Press releases

Join the cabbages and kings at Hampton Court

February 22 2007

Call for entries to the RHS Summer Fruit & Vegetable Competition

If the RHS Grow Your Own VEG Campaign and the BBC’s Carol Klein-fronted series has inspired you to grow your own too, show the world what you can do by entering the fruits of your labours into the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Summer Fruit & Vegetable Competition held at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this July.

The competition, held at the world’s largest annual flower show, is open to anyone who grows fruit, vegetables or herbs in their own garden or allotment and there are dozens of classes you can enter. To enter please contact the RHS Shows Department on 020 7821 3328, or send a self-addressed A5 envelope to Shows Department, Royal Horticultural Society, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PE, marking your envelope ‘Fruit & Vegetable Comp HCPFS’. The closing date is 29 June 2007.

The competition will take place in the Growing & Showing Marquee, in partnership with New Covent Garden Food Co, at the RHS flower show over the event’s final weekend (7-8 July) when the marquee is transformed into a festival of seasonal produce. New Covent Garden Food Co has created a special ‘Most Meritorious Dish of Vegetables’ award for the exhibitor with the most outstanding dish of vegetables in any of the competition classes.

Guy Barter, Head of the RHS Advisory Service, said, “We have had a tremendous response to the start of our Grow Your Own VEG Campaign, which is running throughout the year, and I hope that just some of those new enthusiasts will consider entering the competition. If you don’t come away with a prize it’s still a great place to swap tips and ideas, buy some new and unusual veg seeds to sow when you get home, and of course our RHS experts will be on hand to offer help and advice. Now is a good time to start planning crops ready for July - so get sowing, growing and showing!”

Alongside the competition entries, the gardeners from RHS Garden Wisley will be recreating the 3x3m veg plot, which can be seen at all RHS Gardens and is based on RHS Garden Harlow Carr’s veg plot featured in the RHS and BBC TV series Grow Your Own VEG. The plot demonstrates how much produce you can grow in a small space and can easily be adapted for any garden. Established growers such as the Dorset Blueberry Company, The Garlic Farm, herb-specialists Newlands Nursery and chilli pepper growers Cookoo Box Nursery will be displaying the best quality produce.

Within the RHS Summer Fruit & Vegetable Competition dozens of classes are open to all entrants in both fruit and vegetable categories, including French beans, courgettes, shallots, coloured potatoes, spinach and kohl rabi in the vegetable categories, and blackcurrants, strawberries, red currants and gooseberries in the fruit categories. Culinary herbs will also be judged in collections of six types from varieties such as angelica, borage, coriander, fennel, rosemary, sweet cicely and tarragon. A monetary prize for first, second and third are given in each class.

To make sure your produce is at its best for the competition, visit the special Grow Your Own VEG campaign section on the RHS website at www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables for practical and sound advice for beginners and also more experienced growers. Online users can view the veg growers’ calendar, see the progress of the plots at the RHS Gardens, collect delicious recipes, share experiences on the bulletin board and view the latest blogs of fellow veg growers. To keep up-to-date with the latest veg news and advice, users can subscribe to a fortnightly e-newsletter. You can also view events and other news from the campaign.

For tickets to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (3-8 July), call the ticket hotline on 0870 906 3791 (public line) or 0870 906 3790 (RHS members). Tickets range from £12.50 to £29 with children aged 5-15 years £5 and under-5’s going free. For further show information and online booking visit www.rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt

Notes to Editors

For more information or images contact Kerry Law in the RHS Press Office on 020 7821 3044 or email kerrylaw@rhs.org.uk


Hampton Court Palace Flower Show tickets
3-4 July are reserved for RHS members and their guests, all welcome 5-8 July. Tickets range from £13-£30 with children aged 5-15 £5 (except Tues 3) and under 5s free throughout the show. Full-day or afternoon only tickets are available. Car-parking available, or take the greener option and arrive by train, bus or ferry. Visit www.rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt for full transport options and further visitor details.

www.rhs.org.uk/pressoffice

The RHS is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. RHS work includes providing expert advice and information, advancing horticulture, training the next generation of gardeners, helping school children learn about plants, and conducting research into plants, pests and environmental issues affecting gardeners.

An interest in gardening is all you need to enjoy being a member of the RHS. For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk or call 0845 130 4646.

Founded in 1804, the Royal Horticultural Society is Britain's largest gardening charity and is committed to being the leading organisation demonstrating excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening. Renowned for its outstanding gardens and inspirational flower shows, the RHS is a key source of advice and information for all gardeners. It encourages gardening through its publications, trials, lectures, education programmes and scientific research and is home to the Lindley Library, which contains the most comprehensive collection of horticultural books in the world.

Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society offers many exclusive benefits including a monthly copy of The Garden magazine; free entrance to RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor in Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex and Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire; free access to a further 88 beautiful gardens across Britain and 20 gardens in Belgium and France; access to seeds collected at RHS gardens; free gardening advice and privileged tickets to 18 RHS flower shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park.

For further enquiries about membership of the RHS contact: Membership Department, Royal Horticultural Society, PO Box 313, London SW1P 2PE; 0845 130 4646 Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm or via the RHS website

For more information e-mail the Press Office or visit the online Press Office