Blenheim Palace Walled Garden hits peak summer season for homegrown harvest

This summer, Blenheim Palace’s Walled Garden is a feast for all the senses, with countless varieties of homegrown produce cropping in abundance. 

Blenheim Palace’s ‘no dig’ kitchen garden, located within the 18th century Walled Garden, doubled in size last year to meet the increase in demand for homegrown produce by the Palace kitchens, with the aim that they will be self-sufficient by 2027.

Now visitors to Blenheim Palace can see a myriad of vegetables cropping over the next few months, including mixed salad leaves (providing the Palace kitchens with an incredible 30kg a week for all salads, sandwiches, wraps etc); edible flowers; mixed heritage beetroots; rainbow chard, spring onions, cavolo nero kale, fresh herbs, broad beans, mangetout, and cherry tomatoes.

The Kitchen Garden team has also planted a large section of sunflowers which should come into bloom in July/August.

Two major developments which Harrison Fannon, Vegetable Gardener at Blenheim Palace, has introduced to the Kitchen Garden are weekly visits by 60 students from SEN schools in Oxfordshire, alongside free opportunities to young adults looking for work experience, rehabilitation groups and corporate teambuilding days.

Furthermore, the Kitchen Garden team is running an active volunteering programme where around 20 people from the local area can give two hours a week to help out in the garden on Thursdays and Fridays. 

Harrison commented: “We’ve only just got into the harvest season so currently the kitchen is using everything available! We will also be launching staff veg boxes later in the year.

We’re doing a lot of mixed planting or “polycultures” – planting multiple types of vegetables together; this creates relationships between the plants that makes them more resilient to pests and drought. It also makes the garden more visually stimulating: beans climbing up kale stalks, beetroots bustling between lettuces and flowers, carrots cuddling up to onions…flowers growing amongst everything rather than confined to borders. The garden is buzzing with life.”

Elsewhere at Blenheim Palace, summer visitors can explore the historic Gardens and Parkland, from the majestic Water Terraces and hidden winding pathways of the Secret Garden to the sweeping lakeside views designed by ‘Capability’ Brown.

Follow the floral highway amongst drifts of native wildflowers from the Rockery to the borders which lead up to the statue of the Three Graces, along Churchill’s Walk, amongst the Cherry Avenue, Rose Garden, along the Crab Apple avenue to The Temple of Flora and out into the Arboretum. Throughout August, visitors can also meet a Victorian Explorer in the Formal Gardens.

Discover more with Summer VAT Savings, reducing admission prices to enjoy all that Britain’s Greatest Palace has to offer. Blenheim Palace also offers Klarna split payments for its ticketing over the value of £80 to help visitors plan ahead.

From urgent roof repairs to long-term conservation, every ticket purchased ensures that the buildings, artworks, and landscapes are cared for with the expertise and attention they deserve.

For more information and to book tickets, visit www.blenheimpalace.com