A well-tended front yard speaks volumes about the proprietor of a mansion; it hints at a certain discipline and fastidiousness, and can certainly double up as a trophy case with exotic species on display. The trend of building an edible garden has also recently taken off.
If you’re one such individual, your next holiday itinerary has just been decided for you: a top-notch UK hotel-restaurant belonging to revered chef Raymond Blanc has just opened a gardening school. Its focus is to share as much gardening knowledge with visitors and guests as possible, and boy does it have the credentials.
The two-acre vegetable and herb expanse has supplied the two Michelin-starred restaurant with produce that have been labelled “pitch-perfect†by the pickiest critics, and you’ll be walking in the footsteps of Heston Blumenthal and Marco Pierre White.
Simply named The Raymond Blanc Gardening School, it promises to offer full- and half-day courses led by the very team that has managed Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons’ sprawling greenscape for decades. The courses start running in July. Do note the full-day option is inclusive of a morning tea and lunch. Winter lessons are on the cards as well; after all, you’ll be hosted in a toasty greenhouse.
More information available at the Belmond website.
