Emily Reid dug up a manicured lawn in Sarratt and turned it into a thriving business. And Village Veggies is still growing
“I would walk past Sarratt Village Shop every day when taking my daughter Alice to school and I noticed the garden at the back of the building.” says Emily Reid, “It was effectively a big lawn with a massive hedge.
I could see the potential and I was itching to do something with it so I eventually asked if they would consider letting me turn it into a mini market garden. I was over the moon when they said yes – I had always fancied having a bit of land!”
Emily wasn’t a novice gardener, she had grown up with a Mother who tended an allotment. A trained teacher, her most recent job involved working in horticulture at the Sunnyside Rural Trust in Hemel with adults who have learning disabilities. But the Sarratt garden was her biggest challenge yet. Two years on, the 50m plot is a practical working garden although still a work in progress. Emily spends six hours a day there all year round.
“The weeds have been ahead of me recently but I’m getting there .
I’m slowly working on a dedicated corner for children around a playhouse. Next spring I want to run parent/ toddler gardening groups. People don’t like their kids getting mucky, here it doesn’t matter! They can come and see the chickens, frogspawn and get stuck in to digging and get dirty. I’ll help them create mini raised beds edged in woven twigs of hazel and pack the beds full of lovely things to eat.”
But the project is not all about education, Emily already sells the veg in Sarratt Village Shop and at markets and is starting to become known for her edible flowers.
“I call the business Village Veggies but grow and sell all sorts… hanging baskets, fruit, salad and Christmas wreaths. My salad bags with edible flowers are really popular, – a mix of lettuce, rocket, leaves, nasturtiums and violas. The plan is to sell them with Chiltern Cold Pressed oils and salad dressings that are pressed and bottled by the Mead family in Tring.
I love growing colourful vegetables too. Last year I had purple beans as well as yellow and green ones and yellow and green courgettes. And the bronze fennel has really pretty leaves .”
So, it’s all worth the hard graft then?
“Definitely! It’s really satisfying. I am passionate about growing food – I know where the food comes from, that nothing is added and it’s fresher than anything you buy in the supermarkets. Everything is recycled in the garden- the water butt came from a skip ( I harvest the rain water), the fencing is made of old pallets!
And there’s nothing nicer than hand picked runner beans, freshly dug potatoes, a tomato that hasn’t seen a fridge, cider made from your own apples and the excitement of a new crop – we had asparagus this year for the first time, it was a real treat. It was early because the weather was so warm. I didn’t sell one spear, we ate it all at home ! ”
Emily will be at Rickmansworth French Market on Sun 28 June.
villageveggies@gmail.com