Matthew Rice for A Year in the Garden

Join us for an evening with a renowned artist and author of How to Look, Draw & Paint, Rice's Language of Buildings, and Oxford. Here is a guide to gardening and enjoying nature through the year, showing you what to do, when to do it, and how to enjoy each season more fully.

In 2012, Matthew Rice bought Ham Court, an estate in the village of Bampton in the Cotswolds. Spread across several acres and surrounding fragments of the medieval Bampton Castle, the garden includes an orchard, paddock, productive greenhouse, and small farmyard, all of which shape the rhythm of life throughout the year.

Rice documents a typical year spent at Ham Court. He writes about the daily work of gardening – the planning, planting, harvesting and inevitable setbacks – alongside personal anecdotes, practical advice, and recipes that make the most of seasonal produce. While the setting is distinctive, the challenges and pleasures he encounters are those shared by gardeners everywhere.

A Year in the Garden is both a useful companion and a book to savour. The book is complete with the author's illustrations, capturing the atmosphere and details of garden life.

Matthew Rice is a painter and designer and has written six books on architecture.