Wombat Diet

We went on a glorious sunny Sunday to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, in my case for the first time. The gardens were spectacular, unlike the strangely dull web site.

With the Millennium Seed Bank due to run out of money in 2010 I wonder if Kew couldn’t earn a few pennies from a better web site. It seems a pity to gather and preserve seeds from the ends of the earth and not to do a little more to celebrate their growth and the pleasure people take in a garden. Selling a few Wollemi Pines and refreshements is not enough. There are too many unsorted photos on flickr, with many of the first featuring odd looking sculptures that were no longer in evidence.

Could one issue visitors with a few vouchers, in two halves: one to be given away to people photographed in the gardens, the other for the photographer, with instructions on how to access and upload the photo, respectively, at a later date? One could charge a small amount for hosting the photo in perpetuity or for downloading a full size copy, and rights to the images could be ceded to Kew’s seed bank. Indeed, more could be made of this. Calendars of the most popular photos chosen by visitors, greeting cards etc.

Would this family give a pound for this photo? If I had a voucher I’d gladly have given it away.

Surely there must be angle in one of the most photographed places in London to raise a few pennies for Kew’s important work. They surely made some money selling colour film in the past!

Afterwards we stopped for a cider at a pub on the green where a cricket match was in progress. A few people strolled from the pub, drinks in hand to watch the game. A fielder chatted with picnicing tourists and, had he wanted to, could have had a beer on the go at the side. Mild applause from the pavilion when a ball was stopped at the boundary, a foot away from adding four runs to the score (not much sign that the householders around the green need to fear cricket balls through the windows).

As a picture of green, temperate tranquility it was very satisfying and peaceful and led naturally led to “Why don’t we buy a house on the square”? suggestions before the cider ran out (why not indeed?).

Do we really want to own a garden?

Tags: London