2017 is really quite a significant year for VKG fans. It’s a sort of quadruple anniversary and, bearing in mind the enjoyment VKG has given (and is still giving!), I think we should do something about it.
First, it’s the 30th anniversary of Victorian Kitchen Garden itself. I find it hard to believe but the first broadcast was as long ago as September 16th, 1987.
Second, and one that will be notable for all Victorian Kitchen fans especially, is the fact that February 5th, 2017 would have been ‘Auntie’ Ruth Mott’s 100th birthday.
Thirdly and co-incidentally, it’s also the 30th anniversary of the publishing of Susan Campbell’s book, “Cottesbrooke - An English Kitchen Garden”. If you like VKG, you will definitely find “Cottesbrooke” a familiar read. Susan has written extensively about kitchen gardens, and she also runs the ‘Walled Kitchen Gardens Network’, which celebrates walled gardens and advises walled garden owners and restorers.
Fourth and last, but most certainly not least, 2017 marks 70 years since the great Harry Dodson took over as Head Gardener at Chilton Foliat. No self-respecting VKG fan would want an occasion like that to go unmarked, surely?
So, there’s the rub: I don’t think that the anniversary of a year so significant to VKG fans should pass without being marked, nay, celebrated in some way. And, not forgetting the contribution of Susan’s work, what better way than if the BBC were to create a little tribute/retrospective to Kitchen Gardens, the VKG programmes (and the people involved in making them), and their legacy?
In an attempt to precipitate that, I’m going to follow the example of a friend of mine who’s already on the case. Just like him, I’ll be writing / emailing / tweeting to the BBC (and anyone else I can think of who might have some influence), to try and persuade them to properly mark the occasion and also give another generation the chance to discover the magnificent, sublime pleasure that is VKG.
And if enough of us write then maybe, just maybe, we can make it happen. So, let the BBC know what VKG means to you, and why VKG and its legacy deserves to be celebrated on this special anniversary.
Go on, you know you want to. Write now. See? You feel better already.