Created by Olivier Blanc & Charlotte Salt, Henri Le Worm aims to remind children where food comes from and the important role that nature plays in its production.
Henri encourages children to engage with food and nature in a fun and playful way.
In the App “Henri Le Worm – The Missing Cookbook,” children are immersed into a colourful and interactive story, narrated by the actor Simon Pegg.
The kids will meet all Henri’s friends including his best buddy Derek the Ladybird and his clever chum Sebastian the Slug and together will go on a hilarious journey of learning and laughter in the magical “Forest of Plenty.”
The opportunity to create a show garden at this year’s prestigious Hampton Court Flower Show (30 June – 5 July 2015) not only seemed an exciting step, but a natural way to encourage children to get back outside exploring and gardening.
The Henri le Worm children’s garden (stand number F443) will be overseen by horticulturist Chris Collins and will be delivered to an RHS standard.
The garden will be divided into sections, comprising of a recipe garden, Henri’s edible shed, a livestock area and a schools demo garden.
The centre of the garden will have an outdoor kitchen area where Raymond Blanc will be doing a demo using ingredients directly from the garden (on press day 29th June).
Within the garden, there will be wonderful colour; edible hanging baskets, a fruit border and free standing bushes, as well as raised beds bordered by carved sleepers and colourful gravel and bark as well as a wild life area.
Visitors will be encouraged to touch and feel and learn more about Henri and his friends’ adventures.
Jenny Blanc Interiors will be dressing the garden with beautiful range of bespoke outdoor furniture that will compliment the organic feel of the garden.
Jenny’s love of interiors founded her design practice and west London lifestyle showroom 19 years ago.
Garden Organic is kindly providing a selection of heritage plants for the garden and it will be a fantastic platform to highlight the huge importance of preserving knowledge and use of heritage plants through its Heritage Seed Library.
Anne Marie Owens, head gardener at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons has also provided the garden with plants and vegetables.
Commenting on the garden, Olivier Blanc said:
“We are so excited to have the opportunity to create a garden at Hampton Court. Our aim is to create an interactive children’s garden that is both fun and educational.
“We want to share all the delights a garden can hold for young ones, from the produce you can grow to the creatures you will discover. It is amazing to share all the wonderful knowledge you can learn from Mother nature.”
During the last year, Olivier and Chris have been developing the Henri le Worm Community Garden Project.
The idea is that a group of local schools develop a communal garden to use during school time, to teach sciences, mathematics, cooking and gardening.
The first garden will be in Woolwich and the garden from Hampton Court will be transferred to this site after the show.
Chris and Oli are currently working with a prestigious team to create the garden including renowned artist Tom Hare who is making some large willow weave sculptures of the Henri characters.
Willow is the perfect example of a sustainable material, which can be woven into forms with spontaneity and character.
Hartley Botanic has an unparalleled reputation for creating practical glasshouses and has kindly offered a Patio Glasshouse for the garden, perfect as its size won’t take up too much space but it’s ideal to showcase and protect some of the chosen varieties.
James Campbell at Garden Organic said:
“Henri le Worm will be able to introduce youngsters to heritage and heirloom seeds and plants, connecting them back to their own history and heritage, and forward to the wonderful delights of fresh, seasonal and most importantly, delicious home grown food.
“The Heritage Seed Library, part of national charity Garden Organic, makes available a wide range of heritage seeds to keen growers up and down the country – including children.”
The team at Brasserie Blanc is kindly supporting the Henri le Worm garden – the Henri children’s menu has been available at the brasseries since Christmas and has been a huge success with the younger guests.
BAM Construct UK are generously supporting with the construction and transportation of the garden which will involve local schools, apprentices and trainees, as well as volunteers from the company.
Their expertise includes sustainable construction and building design.
Shaun Lenane, Showroom Manager for SieMatic at Project Kitchens in Kingston is delighted to support the garden.
The showroom will be providing key aspects of the beautiful bespoke kitchen including a sleek, seamless DuPont Corian worksurface for the cooking demonstration which will be performed by Raymond on press day.
Bentalls Kingston has one of the best toy departments and was one of the first sponsor’s to back the project – we are very proud to have the support of such a large local retailer.
Mike Smith from TMS Exhibition Vegetables and he is very generously providing the heritage fruit trees and soft fruit.
TMS are based in Wales and are well known for their heritage produce and for growing gigantic vegetables for competitions!
