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Download the Entry form and Schedule of classes. Try your hand at entering your produce and come and enjoy the show.

The French word for this vegetable is aubergine. When European settlers originally brought the aubergine to the United States, they brought a white version and these egg-shaped, pale vegetables inspired the name “eggplant” because they looked like goose eggs.

with lemon curd and cream cheese Find this recipe here on Curlyscooking.co.uk

from Claudia Roden - middle eastern cookery - delicious and easy...

Site 3 looked lovely on a balmy summer evening hosting a very enjoyable drinks party for us all. The 'nibbles' were spectacular and the company diverting - so many others we hadn't met before. Our grateful thanks to Kate and Richard for their hard work and congratulations on a very successful event.

Who knew …. A farm on top of Wimbledon Quarter shopping centre?? Amazingly there is! Informative and interesting tours take place each month during the growing season where you can see container grown fruit and vegetables and the rooms used to produce oyster mushrooms. You can also admire, from afar, the farm rooftop beehives, moved further away from people for swarming season. (Purchase the honey in the Old Fire Station cafe on Queens Road.) They produced 298 jars last year!

Small space and container planting and companion planting are interesting features on a visit to the rooftop farm. ‘3 Sisters’ planting is sweetcorn planted next to french beans that will climb up the corn stems and squash planted in between the corn to give a beneficial effect from nitrogen fixing. All the crops benefit. The varieties you use do matter, for instance a large and rampant squash would be very difficult to control in a container. Three Sisters Planting French be

Tea and bunting It was the year of the cactus. The strikingly tall pot plant dominated the tables for the summer show. In spite of some very mixed weather in the weeks just before the show there were still some good crops to display. The cakes for tea were as good as ever- and enjoyed in the outside sunshine. Thanks to David and Mariangela Renshaw for running an entertaining auction (above). A lovely relaxed event.

On a beautiful sunny morning members of the RGS gathered at St Margaret’s church to remember Jeannette Sweetland, a plotholder on Site 3, who died a few weeks ago. Jeanette was known for her gardening expertise, interest in art and the natural world and beautifully kept allotment plot. She is much missed by her allotment friends and neighbours. We joined her friends and colleagues from St Margaret’s to share reminiscences of Jeanette’s many kindnesses and planted a lovely ros

Art-K art studios in Putney came to the allotments on 12 April and gave a most enjoyable Art Taster Session using watercolours to 12 RGS members. Many thanks to Sue for organising the event and to Steven, the teacher from Art-K. “Thank you for arranging this afternoon’s art session. I really enjoyed it and found it ever so relaxing. Stephen was lovely and it was well organised” Amanda Flint. Art K offer adult and children’s classes at their premises in Lacy Road. Photographs

Spring is here – we all love to notice signs of renewal of the season – but when exactly is the start of spring? There are three different measures we can use: Meteorological Fixed every year to ensure statistics are consistent throughout time. Spring in the northern hemisphere starts on 1 March and autumn on 1 September. Dates have been decided using temperature data. Astronomical Follows the equinox and can vary slightly each year. Spring falls between 19-23 March and autum

The Autumn Show was held on Saturday 30 August at St Margaret’s, inside the church. After the very hot summer, we began to wonder if there were any crops left to show but we needn’t have worried as lots of plot holders had plenty of things to enter - don’t mention tomatoes - and many visitors came to see the show. It's always nice to see new people. Our judge, Mark, a colleague from Earlsfield allotments, was very complimentary about the standard of entries, and the teas and

More than 90 people visited Site 2 as part of the NGS Open Gardens Scheme and enjoyed the RGS Summer show on the same day. Read the full report from Carol Martinez below...

RHS offers peat free advice from their website.

The size of soil particles determines drainage, aeration, susceptibility to erosion, its capacity to hold water, and the speed at which organic matter breaks down. Gardeners notice the work it takes to obtain a good tilth on the soil. Plants are affected chemically when the size of the soil particles affects its capacity to exchange cations (CEC) and its pH buffering capacity. Soil structure concerns how soil particles are aggregated together and can be improved or destroyed

Site 3 open to the public for the National Garden Scheme

The 100 plus visitors to our National Garden Scheme open day were delighted with their allotment walk, commented on the many beautiful things that there were to see – in particular two lovely clematis covered arches, and the tea space by the potting shed! Many of them stopped and asked questions on the plots – some shared this year’s gardening challenges. Most enjoyed the magnificent array of cakes and tea, with outside service provided by our younger helpers – thanks to you

AGM 2023 Held in St. Margaret’s church, the AGM was an enjoyable event with informal seating and delicious food and drink. Thanks are due to all those involved. Cups were presented by Fleur Anderson, our MP and RGS President. Awards included a ‘best plot’ cup for both sites and certificates of excellence for two new plot holders. Read the full ‘Award of Cups –AGM report‘ by Carol Martinez here.

Method was recommended by from Ana Cors. Thank you Ana – its brilliant! This method of cooking preserves all the flavour and nutrients as it steams in its own natural covering leaves. Each cob is cooked on its own. Remove the very tough outer leaves from the cob leaving the cob totally covered with fresh looking leaves. Trim the beard and stem. Place in the microwave and cook for 4 minutes. Leave to stand for about 6 minutes until it is cool enough to handle. Remove the leave

Site 3 Rhubarb Most sources say don’t pick after July – but my rhubarb keeps going happily through August. Split and move after September. Freezing – store up to 8 months. Find out more from Don Tipping, Organic farmer... here