This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Pat Wightwick about all things gardening. Pat has been a stalwart supporter of the Rye Flower and Veg Show and last year, with the most points across all five categories of the show, was the overall winner. She also won the Turk Trophy which is awarded to the allotment holder with the highest number of points in the horticultural classes. I met with Pat on her pristine and well-worked allotment plot and interviewed her as she watered all of her plants.
Where is your garden – home / allotment / other?
We moved into our house back in 1977 and have since developed the garden into a space mostly for flowers. Six months after moving in we had the chance to take on an allotment plot which backs on to our garden and this was when we started growing vegetables as well as flowers. This whole space and growing in it, it’s a real passion for me. I love it. There’s nothing’s more therapeutic than coming out here and doing some weeding or seeing something you’ve planted start to grow.
What is your earliest memory of a garden?
My mum and dad used to garden all the time, whenever they could, really. Dad used to grow all the vegetables, we never bought a vegetable during the summer as he grew everything we needed. He was fastidious about his lawn and mowing it properly, something which I have inherited from him.
Mum used to really enjoy growing the flowers – it was a picture garden, really pretty. I remember one day, a man was admiring my parent’s front garden where there were hundreds of sweet williams. This man offered to buy them all, wanting to sell them at Covent Garden Flower Market, so my Dad asked him how much he replied one hundred pounds – my Mum wouldn’t sell them though, not even for that much!
How long have you been gardening?
I used to help work at Camber golf course from the age of seven or eight years right the way through until we moved to Rye when I was thirteen. That was a lot of grass to keep tidy and mown! In my teenage years boys and music took over and it wasn’t until I got married that I returned to the growing and I’ve been gardening ever since.
Did anyone teach you to garden or did you teach yourself?
I was brought up gardening really, same as my sister, she loves to garden as well. My dad helped me when I first took on the allotment, he showed me what to do and he’d come over with plants and help do the hoeing. I’d ask him advice on all sorts and he always knew what to do. When he died I worried what I was going to do, but my Uncle Les in Hastings took on the role – he took me to get my greenhouse, I didn’t have a clue what to get but he went in and said ‘she’ll have a six foot by so and so Halls Greenhouse’ and sorted it all out for me. It’s lasted fourteen years and counting, unlike the polytunnel that gets battered every year!
Do you have a favourite celebrity gardener?
I do sometimes watch gardening programmes. I used to like Alan Titchmarsh and Monty Don is good to watch. I went to Chelsea Flower Show once, I was so excited to see all the exhibits I’d seen on the telly but when I saw it in person it sadly wasn’t as impressive as I was expecting. It seems to be a lot of people selling things nowadays, rather than a place to really learn about gardening, which is a shame.
What is your favourite flower to grow and why?
Well, definitely sweet williams because of the memory of my mum’s Covent Garden offer! But sweet peas, they are my true favourite. When I was pregnant with my son, my dad was growing sweet peas and he forbid anyone to pick them until I’d had the baby. He arrived at the hospital to see us with the biggest bunch of sweet peas you’d ever seen, I had three vasefuls around the hospital bed, it was lovely. So yes, sweet peas are a must to grow every year.
What is your favourite vegetable to grow and why?
Broad beans, I don’t do anything fancy with them, just boil them and eat them as they are. I always try and save some to have cold in a salad the next day, but they never make it because I’ve eaten them! I also love homegrown runner beans and beetroot.
What is your favourite gardening task?
I just love weeding, I find it so rewarding when you’ve cleared them all out and it looks nice. I have a job to keep my hands out of the carrot row but the threat of alerting the dreaded carrot fly stops me.
What is your least favourite gardening task?
Watering, I know I have to do it but it’s heavy going.
Do you speak to your plants?
Well, I threaten the ones that aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing – telling them that they’ll be replaced with something else if they don’t buck up – more often than not it seems to work!
What’s your favourite breaktime drink and snack when gardening?
I don’t really have a regular snack when gardening, but drink-wise I like pineapple & orange squash with fizzy water.
Apart from the standard consumption of your produce do you make any extra items like preserves / cakes etc…?
Oh yes, I love both baking and preserving. We don’t have trees or fruit bushes, but I like to go to Maynards, a super pick your own place in Ticehurst, where I get lots of produce to make jam with – blackcurrants, blackberries, pears, apples, plums, apricots, pears, all sorts. I also love to make blackberry and apple pies. From the allotment produce I always make tomato chutneys, piccalilli, pickled beetroot, and pickled onions. I also freeze some produce, like beetroots – they last well and keep their taste even after freezing.
You have had great success in the Rye Flower and Veg Show, do you have any hints or tips for people taking part in the show hoping to come away with a prize?
Make sure you follow the guidelines carefully and don’t give people all your secrets!
If you were to share just one of your secrets, what would it be?
If you’re entering the class for the longest runner bean, then mark the top contenders with a piece of raffia when they’re climbing the poles, that way you won’t pick them and eat them by mistake!
Will you be entering the show this year?
I have really enjoyed taking part in the show, but last year was hard going as I’d had a big accident four months before and was still recovering. I did it to prove to myself that I could do it really, and I’m glad I did but I was exhausted afterwards. I’m taking a bit more of a backseat this year, though!
A huge thank you to Pat who welcomed me onto her plot and shared many fascinating memories and insights into her gardening world. If you’ve been inspired to enter the Rye Flower & Veg show, then check out the schedule here or pick up a paper copy from Adams or Bargain Box in town.
Now, Pat did tell me a few more secrets along with the raffia and runner bean tip, but I’m afraid I’ve been sworn to secrecy…
Until next time, happy growing!