Growing to a ripe old age (From Smallholder)

Growing to a ripe old age

9:40am Tuesday 6th December 2011 in Grow Your Own

Only Edward Enfield, father of the famous comedian Harry, who has written an amusing and informative book about gardening would admit that: “Gardening books are pretty boring. After all you do the same things each year. Put in the seeds, harvest the crop and eat it.”

You do feel that he wrote this book in his 82nd year as a result of inspiration from his literary hero William Cobbett. Cobbett wrote the well known Rural Rides, but among many other books was the lesser known English Gardener, which is often quoted by Enfield in ‘Growing To A Ripe Old Age’. It was in 1960 that Edward, at the time a local government officer, moved to a cottage on the outskirts of Billingshurst, West Sussex, where he has lived ever since. Bringing up four children, including the comedian Harry, who is now 50, and still visits his parents,however like the rest of the clan had no interest in gardening.

The garden is three quarters of an acre, and although he always worked in it it wasn’t until the last of his children finally left 20 years ago that he really set about it full time.

Nowadays he reckons he spends three hours a day fiddling about within it. As I tour it with him, his book and his respect for Cobbett’s lively writing comes alive.

For the full article see the December edition of Smallholder magazine.