Chef James Martin's rallying cry for farmers

TV chef James Martin used his appearance at Shrewsbury Flower Show to renew his call for a better deal for dairy farmers.

Farmers in Shropshire are gearing up to take direct action on devastating price cuts announced by Robert Wiseman Dairies, Arla Foods UK and Dairy Crest.

The chef said he understood Shropshire farmers' plight due to his family background in the agricultural industry.

• See more pictures from the Shrewsbury Flower Show

"I'm a farmer's kid. We were livestock farmers for nearly 20 years. I understand how hard it is to produce food," he said.

"It is a big problem in this country that we seem to take food for granted. It just arrives on our doorstep and we forget it is people's livelihood.

"I have waffled on for years about this milk issue.

"We have got into a situation where we have put all our eggs in one basket. We get all our food from supermarkets.

"The price of food has to be relative to its quality. We have got to support the producers."

The chef was due to entertain another packed audience with a cooking demonstration in the Marches Food Hall today, following a successful appearance yesterday.

The Yorkshire-born chef, who presents BBC food show Saturday Kitchen, cooked up a storm with some help from audience members.

Mr Martin said: "The first time I came it was three years ago and it has definitely got bigger since then.

"It's brilliant that the weather is good. Several shows I have been due to attend this year have had to be cancelled because of the weather.

"There are a lot of local stalls taking part and I am hoping to use floral cordials, local ice cream, chutneys and jams."

During yesterday's demonstration the chef used local produce to create four dishes, including a pea soup, smoked haddock, a lamb dish and a summer pudding.

One delighted audience member, Maria Jones from Stirchley, in Telford, was picked out by the chef in a cheeky demonstration to illustrate the cut of lamb he was using.

The 41-year-old, said: "I'm a big fan and it was brilliant to meet him but I was so embarrassed when I was up there."

The star had a busy day yesterday, also taking the time to pull out the four winning tickets in the League of Friends of Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's charity draw.

And Mr Martin even spoke over the phone to the winner of the first prize of £500.

Sue Hurdiss, organising secretary for the League of Friends, said the chef had been 'lovely', with the draw being a great success this year.

"We have raised £4,700 which is £675 more than last summer. We have had great support," she said.

Mr Martin was among tens of thousands of people at The Quarry yesterday as the sun shone down throughout the day.

In the main arena, visitors were entertained by showjumping and a quad bike display, while there was a live bee demonstration outside the Severn Marquee.

And crowds also thronged to the Marches Food Hall, where the attractions included Seren Evans, from the Bubbling Stove, in Mainstone,

near Bishop's Castle. Her unusual demonstration saw her dressed in Victorian costume teaching an audience of hundreds about cooking with flowers, with recipes including a geranium cake and a lavender panna cotta.

Among the highlights from the exhibitors at this year's show is a garden which is based on a ruined abbey found in the Isles of Scilly, which is taking pride of place in the Quarry Floral Marquee.

The display, which has been created by the Shropshire branch of Plant Heritage, is designed to replicate the Tresco Abbey Garden – with members even creating a replica ruined arch at the opening to the garden, which has been filled with a variety of rare and unusual plants.

Lloyd Kenyon, from the group, said about 50 members of the organisation had been involved in the creation of the display. "There are a lot of very unusual plants in this, as members tend to collect rare and unusual plants," he said.

Mr Kenyon said one of the plants included in the display was a viburnum shrub from Central America.

"It is a new species from Mexico and it is currently an unknown species."

He said months of hard work had gone into creating the finished garden, with an initial plan drawn up shortly after Christmas.

Mr Kenyon added that Plant Heritage was one of the few organisations to have a garden inside the floral marquee this year.

"We have been doing this for 17 years of exhibiting at the flower show. When we first came, there was Percy Thrower's and Dobbies. You had quite a lot of bigger nurseries and it was competitive.

"There was a lot of competition. But now this is really the only garden in here."

He said this year's wet weather had presented challenges for exhibitors.

"The plants grew extremely well once the rain came but keeping the quality is sometimes quite difficult," he said.

"Because they are getting too much rain, you get all sorts of fungal growth – because it is damp, it grows on the leaves."

He said members of the group had been hard at work in the run-up to the show to maintain their display to the highest-possible standard.

Outside the Quarry Floral Marquee, a new show garden designed to promote the county's farming industry was making its debut at the flower show this year.

The NFU has created a garden on a countryside courtyard theme, complete with lettuces, cabbages, a scarecrow and even model sheep.

It is part of the union's efforts to promote its new Farming Delivers campaign, which aims to highlight agriculture's contribution to the economy.

Simon Latter, one of the members of the NFU organisation in Shrewsbury, which has put together the garden, said: "This is the first time we have done a show garden. Lots of work has gone into it in terms of planning and getting it up."

Mr Latter added that showgoers may be able to pick up a tasty treat or two when the garden is dismantled at the end of the show.

"If the lettuces are still edible, people can take some lettuce plants. The rest of the garden we will take back and re-use," he said.

Mr Latter said this year's wet weather had made creating the garden hard work.