Destined to grow vegetables

As a family we have always grown things. I usually stick to houseplants and herbs but the boys have grown several horse chestnut trees from conkers, cacti and orange trees from seed in the bedroom and conservatory, salad plants on the windowsill etc. Stuart even rescued and revived plants from the Garden Centre skip….

Chris’s Dad was a plant breeder for Asmer Seeds, and was involved in developing seeds for amongst others, brussel sprouts and celery. He apparently developed the brussel sprout so that they grew uniformly up the stalk (rather than big at the bottom, small at the top) and famously and excitingly appeared on Open University as the expert in the field of sprouts (he also literally was filmed in the field of sprouts….).

His Dad grew lots of veg at home on a smallholding. My first experience of home grown fennel in this country was at their house in the late ‘70’s when vegetables such as fennel were rather exotic! Later when we borrowed their caravan for a holiday they left it for us complete with sackfuls of courgettes, potatoes and celery…….

His brother and brother-in-law were also plant breeders so, although Chris strayed into the world of Astrophysics, he was destined to start growing his own. Strangely, Ben has also mixed the two – but he started off planning and setting up our allotment; now he’s studying Astrophysics. So from plant pots on windowsills and horse chestnut trees from conkers, we have now progressed to allotmenteering!

Anne Holland