MARJORIE Cawtherley's garden just grew and grew - organically.

It began seven years ago as a small front garden at her Sagar Fold Farm home in Burnley and spread as the retired college lecturer found time to pursue an interest in horticulture. And at the weekend Mrs Cawtherley threw open her near one-acre garden to the public to show what can be achieved the natural way.

It features a no-dig vegetable patch, herbaceous beds, small orchard, walled area, rockery stream and pond - but no trace of chemical fertilisers, fungicides or pesticides.

The event was part of the national Organic Gardening Weekend, organised by the Henry Doubleday Research Association, which has spearheaded the drive for green gardening for decades - long before public awareness of the negative effects of chemical cultivation. Mrs Cawtherley, who has just completed a two-year practical gardening course in Harrogate, became an organic convert when she searched for a gardening class in the Burnley area and found the only one around was a "green course" organised by the local Workers Educational Association.

Since then she and a small group of friends founded the Brierfield-based Organic Kitchen and Garden Club.

Her garden features many old and rare flowers and plants and she firmly believes any chemical remedy for garden ills can easily be replaced by a natural prescription.

Organic gardening, she says, protects wildlife and pets and, with no expensive fertilisers to buy, saves cash.

Waste is re-cycled and naturally-fed fruit and veg simply tastes better, she insists.

And a view of Mrs Cawtherley's property immediately dispels the myth that organic gardening looks a mess!

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