Garden For Living

A new garden has opened its gates at the Eden Project transplanted from RHS Chelsea via sub-Saharan Africa

It’s not the first time a gold-winning RHS garden has found itself a permanent home near Cornwall’s famous biomes. But the CAMFED garden is probably the most worthy.

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) African Garden won gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May and was replanted in the Mediterranean Biome and unveiled in October. The garden was created by designer Jilayne Rickards, who was inspired by visiting CAMFED in Zimbabwe.

Within the distinctive red earth garden, the compact space is laden with edible crops and rich aromas and backed by a white-walled classroom underlining its role in encouraging education.

The garden tells the compelling story of how the Campaign for Female Education supports the most excluded girls and young women in rural sub-Saharan Africa to go to school and become leaders and change-makers in their communities, including in climate-smart agriculture.

They grow food to nourish school communities, create local employment, and help build resilience to climate change. Its lush planting reflects a huge array of crops typical to rural Zimbabwe, including papaya and banana.

A raised bed showcases water-efficient growing technology coupled with crop rotation, which maximizes yield from a small area.

Jilayne Rickards, who grew up in Cornwall and was a first-time exhibitor at Chelsea, worked with Eden Head of Horticulture Paul Stone and Catherine Cutler, who leads the Mediterranean Biome horticultural team, on the installation of the garden.