A great free day out at Grow Your Own - Saturday 10 Sept

Traditional flavour to Grow Your Own show

Food growing, baking, beekeeping and crafts are among a bumper crop of attractions at the free Grow Your Own show at Woodthorpe Park from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 10 September.

Grow Your Own is a popular annual fixture on the park’s calendar, celebrating allotments, community gardens and backyard food growing. This year it will have the flavour of a traditional country show, with a baking competition as well as new skills to learn.

New and experienced growers will be able to pick up top tips and ideas through a series of free talks throughout the day by the Royal Horticultural Society and local experts.

Allotment associations and local food producers will be selling produce, and winter vegetable plants will be on sale at Woodthorpe Park Plant Shop, which is alongside the Nottingham City Council Nursery. The local Scouts will serve refreshments from their vintage tea tent.

Free workshops to help you grow your own

Visitors can pick up tips through a range of free talks.  There's no need to book - just turn up:

10:15am Royal Horticultural Society - Propagation including herbs throughout the year 

11am Permaculture For Beginners

11am Chicken Keeping for Beginners

11:15am  Guided Walk to Woodthorpe Allotments and Community Orchard

11.30am Tour of Woodthorpe Beehives

 12 noon Upcycling in the Garden

 1pm Chicken Keeping for beginners

 1pm Natural Pest Control:- attracting hedgehogs

 2pm Royal Horticultural Society - Propagation including herbs throughout the year. 

 2.30pm Tour of Woodthorpe Beehives

3pm Composting - Bugs, mould & worms

Bees and honey

Grow Your Own will feature the annual Honey Show of Nottinghamshire Bee Keepers’ Association, returning after a successful debut last year. The show takes place just a stone’s throw from the association’s beehives in the old kitchen garden at Woodthorpe Park.  Local honey will be on sale.

The beekeepers will run tours to the beehives at 11.30am and 2.30pm.

Nottingham Home Grown Exchange Food Swap at 2pm

Join in the big food swap and you could go home with something special for tea!  Bring along produce including fruit, vegetables, jams, preserves, eggs or baked items to swap at 2pm.  Arrive a few minutes early to ensure you don't miss it. 

The Scrumptious Sherwood Bake Off Competition

Inspired by the Great British Bake Off? 

New to Grow Your Own this year is a baking competition, to be judged at noon by the Nottingham Post Food Sleuth.  Adults are invited to bake a cake containing fruit or veg – either one large cake or six small ones.  The children’s competition is for the best decorated cake on a garden theme. 

To register an entry into the competition, please email angela.bolton@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Cakes should be delivered to the glasshouses at Woodthorpe Park by 11.30am on the day.  All entries will remain on display until 2pm, after which time they can be collected.

Crafts on a home-grown theme

Free activities will include a veg-inspired sew-along workshop from Nottingham Independent of the Year Debbie Bryan, using upcycled papers to create decorative seed packets. 

 Come along and have a go!

And even visit St Ann's Allotments!

St Ann's Allotments has a heritage open day on Saturday, with open gardens, tours and activities.  Don't miss out!  Limited places are available on a minibus leaving Grow Your Own at 11.30am and returning at 2.30pm. 

If you start off at St Ann's, catch the minibus to Grow Your Own at 12 noon and return at 2pm.

Have a great day!