Eden haven

Once I arrived at the project, having made sure I got there early to avoid the long queues, I headed straight for the two giant domed greenhouses. These glass buildings house all the plants too exotic to survive the British weather.

These domes, which to me resembled giant pieces of bubble wrap, are known as biomes. All the plants inside the domes are divided up into the countries where they would naturally grow.

In the Warm Temperate biome, the smaller of the two greenhouses, I travelled through the Mediterranean, South Africa and California.

Throughout the biomes there were guides and notices to explain not only what the plants were but what they were used for and how they were grown. It was here that I learnt that as well as being used in cooking, olive oil has been used to light lamps, embalm the dead and even stop women getting pregnant.

There were also hands-on activities and exhibitions to help keep children entertained.

In the Warm Temperate biome, there were fruit orchards, vineyards, tobacco plants and cotton. My favourite plants were those I had never heard of, let alone seen before.

While the Mediterranean section was familiar to me, the carpet of flowers from South Africa was breath-taking and unusual.

The Humid Tropics biome is the largest conservatory in the world and was the highlight of my trip. A jungle of palm trees and tropical fruit, the paths guide you through places like Malaysia, South America and West Africa.

Temperatures inside this biome can reach 28 degrees celsius but there is a cloakroom to shed your coats and a cool room for those who find the steamy atmosphere uncomfortable.

Displays explain how Britain uses the rainforest and how local people manage it to conserve the environment and survive.

As well as the obvious plants and trees there are also waterfalls, lakes and examples of typical houses found in those areas.

Exhibitions on the history of crops such as bananas and coffee were as entertaining and creative as they were informative.

Walking past paddy fields and cocoa trees made it very easy for me to forget I was actually on a day out in Cornwall.

Once I had tackled the biomes I was more than ready for lunch. Eden offers a reasonable variety of food, all organic and in recyclable packaging. There were even recycling bins to sort the rubbish into when I had finished.

As well a brasserie and caf there were also stalls selling noodles, pizza and of course Cornish pasties.

There are a lot of outdoor attractions in Eden and luckily I had picked a dry and sunny day to visit.

Outside there were exhibitions on tea, hemp and beer. One of the best sections was entitled Plants in Myth and Folklore. This area was packed with legends and stories surrounding plants.

One of the strangest parts of the project was the collection of surreal allotment sheds including Rubberworld, filled with all things rubber and Extreme Veg, which had replicas of the largest, smallest and weirdest vegetables ever grown.

With my sketchy knowledge about plants and my non-existent enthusiasm for gardening, I proved you don't have to be green-fingered to enjoy Eden.

While the project was certainly educational, there were also plenty of places to just sit and relax in the beautiful surroundings.

There was artwork scattered throughout the project ranging from a sculpture of a giant bee and animals made of cork to abstract paintings and mosaics.

Eden succeeds in making nature and the environment interesting.

Grown on a disused china clay pit, the project has helped regenerate the area. The pit originally had no soil and so the project team had to make 85,000 tonnes of soil themselves using organic waste and china clay.

The project, which houses an astonishing 135,000 plants, now attracts visitors from all over Britain and the world.

Eden is the size of 35 football pitches and so a lot of walking is involved. There is a land train which runs between the main site and the visitor centre but when I visited the queues for the train were long and so I decided to walk.

The Eden Project is well worth a visit, particularly in the summer when all the flowers are in full bloom. It is also a fairly short drive from holiday destinations such as Newquay, Plymouth and St Ives.

Fact file

The Eden Project, open daily from 10am to 6pm until October 27. From October 28 it opens from 10am to 4.30pm. Admission is £9.80 for adults and £4 for children. Under fives are free. For more information visit www.edenproject.com.

Updated: 09:05 Saturday, August 24, 2002