Eden Project - practical week 16-20 Nov 2009

Day one - Monday 16 Nov
After rising early and an enjoyable drive down we pitched up at the Eden Project at about 11am. We met up with Mark Paterson, head of education, who gave us an introduction to the place and what we'd be doing. We then had an hour before lunch to explore, and so headed off to the humid tropical biome. The heat didn't seem too fierce, but we were definitely warmed up by lunchtime. I spotted one of the White-Eyed Vireos that have been introduced there to keep pests down. In the afternoon we were given a sheet of 24 (!) plant idents to learn, and then walked round the grounds looking at all the plants on the list.

After a fish and chip supper we retired to the tables outside the cottages to enjoy an ale or three and put the world to rights, then headed to bed for some well-earned rest.

Day two - Tuesday 17 Nov
6am alarm call - a right shock to the system - and on the bus to get to Eden for 7.20am - we all looked a bit dazed and confused. We were dropped off at the gardeners' lodge, where we decided where we'd go for the morning, and then took a Gator down the very steep hill (wheeeeeeeee) to meet the gardeners. I chose the humid tropical biome as I wanted to see whether I'd want to spend all three days there after working there on the first. We met Sandra and Hettie, who have responsibility for different parts of the biome, and divided into pairs to work with each of them. Ted and I went with Sandra to weed around the pond/beach, pulling out bits of an unidentified legume that seemed very happy there; hard work but the heat wasn't too much of a struggle. After a tea break we swapped over and Ted and I went with Hettie to carry on installing an irrigation system around the cocoa plants. They have 8,000m of pipe to lay and have done 1,000m so far - quite a job! The biome was really quite hot at this point, as we were higher up and the sun was beating down - by lunchtime we were exhausted and drenched. Hettie has been there for three and a half years and did the same course as us but at Duchy/Rosewarne. Earlier this year she went to Earth University in Costa Rica for a field trip.

After a massive lunch of cottage pie we met up with Giuliano, who runs the South America section of the humid tropical biome. He gave us a tour of the biome, and is incredibly knowledgable. In his native Sao Paulo he was an agronomist engineer - a job that seemingly takes in everything from climbing trees to crop management to sustainable forestry. A quick trip to the library saw us poring over the excellent reference section, with vows to return again tomorrow (not least to get a grip on these blooming idents!).

Day 3:Wednesday 18 Nov
Definitely a sleepy start to the day today. On arrival we chose who we wanted to go with for the morning, and Vicky and I picked the outdoor crops team, led by Kevin Austin. He's in charge of the outdoor crops area, from the bananas and Cornish crops round to the Global Gardens - a series of internationally themed allotments (and my favourite bit). We started off by lugging huge net bags of Narcissus bulbs into the gator and sped off down to the hill to where we'd be planting. Which turned out to be a rather steep slope in between areas of Cornus and Salix. Vicki and I paired up, fighting against falling backwards, bulbs rolling down the hill and a particularly vicious bramble to get halfway up the hill by breaktime. When we looked over at the others' efforts, we realised that we'd spent more time chatting than planting, as they'd all made it up almost to the top of the hill. We consoled ourselves by agreeing that our bit of slope was particularly steep (it wasn't). After break we carried on for a bit (with our legs complaining), before being given a tour of the Global Gardens by James, who manages them. They are divided up into various countries - eg China, West Indies, trad British, eastern European etc and are meant to show what immigrants to the UK would grow in their allotments here. They've managed to grow all sorts of things that I could only dream of at my plot in Sheffield, and plenty of things we'd never heard of, such as Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), a plant from South America that both James and Kevin included in their top 10 veg. After we'd wandered around, I mentioned in passing to Vicky that I would love a smallholding, and Kev overheard - turns out he has one near Liskeard where he ploughs with heavy horses, supplying Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant and an organic box scheme. He and I then worked together weeding parts of the allotments, and chatted about what we'd both been doing prior to our current jobs. Quite inspiring, though I reckon I'd struggle to cope with a nine-acre smallholding...

In the afternoon we were given a tour of the outdoor biome by Darren, the supervisor. He showed us the areas of Cornish hedges, the area behind the Core where I was bowled over by some beautiful Zelkova serrata trees, and up round the highest parts of the outdoor area.

The evening was spent cramming for Friday's plant ID - those 24 plants are proving somewhat difficult to learn, especially the tropical ones.

Thursday 19 Nov
It's getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings, especially after a crap night's sleep. God knows how anyone does this every day.
Upon arrival at Eden we divided into teams again, and this time Vicky and I went with Darren and the outdoor biome team to cut back Lonicera and Cotoneasters. We worked hard and fast (though there were a lot of us) and managed to clear the area in an hour - pretty good work! It was grubby and I spent half the time with branches caught in my hair, but there's no danger of feeling the cold - it's blooming hard work. Once the shrubs were cleared we began pruning Cotinus, taking out the leaders. Us students were a little reticent at first, and it was only once we saw how much the gardeners were taking off that we really got into it. I'm still covered in sap from the shrubs - it's pretty sticky stuff. In among the shrubs were loads of Leycesteria seedlings - that stuff multiplies like nobody's business.

After break we began cutting back the beds under the plane trees, and were rewarded with several toads and frogs for our efforts - a bit of a shock when one leaps out of a pile of leaves. We chopped back Alchemilla and plucked out Euphorbia suckers, clearing leaves as we went. It was hungry work, and we wolfed down lunch (sausage casserole and potatoes dauphinoise) with gusto.

Barely able to move, we went down to the area outside the cafe to meet Gill, who is in charge of the gorgeous vegetable and herb gardens around the outdoor seating area. Swiss chard 'Bright Lights', beet leaves and cavolo nero are grown in undulating lines along the beds on one side, while the other side features olive trees with hanging drying onions, herbs and more veg. It was wonderful and I had no shortage of questions on how it was managed. After that Steve, head of Cornish crops, gave us a tour of everything under his remit - much of it currently empty or given over to green manures, before dropping us off at the Mediterranean biome for a tour. We were led round by Emma, who was a right giggle and also really knew her stuff. Despite it being quite cool in the biome, there were still plenty of wonderful smells from the various plants, and it gave us a last chance to look at the plants for the ident tomorrow.

In the evening we decided to head out to the pub, and Ben, bless him, drove us up the A30 through the driving rain to Blisland, where a friend had recommended the Blisland Inn. A warm welcome awaited and we indulged in more pints of top Cornish ale than was strictly necessary, with quite a few folk deciding on a tequila chaser or three. A few sore heads tomorrow...

Friday 20 Nov
Unsurprisingly it was a bit of a struggle to get out of bed this morning, but the expected hangover didn't materialise. Today's destination was the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which was a lovely surprise as I didn't think we'd have time to go there. I went direct with Vicky and Rowanna, which turned out to be a good decision given a bout of puking in the bus - lovely. Ben took us on a whistle-stop tour of the grounds, from the walled gardens and potting sheds down to the jungle area towards the sea, before heading back via the woodland and the mud maid. What a place! The walled gardens featured rows of splendid cabbages and brussels sprouts, which had us all salivating, not to mention hellishly jealous of the gorgeous facilities. Walking round the jungle area reminded me of childhood visits to Glendurgan and Trebah. Apparently we get to work at Heligan in the second year, which will be a fantastic opportunity.

On returning to Eden, we met with Mark for the plant ident, which didn't go too badly. I managed to get everything, although I spelled a few wrong. There was an extra question on cotton, but I had no idea what its genus or family were, so didn't get any points for that either. Then it was a quick lunch at the lodge before piling into the bus for the journey back.

It has been a fantastic week, tremendously hard work and an awful lot to learn in a short time, but we're all very much looking forward to going back in January for another week. We've warned the Blisland Inn to get a few extra bottles of tequila (bleurgh) for the Thursday night...