#tracklements

It was so much bigger than I expected. Not only had it taken over several halls, but outside was teeming with people and stalls and flowers too, and it all looked a lot like the Malvern Show. In short, it was going to be a great day.

Do love a good floral marquee

And it was pretty incredible. Food samples, interesting plants and lots of lovely people happy to talk to us about the best way to keep our herbs alive. There was a lot of great stuff at the show, so I’m going to list my favourite bits, otherwise I’ll ramble on about everything. And I do love a list.

Tracklements

The packagaing for Tracklements is what drew me over – there’s something about it that caught my eye. I think it’s the modern take on a traditional looking label. When I realised it was mostly chutneys, my heart sank a little, because I’d bounded over quite excited but I don’t really like chutney.

Proper eye-catching packaging

Reader, I bought some. I tried their beetroot and horseradish relish and it was incredible. I walked away still thinking about it and had to come back later because I was still thinking about it. Would highly reccommend.

2. The MS Society ‘A Journey to Hope’ Garden

Gardener’s World Live even had show gardens. The MS Society’s Garden was gorgeous and accessible, something that a lot of beautiful gardens don’t seem to consider.

Being such a popular garden, it was difficult to get a photo without people in it

Aiming to raise awareness for the 100,000 people who live with MS in the UK and the work of their support groups, the garden was a big hit. And in the leaflets telling you about the garden, there were gardening tips for people with MS, to help those with MS work out a way they can still enjoy their garden.

3. Ecotalk

Powered by green energy, Ecotalk is a mobile phone company, who use their profits to buy up land in order to give it back to nature. I got talking to them because they had houses for solitary bees on their stall, and bees are their main focus right now. And saving the bees is a big deal.

4. The APL Avenue Artemis Landscapes ‘Living in Sync’ garden

This was my favourite part of Gardeners’ World Live. Designed to be wildlife friendly in conjunction with Wonderful Wildlife, this garden was a front garden with as many wildlife friendly elements as possible. Bug towers, bird and bat boxes and plenty of bee friendly flowers.

It was gorgeous and is my new garden goal.

5. Bat Conservation Trust

Our garden’s pretty bee and butterfly friendly now, which is a big mission accomplished. Pretty much at all time there’s at least 2 bees buzzing around. So next step is to encourage more wildlife. And who better than bats?

The most common bats in the UK are the pipistrelle and aren’t very big, which means you can easily make a bat box for them to roost in. The Bat Conservation trust had some very lovely people on their stand, who were more than happy to talk to us and ply us with information about how to help bats. I think our next job is finding somewhere to put a bat box.

I went to the Good Food Show and Gardener’s World Live as a member of the press with a press pass (which, ngl, was very exciting). All opinions are my own. 

In case last week’s post on words you will never use wasn’t enough for you, we herewith present Words You’ll Never Use, Volume 2. (Please note: “herewith” is not one of them, but probably should be).

Let’s start off with a tasty one. You’ll probably never use – or even hear – the word “tracklements” unless perhaps you spend some time in England. Tracklements is a term that covers a wide range of savory condiments, such as various mustards, relishes, chutneys and so on, usually served with a meat dish. British food writer Dorothy Hartley is believed to have coined the word in 1954. She said it was derived from a dialect word, “trankelment,” which meant “trinkets or ornaments.”

If you overdo the tracklements with your dinner, you might have trouble fitting into your “cuirass.” A cuirass is a piece of armor that covers the torso. It can be a single piece or multiple pieces joined together to cover the front and back. Although a cuirass is usually formed of metal, the word itself comes from Latin words that mean “leather,” which was the original material for a cuirass. And no, I did not include this word simply because it has the word “ass” in it.

Before you go to war in your cuirass, you might seek a benison from the chaplain. “Benison” is just another word for benediction or blessing, although “benison” was around for hundreds of years before benediction. It’s from Latin words meaning “to speak well of.”

You may have to go to the narthex to seek your benison. “Narthex” refers to the lobby, vestibule, porch or antechamber of early churches. The narthex was at the end of the church farthest from the sanctuary. Hey, nobody wants you bringing your muddy hobnailed boots and dirty cuirass into the sanctuary, right? “Narthex” has its roots in a Greek word meaning “giant fennel,” but damned if I know why.

I hope you’re not damned to suffer from “nyctophobia.” No, wise guy, it’s not the fear of “nycts.” It’s an extreme, irrational fear of the dark or nighttime.

Things that go bump in the night could lead to “ligyrophobia.” That’s a fear of loud noises. (Shhh!) I might mention that the word “phonophobia” means the same thing, but I know at least one of you clever old-timers would make a joke about a fear of record players.

I could also tell you that yet another word for ligyrophobia is sonophopbia, but that would just be supererogatory, and we wouldn’t want that. Things that are “supererogatory” are superfluous, more than required, above and beyond what is necessary.