AGROMENES has taken full advantage of the few sunny, dry days we’ve had so far this year. He’s even once had lunch outside! The fields are still fairly boggy, but at least the raised vegetable beds have dried off, so planting could start. First off, of course, the cold frames needed filling with lettuce plants and cucumbers, but, now, the onions are in their beds and the First Early potatoes have been sown. That was a more cheerful process after Monty Don confirmed that he, too, hadn’t planted his early potatoes in March, as he was awash. Nothing like a bit of confirmation from an expert when you’re downcast at the lack of progress in the garden.
Now that the worst of the wet is over, we’ll be out there much more of the time and there’ll be less iPlayer temptation. The forecasters suggest it will be a very hot summer and, although the heat presents obvious worries, for the moment, it is enticing after the longest wet spell in recorded history. Before we begin to warm up, however, Agromenes ought to recognise three people who particularly enlivened our indoors world in those dark, damp days.
First among them was, indeed, the incomparable Mr Don, not merely in back episodes of Gardeners’ World, but with his entrancing three-part journey around Spanish gardens. It wasn’t only the presentation of spectacular scenery and amazing planting, it was the palpable delight with which he expresses his magisterial authority. Talking sense about climate without preaching, unerringly picking on salient points, asking the questions you would have liked to ask—he is the consummate communicator. Even more, he treats both the historic pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and a scruffy working allotment with equal respect and genuine interest. In seeking to appreciate them, he shares that appreciation with his audience. The only regret is that there were but three episodes. There is so much more of Spain and its gardens for him to present.
Can we hope that Mr Don returns to Spain, as Stanley Tucci has returned to Italy? The presenters share many of the same qualities, not least the fact that they are cl
