Heligan Sows Britain’s Lost Crop - Kitchen Garden Magazine

Turn the clocks back over 100 years.

Heligan gardeners turned the clocks back over 100 years earlier in the month as the iconic estate prepared the ground for a summer of spectacular blooms.

Visitors and staff alike watched in awe as three magnificent heavy horses began proceedings by ploughing and harrowing Valentines field.

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Set against the backdrop of the neighbouring fishing village of Mevagissey, Valentines field continued its transformation as an army of Heligan gardeners broadcast by hand a very apt seed to wow visitors this July and August.

Very much like the gardens that were lost to the brambles of time, commercial flax growing within the UK has become a lost industry which the iconic gardens hope to revive.

The last commercial flax growing for spinning into yarn was on the Sandringham Estate in the mid 1950’s yet this process still thrives in France, Belgium and Eastern Europe.

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“Here at The Lost Gardens we use a wide variety of Victorian techniques to farm the land. We were very pleased to welcome heavy horses from Higher Biddacott Farm to plough and harrow for us while providing visitors with an awesome spectacle. Once again Heligan gardeners from all corners of the estate joined forces, grabbed their buckets and broadcast flax seeds across the land. We now put our faith into Mother Nature and look forward to seeing the results!” said Andy Finch, Heligan Stockman.

The flax is set to flower in July and August and regular updates will be found on The Lost Gardens of Heligan social media pages.

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.