Our talks and demonstrations at the four-day gardening show at Birmingham’s NEC were a resounding success, with packed-out talks on pesticide-free growing, seed saving and managing an allotment.

Experts Chris Collins, Anton Rosenfeld, Emma O’Neill, Fiona Taylor, and the team from the Heritage Seed Library, shared advice and practical tips.

On stage with celebrity gardeners

We were also thrilled to be joined by well-known gardeners Rekha Mistry, Jekka McVicar, Sue Kent, Ashley Edwards and August Beth. Visitors enjoyed hearing their expertise on allotments, herb growing, gardening for wellbeing and heritage seeds.

We also welcomed BBC Newsround presenter De-Graft Mensah to the stage, who chatted about his experiences during his first year of looking after an allotment, and Michael John, head tutor of the Raymond Blanc Cookery School, who cooked up a delicious seasonal salad.

Next year’s show will move to a new venue – Packington Estate – so we hope to see you there!