Beating 20 celebrity contestants for the Celebrity MasterChef trophy, Glenfinart Walled Garden patron, Sophie Thompson triumphed in the gruelling 6-week BBC contest.

Judge John Torode praised Sophie’s culinary creations for being “Original, exciting and daring”. Fellow judge Gregg Wallace said “Sophie’s food is very much like her, it’s original, it’s individual, it has a style, it’s different. She creates some absolute delights on a plate, they look like little stories to me; they just look amazing.”.

Sophie beat off other finalists Charley Boorman and Jodie Kidd.

Celebrity MasterChef is available on the BBC iPlayer until 25 July.

Glenfinart Walled Garden was host to Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Community Partnership last Thursday when its new Directors and Staff enjoyed a familiarisation visit to this Ardentinny, community-based project. Their visit comprised a guided tour, some welcome tea and home baking and the all-important expansion of the garden’s & Partnership’s ‘network’.

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On Saturday members of the Trust manned the Glenfinart Walled Garden stall at neighbouring Blairmore Village’s Local Produce Market. Sale of the garden’s produce netted £115.50 in addition to much-appreciated donations. At the same time, Trust Secretary, Lynn Kerr represented the garden at Dunoon Burgh Hall’s Community Fair. Another excellent networking event!

Glenfinart Walled Garden is open daily from 12-4 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome.

It was a case of fighting off the midges at Saturday’s Volunteer Drop-in event at Glenfinart Walled Garden. Fortunately the volunteers from Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park, as well as those from the community, came well prepared with midge nets, ample supplies of Skin So Soft and other magic potions to keep the midges at bay.

After making an excellent job of weeding the central ‘tump’ area, the group were able to pick the brains of resident green-fingered maestro Glyn Toplis during his monthly masterclass. This month’s topic was ‘Summer Flowering Plants’. To round off the day, Ardentinny Community Trust provided the usual excellent home baking and refreshments for the volunteers.

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Next month’s Volunteer and Training Day is on July 12. Glyn’s masterclass is on ‘Understanding Plant Names’ and begins at 2pm (garden open from 11am).

Glenfinart Walled Garden is open 7 days a week from 12.00 – 16.00hrs. Admission is free. The garden also now has plants and vegetables  for sale. For more information contact Jimmy Gordon on 01369 810170 or Lynn Kerr on 01369 810275 or email info@glenfinartgarden.org. 

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