Asplundh Garden Tour

You never know what plant treasures you see and find when gates are opened and you tour down garden paths.

The 2011 Garden Tour was again a hit with gardeners, hunting for ideas and looking for tips for their gardens.

The 2011 celebrity guest chef for the garden tour, was Annabelle White, also known as the Cuddly Cook.

The garden tour showcased 10 gardens from the Alexandra and Clyde area and included a sumptuous Devonshire Tea at Orchard Gardens.

Two Paddocks vineyard hosted Annabelle White’s cooking demonstrations, please see below for one of her recipes.

In 2012, a garden tour would be held on Sunday 23 and Monday 24 September, 2012.

Annabelle White: 2011

Our Cuddly Cook Annabelle White is well known as a TV food presenter and enthusiastic radio personality.  On Friday mornings she features on TVNZ Breakfast and has recently joined Paul Henry on Radio Live twice a week talking food/travel and manners.

For twenty-two years Annabelle has produced food columns for the Sunday Star-Times as the Everyday Gourmet and Food Detective.  As of September 2011 she will be the new Food Editor for the NZ Women’s Weekly. With a MA (First Class Hons) from Waikato University Annabelle spent six year as a History/English and religious studies teacher before food writing and a position as food editor of NZ House &Garden lured her away from the blackboard. Annabelle was awarded a University of Waikato Honorary Alumni award in 2010.

Her food philosophy is very pragmatic – forget all the nonsense and pretension food is about serving a good quality dinner to your loved ones and the less you do to great ingredients the better.

Click here to download Annabelle's Chargrilled Vege and Smoked Chicken Pasta Recipe.

Richard Till: 2010

2010's Garden Tour will hosted a culinary demonstration at Two Paddocks Vineyard and we were joined by well known celebrity chef and television personality Richard Till. Till is well-known for his participation in community events throughout New Zealand, he opens the occasional three week restaurant, still works as a set builder, cooks dinner at home and fronts a long-running series of advertisements for supermarket Countdown.

His demonstration was enthusiastically received and we thank Richard for his time. We think we should bring Richard back for 2012 - stay tuned!

Click here to download Richard's Garden Tour Recipes and recreate the magic in your own kitchen!