The Victorian Kitchen Garden

Episode Synopsis

The preoccupation of the Victorian gardener during August was getting water to his plants. The invention of the India rubber hosepipe transformed his task. Harry is helped, too, by Chilton's ready supply of spring water. The melons are netted to prevent them falling. The peaches, figs and nectarines are picked for the table or packed in boxes to be sent that same day by train to the owner's residence in London. Peter visits Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire to find out more about Thomas Rivers , the great 19th-century nurseryman who provided the country houses with their fruit trees.