Providing even more treasure

Dorney Court Kitchen Garden is a delightful collective nursery, café, children’s play area and garden providing the perfect coffee and cake destination for all the family to enjoy. Obviously the main attractions for us are the three ride-on pedal tractors that our children use to explore the site, keeping them amused and allowing our uninterrupted cappuccino supping! 

The beautiful and recently restored Victorian kitchen garden is accessed through the main nursery, and as you pass through the gap in the encircling wall, you are immediately greeted by a clever and contemporary suspended steel arched tunnel, supporting flowering wisteria and a pathway beneath bordered with striking flowering alliums among other perennials.

The path leads you to a sunken garden, housing the unusual, yet charming ‘Brussel Sprout’ fountain and pond, centrally positioned within the symmetrically landscaped and planted beds traditionally outlined with box. At this time of year the planting is just beginning to burst into life, but from my previous and frequent summer visits I know the crowning display to be outstanding.

The remainder of the garden provides further planting of standard herbs and vegetables along with more unusual and exotic varieties all resourcefully utilised for your culinary delight by the chefs in the café kitchen, a small lawn area and the headless-chicken coop, aptly named by my children; you need to see the poultry to understand.

The entire garden delivers great inspiration for the amateur horticulturist; most of the plants are available for purchase in the nursery, and as I discovered whilst identifying Polygonatum × hybridum or ‘solomon’s seal’, the friendly and helpful nursery staff will happily answer any questions and source your selected plant from their small and varied stock.

The wonderfully sheltered space the garden offers is also cleverly utilised to host various events throughout the year and our visit on this occasion involved a theatrical theme with the garden collaborating with the Cambridge Travelling Theatre to provide a children’s workshop and performance of Treasure Island. With a simple stage area and the lawn providing a ‘bring your own blanket’ auditorium the players staged the show to the delight of the children who all chorused together having learnt the songs in the aforementioned workshop.

Captain Smelly’s affable performance was only marginally eclipsed by the cameo performances from the very young audience participants Eva and Daisy. Eva was so horrified and disgusted by her newly appointed pirate name of ‘Evil’ Eva, that she spent her entire ‘moment of fame’ head-shaking in an attempt to convince all and especially her parents that the descriptive adjective really wasn't befitting! Meanwhile ‘Dangerous’ Dais clearly hadn't read the script or indeed realised she was actually participating in the show, and her dumbfounded expression pertinently translated into a face of terror to abhor, priceless!

With the sun shining, this is a delightful way to spend an afternoon and early evening, and having already experienced the Roald Dahl delights of James and Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox as performed by Illyria at Cliveden and Greys Court respectively we will certainly be back here for The Mikado in August.

More of the same please DCKG.