got to be passionate about something to want to do it, let alone be any good at it,” he explains, “ and I’m not passionate about gardening. It’s too complicated, it takes too much time – it’s a pain in the a**e,” he adds. “My wife, Jacqueline is passionate about it though, she’s changing things all the time, getting new ornaments, moving things around and she never asks me either. If I try to take the law into my own hands she tells me off straight away. I do like to be in a nice garden – I just don’t want to do the work. I hate weeds.”
He is, however, full of praise for the Welsh countryside. “I was brought up in a City and spent a lot of my younger life in Cities. I have been here for 28 years and I admire the beauty of Wales, it is very picturesque. I’m not into the history or politics or anything but I love the mountains. It’s healthy to run through Nature. Boxers keep trim by running, it’s important to their training. We do a bit indoors on the running machines if it’s wet (they whinge too much if I make them run in the rain) but it is better to run outside. I make them run up the big hill between Crumlin and Blackwood, then they keep trim.”
“It is important to be active and to keep a sharp mind. When I was young I was a good soccer player but I liked boxing more. So I started training Joe when he was eight – I’m a natural trainer. Like I say, if you are passionate enough about something you will be good at it. And I’m good.”
How passionate is he about current environmental issues? “It cannot be cured,” he shrugs, “We made this mess, we will pay for it. It might be wrong to say but so is the internet wrong; so are suicides wrong; so is greed wrong. It’s all wrong, it’s all pathetic, it’s all very sad but it’s our own fault. We are not going to change it now it’s too late. Truthfully? I ignore it all – live while you can, be happy today and do what you are passionate about. At least I am brave enough to be honest and say ‘you are wrong, it cannot be changed’.”
“Kids cannot be cultured these days – they have anything they want – that is just being weak. 17 is too young to drive – Dad buys them a car and they kill themselves, no one can control a car at 17, it’s too young. Mother and father should be setting the right example but they don’t. They are fat and lazy and they tell their kids to be thin and clever. Teach the parents and the kids will follow. I am a big family man, family is very important and everyone has a place in the family. Dad is in charge, Mother does the caring and the kids do what they are told. Today the kids are in charge and everyone is angry all the time. Like boxing, there must be discipline and respect; anger is weak - anger can lose you the fight.”
Spade Work
Enzo’s wife, Jacqueline, may do the gardening in the Calzaghe household but statistics show men still outnumber women when it comes to undertaking gardening chores. Men spend an average of 23 minutes per day in the garden whilst women only 11 minutes per day (not in my house!). Men also spend more time, on average 224 minutes a day, watching TV or indulging in their favourite pastimes than women who only manage to find 180 minutes a day to spend on leisure time.
Talking to the Plants
A recent advertisement for a gardener on Buckingham Palace’s website read “to be able to improve
conversation practices”. Instead of requesting someone who could improve
conservation practices, the typing error left applicants wondering if they, like Prince Charles, were going to be talking to the plants.
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Our thanks to Lynne and the Western Mail - click here to see the paper
