Part of the Somerset Festival of Edimentals, our collaborative autumn programme with Pennard Plants and The Holcombe.
Join us for a day celebrating the extraordinary world of edimentals — plants that are as beautiful as they are delicious. Guided by horticulturist Chris Smith of Pennard Plants, a specialist Somerset nursery with one of the country’s most extensive ranges of edible ornamentals, this immersive one-day course explores how to grow, combine and enjoy these remarkable plants to bring richness, colour and flavour to both garden and table.
From chard and calendula to fennel, daylilies, nasturtiums and orache, edimentals reveal the connection between the aesthetic and the edible. Through demonstrations, hands-on planting, tasting sessions and discussion, you will learn how these striking plants can transform borders, kitchen gardens and containers while supporting biodiversity and expanding the culinary landscape.
This course runs twice: Thursday 8th October 2026 and Saturday 10th October 2026.
After a day spent between the kitchen table and garden at The Old Vicarage, guests are invited to join us later that evening at The Holcombe restaurant for a chef-prepared supper showcasing unusual edimentals — including preserved ingredients from The Old Vicarage garden and fresh harvests gathered during the course.
Our October edimental courses form part of the Somerset Festival of Edimentals to highlight this often-overlooked source of flavour and inspiration.
What the day covers:
Understanding edimentals
What defines an edimental and why these plants matter
The spectrum of ornamental edibles, from heritage varieties to modern selections
Soil, orientation and moisture requirements for reliable success
How to grow edimentals in borders, raised beds and containers
Designing with edible ornamentals
Using colour, texture and structure to create striking displays
Designing mixed beds that work well both visually and seasonally
Creating your own edimental container to take home
Growing and practical techniques
Flavour, tasting and the sensory garden
Guided tasting of fresh leaves and flowers
Understanding the flavour profiles of edible ornamentals
Identifying plants that elevate salads, garnishes and cooked dishes
Appreciating the visual–culinary connection from garden to plate
Ecology and biodiversity
How edimentals support pollinators, beneficial insects and garden resilience
Choosing varieties that enrich soil life
Hosted by Neil Crump, Founder of Asterion & Co., at The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, a former farmhouse with three acres of gardens, including a kitchen garden, productive borders of edimentals, and ornamental plantings. Guests will enjoy a garden lunch and refreshments throughout the day.
As the course draws to a close, guests are welcome either to head home for a break or to stay for a short garden demonstration on creating hydrosols and how edimental flavour develops through distillation to create a non-alcoholic distillate, led by Asterion & Co.’s head gardener.
Then the real treat begins, with a 6:30 pm supper at the local inn — an unforgettable culinary celebration of edimentals that shows off their full potential.
Take-home items
A planting guide for edible ornamentals with notes on design, flavour and biodiversity
Pennard Plants’ edimental list and recommendations
Your planted edimental container created during the hands-on session
Masterclass Details
Date: Thursday 8th October 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, followed by non-alcoholic distillation demonstration, 6:30 pm supper at The Holcombe
Location: The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset, followed by a relaxed evening meal at The Holcombe
Pricing: £330, with a 10% discount on two or more guests booked together
Buying this as a gift? Let us know on the registration form at checkout and we can create a gift package for you, either emailed or posted to you directly.
Includes: Tuition, all materials, daytime refreshments, a seated lunch, tasting sessions, hands-on planting, and a take-home planting guide, edimentals in a container, evening meal at The Holcombe restaurant
This one-day workshop is intentionally kept to a small group size to maintain a calm, hands-on learning environment, followed by an intimate supper to round off the day.
Need accommodation nearby?
While this particular course is not residential, we’d be delighted to recommend a few local places we know well and consider to be of a good standard. Simply note this in the ‘Additional Information’ section at checkout and we’ll send over our suggestions. You can also directly check availability for rooms at The Holcombe (where you’ll have an evening meal as part of this course) - visit their website here.
Your Hosts
This course is hosted by Neil Crump (Founder, Asterion & Co.) at The Old Vicarage in Leigh-on-Mendip, a beautifully reimagined 16th-century farmhouse surrounded by a richly varied garden created in collaboration with experts including Pennard Plants.
Our guest team and gardening staff will be on hand throughout the day to offer guidance, hospitality and insight, bringing Asterion & Co.’s heritage-inspired learning philosophy into every corner of your visit. You will also meet our much-loved House Ducks, Daedalus and Xenodice, who add gentle mischief and charm to daily life here.
About The Holcombe
The Holcombe is a contemporary British five-star country inn set in the historic village of Holcombe — a place recorded in the Domesday Book, with an ancient church that also featured in the BBC series, Poldark. Just ten minutes from The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, home of Asterion & Co., it offers 11 ensuite bedrooms, an award-winning restaurant, and its own kitchen gardens and polytunnel. The Holcombe has an elegant aesthetic: a calm, contemporary mix of British designers and antique finds.
Owned and run by trained chefs Alan Lucas and Caroline Gardiner, The Holcombe reflects their deep passion for growing food, supporting British farmers and working closely with local suppliers and artisan producers. Much of what appears on their menus comes directly from their raised beds and polytunnel, with the rest sourced from trusted growers — including Asterion & Co., who supply summer berries, honey and edible ornamentals. After three decades running successful catering and events companies in London, Alan and Caroline “escaped to the country” in 2019 and have since created a place where seasonality, flavour and considered hospitality shape every part of the experience.
The Holcombe is a founder Asterion & Co. collaborator, with Alan joining our Kitchen Forum Guild as a tutor. In 2026, he leads a programme of Asterion & Co. courses, bringing his seasonal culinary wizardry to our guests.
About Pennard Plants
Like The Holcombe, Pennard Plants is a founder Asterion & Co. collaborator. This specialist Somerset nursery renowned for its extensive range of edible and ornamental plants, including one of the country’s most diverse collections of edimentals. From heritage vegetables to unusual leafy greens and edible flowers, Pennard Plants champions biodiversity, flavour and confident home growing. Through expert-led sessions and collaborations, the nursery helps gardeners of all levels bring colour, beauty and productivity into their own spaces.
For anyone wishing to carry the spirit of the day back into their own garden, Pennard Plants’ beautifully curated mail-order range is available to explore here.
Somerset Festival of Edimentals (7th to 11th October 2026)
The Somerset Festival of Edimentals is a week-long celebration of plants that are both beautiful and delicious. Hosted across Asterion & Co., Pennard Plants and The Holcombe, the programme brings together hands-on courses, garden tours, tastings and an edimental-inspired menu at The Holcombe restaurant throughout the week — inviting guests to explore how edible ornamentals enrich both garden and table.
Part of the Somerset Festival of Edimentals, our collaborative autumn programme with Pennard Plants and The Holcombe.
Join us for a day celebrating the extraordinary world of edimentals — plants that are as beautiful as they are delicious. Guided by horticulturist Chris Smith of Pennard Plants, a specialist Somerset nursery with one of the country’s most extensive ranges of edible ornamentals, this immersive one-day course explores how to grow, combine and enjoy these remarkable plants to bring richness, colour and flavour to both garden and table.
From chard and calendula to fennel, daylilies, nasturtiums and orache, edimentals reveal the connection between the aesthetic and the edible. Through demonstrations, hands-on planting, tasting sessions and discussion, you will learn how these striking plants can transform borders, kitchen gardens and containers while supporting biodiversity and expanding the culinary landscape.
This course runs twice: Thursday 8th October 2026 and Saturday 10th October 2026.
After a day spent between the kitchen table and garden at The Old Vicarage, guests are invited to join us later that evening at The Holcombe restaurant for a chef-prepared supper showcasing unusual edimentals — including preserved ingredients from The Old Vicarage garden and fresh harvests gathered during the course.
Our October edimental courses form part of the Somerset Festival of Edimentals to highlight this often-overlooked source of flavour and inspiration.
What the day covers:
Understanding edimentals
What defines an edimental and why these plants matter
The spectrum of ornamental edibles, from heritage varieties to modern selections
Soil, orientation and moisture requirements for reliable success
How to grow edimentals in borders, raised beds and containers
Designing with edible ornamentals
Using colour, texture and structure to create striking displays
Designing mixed beds that work well both visually and seasonally
Creating your own edimental container to take home
Growing and practical techniques
Flavour, tasting and the sensory garden
Guided tasting of fresh leaves and flowers
Understanding the flavour profiles of edible ornamentals
Identifying plants that elevate salads, garnishes and cooked dishes
Appreciating the visual–culinary connection from garden to plate
Ecology and biodiversity
How edimentals support pollinators, beneficial insects and garden resilience
Choosing varieties that enrich soil life
Hosted by Neil Crump, Founder of Asterion & Co., at The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, a former farmhouse with three acres of gardens, including a kitchen garden, productive borders of edimentals, and ornamental plantings. Guests will enjoy a garden lunch and refreshments throughout the day.
As the course draws to a close, guests are welcome either to head home for a break or to stay for a short garden demonstration on creating hydrosols and how edimental flavour develops through distillation to create a non-alcoholic distillate, led by Asterion & Co.’s head gardener.
Then the real treat begins, with a 6:30 pm supper at the local inn — an unforgettable culinary celebration of edimentals that shows off their full potential.
Take-home items
A planting guide for edible ornamentals with notes on design, flavour and biodiversity
Pennard Plants’ edimental list and recommendations
Your planted edimental container created during the hands-on session
Masterclass Details
Date: Thursday 8th October 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, followed by non-alcoholic distillation demonstration, 6:30 pm supper at The Holcombe
Location: The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset, followed by a relaxed evening meal at The Holcombe
Pricing: £330, with a 10% discount on two or more guests booked together
Buying this as a gift? Let us know on the registration form at checkout and we can create a gift package for you, either emailed or posted to you directly.
Includes: Tuition, all materials, daytime refreshments, a seated lunch, tasting sessions, hands-on planting, and a take-home planting guide, edimentals in a container, evening meal at The Holcombe restaurant
This one-day workshop is intentionally kept to a small group size to maintain a calm, hands-on learning environment, followed by an intimate supper to round off the day.
Need accommodation nearby?
While this particular course is not residential, we’d be delighted to recommend a few local places we know well and consider to be of a good standard. Simply note this in the ‘Additional Information’ section at checkout and we’ll send over our suggestions. You can also directly check availability for rooms at The Holcombe (where you’ll have an evening meal as part of this course) - visit their website here.
Your Hosts
This course is hosted by Neil Crump (Founder, Asterion & Co.) at The Old Vicarage in Leigh-on-Mendip, a beautifully reimagined 16th-century farmhouse surrounded by a richly varied garden created in collaboration with experts including Pennard Plants.
Our guest team and gardening staff will be on hand throughout the day to offer guidance, hospitality and insight, bringing Asterion & Co.’s heritage-inspired learning philosophy into every corner of your visit. You will also meet our much-loved House Ducks, Daedalus and Xenodice, who add gentle mischief and charm to daily life here.
About The Holcombe
The Holcombe is a contemporary British five-star country inn set in the historic village of Holcombe — a place recorded in the Domesday Book, with an ancient church that also featured in the BBC series, Poldark. Just ten minutes from The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, home of Asterion & Co., it offers 11 ensuite bedrooms, an award-winning restaurant, and its own kitchen gardens and polytunnel. The Holcombe has an elegant aesthetic: a calm, contemporary mix of British designers and antique finds.
Owned and run by trained chefs Alan Lucas and Caroline Gardiner, The Holcombe reflects their deep passion for growing food, supporting British farmers and working closely with local suppliers and artisan producers. Much of what appears on their menus comes directly from their raised beds and polytunnel, with the rest sourced from trusted growers — including Asterion & Co., who supply summer berries, honey and edible ornamentals. After three decades running successful catering and events companies in London, Alan and Caroline “escaped to the country” in 2019 and have since created a place where seasonality, flavour and considered hospitality shape every part of the experience.
The Holcombe is a founder Asterion & Co. collaborator, with Alan joining our Kitchen Forum Guild as a tutor. In 2026, he leads a programme of Asterion & Co. courses, bringing his seasonal culinary wizardry to our guests.
About Pennard Plants
Like The Holcombe, Pennard Plants is a founder Asterion & Co. collaborator. This specialist Somerset nursery renowned for its extensive range of edible and ornamental plants, including one of the country’s most diverse collections of edimentals. From heritage vegetables to unusual leafy greens and edible flowers, Pennard Plants champions biodiversity, flavour and confident home growing. Through expert-led sessions and collaborations, the nursery helps gardeners of all levels bring colour, beauty and productivity into their own spaces.
For anyone wishing to carry the spirit of the day back into their own garden, Pennard Plants’ beautifully curated mail-order range is available to explore here.
Somerset Festival of Edimentals (7th to 11th October 2026)
The Somerset Festival of Edimentals is a week-long celebration of plants that are both beautiful and delicious. Hosted across Asterion & Co., Pennard Plants and The Holcombe, the programme brings together hands-on courses, garden tours, tastings and an edimental-inspired menu at The Holcombe restaurant throughout the week — inviting guests to explore how edible ornamentals enrich both garden and table.
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