The village of River is looking brighter than ever, thanks to a wonderful collaboration between local volunteer group River Gardeners’ Association (RGA) and the River Parish Council. A series of beautiful new planters, brimming with vibrant flowers, have been strategically placed around the village, adding a splash of colour and natural beauty for all to enjoy.
The initiative saw the River Parish Council generously fund the new planters and all necessary materials, demonstrating their commitment to enhancing the local environment. The Parish Council is also grateful for the £1298 received from the Kent County Council Members Grant, secured through Councillor David Beaney, which contributed to this project. Complementing this investment, the dedicated volunteers from RGA contributed their invaluable time, expertise, and passion to design and meticulously plant up each container.
Have you ever wondered what to do with all those packets of seed you have in the drawer, or tin, or other special place you keep your seeds? Perhaps, like me, you got over-excited and bought too many packets of tomato seeds? Or picked up a bargain bundle (which included parsnips that you hate and will never grow)? Certainly, a look in my tin will uncover some seedy secrets of what I’ve over-indulged on, inherited, or even collected myself; way more seed than I can ever grow.
But surely, variety is great! Why not have five varieties of runner bean, and ten of sweet pea? Wait! Weren’t we trying to reduce our seed stashes?! There is another solution: Community Seed Swapping. This amazingly simple phenomenon has been taking place in towns and cities across the globe for many decades now. These events are often put together by local gardening organizations, charities, and keen growers, as a way of getting access to a wide variety of seed, without breaking the bank and ending up with more packets than is possible to grow.
Events like those in Brighton & Hove (the first community seed swap in the UK) are now huge event days with tables filled with heritage seeds & plants, natural health and beauty products, a program of speakers, activities for all ages and interests, and of course, tasty food. But at its heart is always the Community Seed Swap, where everyday gardeners can come and share their glut of seeds and pick up interesting alternatives. This is a great place to find seed which local gardeners have saved from plants which have done well during the year in their gardens and allotments, and which could, over time, adapt to the local growing conditions, creating exceedingly robust plants.
This sort of seed saving also means that there are more varieties of seed to choose from, outside the meagre few dozen registered with seed companies. Seed varieties need to be registered to be sold, and this can cost thousands of pounds, so companies stick to the same old seeds. Some varieties are good, but many older (often tastier), heritage varieties are on the verge of extinction. Swapping, rather than buying, gets around the registration loophole and allows every gardener to partake in some seed ‘piracy’. Saving your own seed can be very rewarding, and there are some great guides out there on how to go about it.
Community Seed Swaps don’t need to be a grand affair. River Gardeners Association are offering a space at their next coffee morning on Saturday 22 February, 10am, for anyone to come along to River Village Hall and donate unwanted (but in date and unopened) packets of seed in exchange for something they do want. If you don’t have any seeds to swap, no problem, just give a small donation for each pack you pick up.
Come along and help keep seed varieties alive and thriving in the hands of the people. What a relief to finally get rid of those parsnip seeds!
Exciting News: The 2025 Show Schedule is Now Available!
We are thrilled to announce that the 2025 Show Schedule for the River Gardeners Association is now available for download on our website, or paper copies are available with a current paid membership for the 2024/2025 season! Whether you’re a seasoned exhibitor or a first-time participant, this schedule is your go-to guide for all the upcoming events and activities.
To obtain a paper copy of the Show Schedule and/or Entry forms, please contact a committee member or email: [email protected] Alternatively, Paper copies are available at all our events. Please note that a current paid up membership for the 2024/2025 season is required to receive a paper copy.
A Year Full of Exciting Events
The 2025 schedule is packed with a diverse range of shows and events designed to celebrate creativity, community spirit, and gardening excellence. From arts and crafts to baking and home-grown produce, there is something for everyone to enjoy and showcase. Here are some highlights you can look forward to:
Spring Show: Kick off the year with a vibrant display of spring blossoms. This is a perfect opportunity for flower enthusiasts to showcase their gardening skills.
Summer Show: Show off your best home-grown vegetables and compete for the title of best in show.
Autumn show: A celebration of the year’s harvest, featuring a variety of fruits, vegetables, and homemade preserves.
How to Download the Schedule
Downloading the 2025 Show Schedule is quick and easy. Simply visit our website at rivergardeners.com and click on the link in the top menu to access the PDF. The schedule is available for free and can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device for convenient access. Or simply click the button below:
To stay updated on all the latest news and information about our events, make sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter. By staying connected, you’ll receive regular updates, reminders, and insider tips on how to make the most of our shows.
The River Gardeners Association is more than just a series of events—it’s a community of passionate gardeners and enthusiasts who come together to share their love of gardening. Whether you’re looking to learn new skills, meet like-minded individuals, or simply enjoy the beauty of nature, our shows offer the perfect opportunity to connect and grow.
Get Involved
We are always looking for volunteers to help make our events a success. If you have a passion for gardening and want to contribute to our vibrant community, consider volunteering at one of our shows. It’s a great way to get involved, meet new people, and make a positive impact.
Contact Us
For any questions or additional information, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Our team is always here to help and provide any assistance you may need.
We look forward to seeing you at our shows and hope you have a fantastic time participating and connecting with fellow gardeners and enthusiasts. Download the schedule today and start planning your year of gardening fun and excitement!
We hope you had a wonderful start to the new year and are looking forward to the upcoming gardening season. We have some exciting events planned for you in the next few months, so mark your calendars and don’t miss out!
Christmas Party Success!
We want to thank everyone who attended our Christmas Party last December. It was a great success, with over 60 members and guests enjoying a festive feast, Mini quiz, live music, and Dancing.
We hope to see you soon at our events and wish you all the best for your gardening endeavours. Happy gardening
Spring Show 2024
Firstly, we are thrilled to announce our Spring Show on 23 March 2024, where you can showcase your beautiful blooms and compete for prizes in various categories. The show will take place at the River Village Hall, admission is free for all.
Timetable: 9:00 to 10:45am – Bring your entries and set them up. 11:00am – The judges will start their work 2:00pm – The show is open to the public. 03:30 – 4:00pm (Estimated) – Awards ceremony, auction, raffle.
You can find more details and complete the entry form on our website: rivergardeners.com/event/spring-show
Relaunch of the River Photography Competition!
We are launching our FREE annual Photography Competition for 2024, the competition runs throughout the year with 3 separate shows to show-case your work.
There are a number of categories to choose from (you can enter as many categories as you like) for the first show:
1. Frost
2. Reflections
3. Human Form
4. Light and Shadow
5. Nostalgia
6. Up in the Air
The Show dates are as follows (entry’s to be received by Wednesday before each show)
Secondly, we invite you to join us for a fun and friendly Quiz Night on 13 April 2024, where you can test your General Knowledge and trivia. The quiz will be held at the River Village Hall from 7 pm to 10 pm, and tickets are £3 per person, with teams of up to eight. It’s an American Supper Style evening, so bring your own food & drinks.
At the time of writing this we are in the middle of a heatwave, with the hottest days of the year expected very soon, it has been quite a while since any rain fell and the gardens are in dire need of it, having said that we had a lovely Summer Show in July our visitors were able to see a colourful array of Flowers, Vegetables, Floral Art, Cookery, Photography, Craft and Children’s entries. We welcomed some new exhibitors and helped them to display the items that had been grown or made.
Our next Show is the Autumn Show which takes place on Saturday 17th September at River Village Hall, Common Lane, River. We are looking for more adults and children to exhibit, if you can bake we have Cookery Classes for you:-
Easy Malt Loaf (using this recipe)
350g (12oz) self-raising flour 1
70g (6oz) currants
60g (2oz) sultanas
30g (1oz) sugar
30g (1oz) dark brown sugar
2½ tbsp Oval tine
4tbsp golden syrup
pinch of salt
300ml (½ pt) milk
Preheat oven 325F/160C/gas 3
Grease and line a 1kg (2lb 4oz) loaf tin. Sieve flour into bowl, add dry ingredients and mix. Slightly warm milk & syrup together, add to dry ingredients. Mix batter well & pour into tin. Bake on preheated baking sheet for 1-1½ hrs. Place on cooling rack, leave to cool. Ease sides with flat bladed knife & loaf should tap out.
5 Halloween Decorated Fairy Cakes
3 Pieces Bread Pudding (use own recipe)
Small Wholemeal Loaf – using 500g Dough
Soft Fruit Jam – Approx. 500g Jar
Stone Fruit Jam – Approx. 500g Jar
Jar Jelly – (small)
Jar Pickles
Jar Chutney (matured)
Bottle of Home-made Cordial – Approx 750mls in clear glass bottle
All Bottles and Jars must be clear, clean glass
Attach a plain stick-on label to container with name of contents & date of preserving. Entries must comply with the recipe – if given.
You can enter as many of these classes as you like, but only one entry in each class per person.
Floral Art
If you like arranging flowers, we have Floral Art classes you could enter:-
Beginners:- An Arrangement in a Wine Glass
“Halloween” – An exhibit, up to 75cm wide
An Arrangement using Foliage, Grasses & Berries, up to 75cm wide
Young Peoples Entries
For our younger members of our Village, we have classes for you, prize money is given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
7 years and under – A4 Collage using leaves, seeds and flowers etc
8 to 15 years –A Hat for Halloween OR A4 Collage of a Spider in its web
Up to 15 years – Largest Sunflower Head
Up to 15 years – Photography “ Halloween”
Up to 15 years – Photography “Its a Bugs Life”
It is FREE to enter any of the above classes, simply fill in the online form at:- rivergardeners.com/entry-form by 9pm on 14th September or email me [email protected] to let me know which classes you would like to enter or if you have any questions.
Dates for your Diary, 2022:
Deadline to enter Autumn Show – 14 September @21:00
Autumn Show – 17 September (Kings Seeds catalogues available, discounts on all orders)
Christmas Afternoon Tea – 03 December @ 14:00 – 16:00
Volunteering
We are always keen to welcome new volunteers onto our friendly Committee. There are a number of defined roles (Secretary, Catering Officer, Committee Member) within the committee, but also the opportunity to just be a part of the team as a general committee member.
Minimal free time is required as we only meet about six times per year (currently virtual) as well as show days and any special events we run.
We were very surprised and happy to see so many people attend this event, the room was full of cheerful chat and smiley faces. We would like to thank everyone that attended this event and also all of our committee members and helpers. There were many homemade cakes on sale and tea, coffee & biscuits were provided free of charge.
Table showing some of our past exhibitsCoffee Afternoon in full swing
We would like to thank our friends at River Co op for donating some fabulous raffle prizes, which was much appreciated. As a result, the raffle did very well, raising much needed funds for the club.
We would also like to thank the Hawkinge Gardeners Society for the extremely generous and unexpected donation that was made as a result of the unfortunate closure of their club. We would like to extend an invitation to their members and families to any of our future events.
We were also pleased to see Cllr Beaney attend our event, engaging with many of our visitors. Dover Community Radio was also in attendance and have been helping us promote our events on their local radio station, a big thank you to their team. (listen to a recent advert run on DCR below!)
Recent advert by Dover community Radio advertising our Coffee Morning
It is nearly Spring again and we are already looking forward to seeing you all at one of our events. After nearly 2 years, we had our first event in December last year. We held a coffee afternoon and we were pleased to see so many of you there.
We are holding another coffee/tea afternoon on Saturday 5th March at 14:00 – 16:00 at the village hall and there will be free tea coffee and biscuits and a selection of home-made cakes for purchase. There will also be some local businesses with stalls and a raffle. Come along and see old friends and enjoy a cup of tea on us.
We are also intending to hold our shows this year starting with :
Spring Show: 09 April 2022 @ 14:00 – 16:00
Summer Show: 02 July 2022 @ 14:00 – 16:00
Autumn Show: 17 September 2022 @14:00 – 16:00
Why not come along and support local entrants or enter one of the many classes yourself, Whether it is growing, cooking, arts and crafts as well as photography there is something for everyone young and old, Everybody is welcome. Email us at [email protected] for further details.
We are also looking for volunteers to help at our events as we are short on numbers and we are also in need of a secretary if anyone is interested.
About RGA:
River Gardeners’ Association is a local, friendly club for amateur and ‘armchair’ gardeners of all ages. Our members’ interests include growing fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers, home produce, crafts, floral art and Photography.
We hold several shows each year in River Village Hall which are open to all members, with separate sections in the shows for children. New members are always welcome.
River Gardener’s Association brings Summer Colour with their fun “Virtual” Summer Show which went live on Saturday, A Local Secondary School along with local residents took part in the online event. Visit: rivergardeners.com/virtual-summer-show-2020 or search “River Gardeners Virtual Show” to access the Show for free.
On Saturday, 04 July 2020 local hobbyist’s club “River Gardener’s Association” hosted their 64th Annual Summer Show online bringing a splash of summer colour to local residents from the safety of their armchairs. Due to the CoronaVirus outbreak, holding “Virtual” Shows has become a necessity over the past few months with Public Gatherings and community events currently not-possible amid risks of spreading the virus in enclosed indoor spaces. The forward Thinking committee didn’t let COVID-19 stop proceedings though, and the idea of a completely online show was born.
First Prize in the Category “Setting Sun”
River Gardener’s Association hosted the much loved competition on their website, the first time in the 64 year life-time of this now family favourite event in many Riverites’ calendar. The Local response was overwhelming with over 100 entities across all categories including Photography, Cookery, Crafts and Horticulture. The Photography Class from a local Secondary School also submitted an excellent range of Photographic Exhibits, which were then judged by Mr C Allen a local photographic expert. Alongside the amazing Photographic work, there were Summery Floral displays and examples of the freshest local produce. Some contributors even got busy in the kitchen making jams and chutneys.
River Gardener’s Association Show Secretary said: “I had thought that we wouldn’t have a Summer Show this year due to Covid 19 but we had over 100 entries in the Virtual Show. I would like to thank everyone that took part and now if you are sitting comfortably, I invite you to sit back and enjoy the Virtual Show.”
The Online Summer Show is now available online for anyone to access and enjoy for free, visit: rivergardeners.com/virtual-summer-show-2020 or search: “River Gardeners Virtual Show” if your interested in getting involved with our next Show, please contact us at: [email protected]
River Gardener’s Association in brief:
River Gardener’s Association is a local, friendly club for amateur and ‘armchair’ gardeners of all ages. Our members’ interests include growing fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers, home produce, crafts, floral art and Photography. River Gardener’s Association is based in River near Dover in Kent.
River Gardener’s hold a number of shows each year in River Village Hall which are open Members and Non-Members with separate sections in the shows for children. New members are always welcome.
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