Behind the Walls: Susan Campbell’s Kitchen Garden Legacy

September 14, 1931

On this day, we find ourselves transported back to when the horticultural world welcomed Susan Campbell (née Benson) - a remarkable figure whose passion for walled kitchen gardens would transform our understanding of these mysterious enclosed spaces.

Dear readers, imagine yourself standing before the imposing walls of Tullynally Castle, where our protagonist's fascinating journey began during a pivotal visit with Thomas Pakenham.

What secrets lay behind those ancient walls?

What forgotten histories of cultivation and innovation remained untold?

These questions would drive Campbell to document over 700 walled kitchen gardens across the globe, a pursuit spanning more than forty years.

Like a horticultural detective, Campbell has unearthed the histories of these remarkable spaces, including her recent investigation of Robert Darwin's garden - yes, the very soil that nurtured the father of evolution himself.

Oh, painting was agony. Agony.

And writing is a doddle compared [to] illustrating...

[But kitchen gardens] seemed as secret as anything with their big walls...

and I longed to see what they were like.

Such candid words from a 1984 interview reveal the heart of Campbell's transition from illustrator to garden historian.

Her founding of the Walled Kitchen Garden Network in 2001, alongside Fiona Grant, speaks to her dedication to preserving these horticultural treasures.

Perhaps, dear gardeners, you too have stood before an old garden wall and wondered what histories it holds?

What centuries of cultivation secrets might be waiting to be discovered in your own corner of the world?

For those among us who maintain kitchen gardens, remember that you are not merely growing vegetables - you are participating in a tradition that spans centuries, one that Susan Campbell worked tirelessly to document and preserve.