The Queen installs a vegetable patch at Buckingham Palace

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

For the first time since the Second World War vegetables are being grown in the Palace's grounds alongside ornamental plants.

The move comes amid a surge in demand from people up and down the country to have their own allotment to grow their own food during the recession.

The Queen's organic vegetable patch is about 10 yards by eight yards in size. It is at the rear of the garden in an area which is called the Yard Bed.

Guests attending the Queen's garden parties will be able to see her new allotment over the summer.


Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/5523619/The-Queen-installs-a-vegetable-patch-at-Buckingham-Palace.html

---

snip:

- a variety of vegetables that are being grown, including runner beans, "Stuttgarter" onions, "Musselburgh" leeks, sweetcorn, "Red Ace" beetroot, "Fly Away" carrots and an endangered variety of climbing French beans called "Blue Queen".

[undeterred]

1. Hasn't Prince Charles been an advocate

of organic farming for years? Maybe Michelle Obama had more influence on her than Charles!

[surfinshell]

27. wow, looks like another casualty

of the Obama effect. very cool, can't wait for the pics of the queen weeding her garden. :)

[xxqqqzme]

39. I hope you are young.

Pictures of the HRH, who just turned 83, scooting around the garden, weeding will be scarce. But I bet she has a hat that would serve to give her face shade.

[FarPoint]

32. It appears Michelle Obama's actions have

reinforced Charles gardening advocacy. This is GREAT. Maybe Chef Jamie Oliver will go to the garden and then cook up some greens and grill a mix of veggies for the Queen.

[Kolesar]

38. Prince Charles has been an activist against genetically modified organisms

To the extent that royalty can be an "activist".

His comment was: "I would not serve such food to my guests" (a rough paraphrase).

[Cha]

40. I'm with Prince Charles and

am an activist against gmo in this country.

[marshall]

44. Remember when Charles said he had conversations with house plants?

Those were the days.

[mountainvue]

49. Yes. In fact I think he does have an organic

farm on one of his many properties.

[Captain Hilts]

59. YES. Prince Charles is all over this issue and has been. nt

[Javaman]

65. Prince Charles has been a huge voice in the permiculture movement

for years.

National Geographic did a huge story on him a few years ago.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0605/feature3/

He has a "test" community going in southern England were everything is grown locally and completely self sustaining.

This guy really needs to be king.

Everyone busted his balls about his marriage with Princess Di and how he was very unemotional toward her. Bottom line: he didn't love her, it was completely arranged so a heir to the throne could be born. period. He and his new wife have been so far in front on the permiculture issue, that it's only now people are understanding just how deep his mind works and how far seeing he is.

I'm no fan of royalty, but I am a big fan of his work in this field.

[undeterred]

66. I agree- Prince Charles is a thoughtful man

and he was way ahead of his time on this issue.

As for Di and Charles, it just shows the stupidity of the royal tradition. He had to marry a virgin, so he married someone who was not his intellectual or emotional equal at the time- she was only 20.

I often think if Di and Charles had been introduced 10 years later they would have gotten along very well (presuming Camilla was not in the picture.) You don't get married when you are already in love with another person.

[onehandle]

2. Won't someone just stumble out of a pub and pee on it?

They have such a problem with public urination, that they run public service adverts on the subject.

I spent 4 days in London last year and never witnessed it myself, but my wife who goes over for business now and then has.

[tocqueville]

4. that's organic fertilizer, where is the problem...

anyway it's better than poisoning one's country with coal ash....

[dipsydoodle]

7. The wall which surrounds Buckingham Palacet

is a bit too high for that....lol. If anyone fancies taking on razor wire and revolving spikes then good luck to them.

[Barrett808]

55. They have these open-air urinals in London now

Saw one on Strand about a month ago. Guys walk up, pee, and walk away. Women, I guess, are out of luck. This was Saturday night, and they were gone on Sunday.

[Deja Q]

57. Except I don 't think George W Bush will be welcomed there ever again...

[Glorfindel]

3. Good for Her Majesty! That's a great example for us all

I have a couple of tomato plants myself. :toast:

[dipsydoodle]

5. For the benefit of those who don't know.

most pics you see of Buckingham Palace are actually the back of the building.

Here for example :



Whereas this the front looking across the garden.



And this is the whole building :



If you come over its really Hanpton Court Palace you should go see - a 90 acre building including the court yards !.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Holy smoke, dipsydoodle! The front DOES look much, much different, doesn't it?

The aerial view is amazing.

You've given some of us a whole new perspective on this business! Thank you. :hi:

[dipsydoodle]

10. I don't think its a very attractive building

Like I said Hampton Court Palace is the sucker to see. It's just totally fucking enormous with gardens running down to the Thames too :



You ever make it over here then you MUST tell me. You'll have your own guide. :)

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Thank you so much for those pics and the info.

There is so much about Britain that I admire, and many things I envy.
Alas, I refuse to get a passport so now will not be able to travel abroad..
or, apparently, even to BC anymore.
There is much in this country I truly resent.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Wow! They pulled out all the stops with that one. It's vast. Spectacular.

And the scenery around the place is perfect.

How far away is it from Buckingham Palace?

There must be enough people who work there to populate a small town, easily.

You've outdone yourself with this one. I'm going to have that image embedded in my inner eyes for hours! It's breathtaking.

Thanks for your kind and generous offer to guide people around there. You may find yourself getting work as a professional DU guide in no time at all! You could have to get your own bus to handle the traffic.

Thanks, again.

[dipsydoodle]

I can only really relate to driving time.

It's about a 40 minute drive I guess. Some history here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Court_Palace

It's where Henry got up to tricks with Anne Boleyn before he married her only to have here executed. There's another Royal Park adjacent called Bushy and that has still got deer in it.

[TuxedoKat]

30. You've probably been to Hever Castle too --

Anne Boleyn's childhood home? That is such an interesting castle too, with it's gardens and maze in the beautiful Kent countryside since it is not far from London.

[dipsydoodle]

33. Not been there

but then we take the UK for granted. For most places its matter of been there done that when we were kids. Its the opposite when I'm in the USA where everthing is of interest to me - even daft things like swimming about in Lake Cumberland KY.

[TuxedoKat]

56. Next time you have visitor(s)

Give yourself a treat too to see something new and enjoy a beautiful drive in the countryside. I was there in
late May/early June and the gardens were beautiful.

[LostinVA]

17. LOVE Hampton Court -- I took a boat there

[dipsydoodle]

18. That is

the really posh way to do it. Good on you.:thumbsup:

[LostinVA]

37. I majored in English Lit & European History

I am a WWII buff and I love studying and reading about the Tudor Period. This is cheesy, but I spent the money because I wanted to travel there like they would -- via water.

[NV Whino]

28. As I recall, Hampton Court is the one with all the nifty chimneys.

Truly a spectacular place.

[Botany]

31. I loves me some U.K..

my brother and his wife used to work and live in Surrey ... the home of the "right and proper"
accent.

Cheers

[DCKit]

47. Hampton Court looks like the estate Henry VIII seized from Oiver Cromwell...

just before Cromwell lost his head. Is it one and the same?

Just wondering. It's something I caught on some show a few weeks back and thought "Geez, if Henry knew how big this "house" was (and how much Cromwell had to steal to build it), Cromwell wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as he did."

On second though, I'm pretty sure it is the same one. I only saw the estate for a second, but the orientation of the building and gardens to the river is exactly the same. How many times could that happen on anything approaching that scale?

[Hardrada]

50. No, Henry VIII took it from Cardinal Wolsey who fell out of favor

at court because he could not get the Pope to give Henry an anullment of a marriage which the Church had gone to some trouble to approve in the first place and it's a long, long tale to tell, believe me.

[DCKit]

53. Even better, and thanks. No doubt the Vatican is still pissed.

Now I'm wondering where all of Cromwell's money and land went. He was taking a hefty cut of everything he seized in Henry's name and he grabbed a *lot* of property during the years he was a'confiscatin'.

Political and religious idealists always start out with the best of intentions, but it always seems to end up the same way - them in gilded palaces and living better than 99% of the people while the 99% continue on a downward trend. And here we are again.

I'll do the research myself, but thanks for the clarification.

[Hardrada]

48. Yes, I've seen HC Palace. Quite impressive and full of history.

Helpful guides too when we were wandering around.

[No Elephants]

52. Thanks, dipsydoodle. You're right. I never realized that is the back of the building. I saw

the garden area on TV recently, I think--a ceremony when the Queen was giving awards to people who worked for charities. But I never put it all together. Thanks.

[LibDemAlways]

21. Those gardens are lovely. And during the month of

August, when the Queen is in Scotland, visitors can tour the public rooms of the castle and exit through a path along those gardens. There's even a tea and scones stand set up on the premises with park benches for visitors who can then claim they've had tea at Buckingham Palace. (I know you know. Just a heads up to anyone contemplating a visit.)

Last summer I stayed a few nights at a B and B literally a block away and the man who owned it had never been inside the palace, or Parliament for that matter. He said he considers the Queen just a neighbor like any other. LOL

[FailureToCommunicate]

41. Our Morris dance team performed for Her Majesty outside Windsor Castle. Not real

sure She ever actually saw us, though our hosts, the Windsor Morris, claimed she commented about the "Yank newbies" on her blog...

Nice castle and grounds though!

[mountainvue]

51. HRH has a blog? Who knew? n/t

[rasputin1952]

46. Beautiful pics! I always thought the "back" was the "front"! All we

get over here are glimpses, and I figured the area i awlays saw was the "front"...:blush:

One of the places I missed when I was in Europe in the Army was GB........someday, someday...:)

[proteus_lives]

62. Damn!

That is a beautiful building and area!

[Raine]

63. THANKS, I didn't know that

nice to learn something new! :thumbsup:

[mnhtnbb]

6. I wonder if the Queen discussed the White House Garden with Michelle during her visit.

[dipsydoodle]

9. What ....along the lines

how's your hollyhocks doin' ? :rofl:

[mnhtnbb]

11. No, Michelle's vegetable garden, silly.

:hi:

[dipsydoodle]

15. I thought you women

only discussed flowers ? I only mentioned hollyhocks cos I planted some an hour ago...lol.

I've got a pal up the road apiece to you in Sparta. :hi:

[ensho]

29. I grew up with my mother's hollyhocks on one side of the house

they are neat and pretty and the bees and butterflies love them. they are a perennial.

[bettyellen]

35. biennial... they reseed so well they seemlike a perennial though.

[JohnyCanuck]

14. Maybe the Queen could also open a chain of bed and breakfast

establishments to help ease the burden on the UK taxpayer for the palaces' upkeep. It looks like she has the room for it. Of course she would have to have the royal footmen keep a close eye on Philip and limit his contact with any foreign guests of a visibly non-Anglosaxon ethnic background. After all, it wouldn't do for Philip to be wandering around insulting the guests and driving away the customers.

[dipsydoodle]

16. The cost of running her

is far outweighed by earnings from tourism. Not a bad deal really.

[jwirr]

19. As a child she saw her parents use victory gardens to encourage

the nation during WWII. She is once again saying to the British people, "We know how to survive. We have been there before." Good for her.

[UTUSN]

20. Translation: A guild of serfs planted it. n/t

[xchrom]

22. ''an endangered variety of climbing French beans called "Blue Queen".

Queens everywhere! :woohoo:

[rosesaylavee]

23. Good for her!

Wouldn't surprise me if she and Michelle talked about this. Best thing I have heard about the Queen in a while. Good for her.

[JerseygirlCT]

24. Wonder if she and Michelle talked about the idea

they surely seemed to hit it off.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

25. My guess is that Michelle suggested it?

[donquijoterocket]

43. BFFs

I saw an item only recently that the dear Queen and Michelle have been keeping in touch since the visit, phone calls and letters and such.Would not surprise me that the subject came up and since the queen was a very visible moral booster and presence as a young woman during the blitz( didn't she serve in one of the women's military auxiliaries as a mechanic and ambulance driver) not surprising she's no stranger to austerity measures.Regardless I'm going to take it as a sign of cordial relations between the two and somebody's heightened awareness of small measures one can take to care for themselves and the only planet we've got.

[Bette Noir]

26. Looks like Michelle started a fashion.

[Deja Q]

58. Except people on DU have been saying it for years. Mind you,

on DU we're all crackpots so therefore anything we say is just idle fantasy...

Not that there's any major gain to this chicanery; the costs (assuming you have the land) to grow something large enough to sustain one's self on a daily basis isn't feasible for nearly 100% of us.


Note: I am not trying to imply I came up with the idea. (I have often bickered about certain elements of its purported viability, however... :D )

[Captain Hilts]

60. Few have been 'green' as long as Prince Charles. nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

34. On this side of the pond we call things that grow in the dirt "republicans", mate.

[No Elephants]

54. I thought it was what we called the dirt. My bad. Though the best name came, believe it or not,

from Dummya: turd blossom

"Turd Blossom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
See also: Karl Rove and List of nicknames used by George W. Bush

Turd Blossom is a Texan term for a flower which grows from a pile of cow dung.<1>

The term has gained notoriety in the United States, as reportedly this is one of former President George W. Bush's terms of endearment for his former chief political advisor, Karl Rove.<2> Bush is also reported to call Rove by the nickname "Boy Genius."<3>

In July 2005, several newspapers declined to run two Doonesbury strips portraying Bush addressing Rove by this nickname. <4>

[L0oniX]

36. Yes but what does Susan Boyle think about it?

[Captain Hilts]

61. She thinks it's fookin' cool. nt

[FailureToCommunicate]

42. Are poachers to royal grounds still captured and 'dispensed'?

[ooglymoogly]

45. If there is one gardener for each leaf in a garden

30'x24'; how many gardeners does it take to tend the royal patch? And if each picks and tends to one vegetable; How many virgin maidens does it take to pluck the fruit and tend to it till it is consumed by the most royal highness and all round big mucky muck the queen.

[Raine]

64. That's really COOL

Good for her! :thumbsup:

[tabasco]

67. If she renounced the concept of monarchy and forced her chaffy spawn to take jobs,

I could admire this woman.

[Nihil]

69. If you renounced the concept of ignorance and researched before posting ...

... your admiration might be worth something.

:shrug:

[tabasco]

71. I don't need to research a goddamn thing to find out

I reject the idea of monarchs.

Is that too complicated for you to wrap your little brain around?

[Nihil]

72. Ah, blind hatred of a "concept" ... that explains it.

> I reject the idea of monarchs.
> Is that too complicated for you to wrap your little brain around?

Not complicated at all, just sad that you adopt such an ignorant
attitude considering how many more sensible posts I've read from you
in the past.

>> If she renounced the concept of monarchy and forced her chaffy spawn
>> to take jobs, I could admire this woman.

My comment about your ignorance was that there is plenty to admire
about that particular woman without even considering the "concept of
monarchy" if only you could see past your label-oriented bias.

FWIW, if by her "chaffy spawn" you intended to mean her children
(Charles, Anne, Andrew & Edward) then you should note that they
(especially the first two) have done more for charity than you or I
will ever achieve. On the other hand, I agree that some of the more
distant hangers-on need to be introduced to the real world.

[tabasco]

74. Yes, it's so ignorant

to hate the concept of a class of people who are considered better than others, just by virtue of their birth.

Yes, how ignorant of me.

If the "royals" had any self-respect, they would throw down the trappings of royalty and proclaim themselves citizens.

Charity? LOL. I imagine, if I was born into the wealthiest family on Earth, on the government dole, with no need to work, I'd be pretty active in charity, too.

[MisterP]

68. excuse me, they prefer to be called "the Rt. Hon. Cabinet" n/t

[CrawlingChaos]

70. Playing at being poor

Oh how quaint and sensitive.

Michelle Obama's garden project is one thing, but the freakin' Queen of England? If she wants to take a positive step, why not release some of her vast plundered wealth into programs that would actually help people suffering due to the recession.

Meanwhile, I can't decide whether to plant my vegetable patch near the reflecting pool or the hedge maze. Oh dash it all, I'll just leave up to the head groundskeeper.

[LeftHander]

73. ROYAL SHOCKER: Queen Sees Dirt for First Time!!....nt