Annual Show
2026 Annual Show & Fun Dog Show:-
5th September, 2pm, Newick
Featuring over 100 categories for flowers, vegetables, cookery and handicrafts, our Annual Show is one of the highlights of the Newick calendar. We also include special sections for juniors so that our budding gardeners and crafters can have a chance to show off their skills.
We also have the Fun Dog Show including classes for puppies to veteran, rescue and waggiest tail!
Wonderful home made cakes and teas/coffees and a fabulous raffle.
The show is open to all from 2pm on Newick Green and entry is free.
Member Entry Forms and other information will be in 2026 Schedule.
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Expert Barry Newman’s top tips for Show classes:-
TOP TEN Vegetable Variety TIPs
SPRING/SUMMER
Runner Bean (Enorma) SOW APR IN ROOT TRAINERS
Broad Bean (Imperial Longpod) Sow FEB IN ROOT TRAINERS
Pea (Oregan Sugar Pod & Shiraz) SOW APR DIRECT
Courgette (Venus) SOW APR IN POTS
Shallot (Hative de Noirt) PLANT DEC IN POTS
Onion (Hytec) SOW JAN IN TRAY
Lettuce (Butterhead var.) PURCHASE PLUGS MAY ONWARDS
Tomato (Country Taste & Sungold) PLANT INSIDE MAY
Potato (Kestrel) PLANT IN BAGS APR
Asparagus (Gijnlim) PLANT CROWNS MAR
AUTUMN/WINTER
Parsnip (Gladiator) SOW DIRECT IN STATIONS APR
Kale (Dwarf Curled) PURCHASE PLUGS JUNE
Purple Sprouting (Rudolf) PURCHASE PLUGS JUNE
Cabbage (January King) PURCHASE PLUGS JUNE
Beet (Perpetual) SOW IN ROOT TRAINERS APRIL
Brussels Sprouts (Trafalger) PURCHASE PLUGS JUNE
Leek (Neptune & Oarsman) sow APRIL IN TRAYS
Japanese Onion (Senshyu) SOW AUG IN TRAYS
Carrot (Sweet Candle) SOW DIRECT IN STATIONS MAY
Garlic (Solent Wight) PLANT DIRECT OCT
Top Kitchen Garden Tips
The easiest and most productive way of growing vegetables is in raised beds.
lf at all possible keep grass paths and grass borders away from your vegetable beds. Use wood chip or shredded bark for all paths and surrounds; this is a major deterrent to slugs and snails.
Always try to rotate your crops to avoid build ups of pest and diseases in the soil and to avoid potential nutrient deficiencies.
When incorporating manure or other organic material, try to get it on to your plot before the turn of the year. Clear the ground, put a thick layer of the material on the surface and then cover it with weed fabric and weight it down around the edge. Let the worms, warmth and moisture do the work before unwrapping it in Feb/Mar and working it into the surface.
If space allows try to keep an open trench on your plot. lt makes a great receptacle for waste vegetation and organic matter which can form the foundation for your peas or beans the following year.
Keep plans of your plot showing the current years planting scheme, so that you can refer to it when working out your seed order for the following year. This helps to jog the memory when the crops are cleared in the autumn.
Each year try something different. A new variety, a new technique or a vegetable you have never grown before. Never stop experimenting and learning.
Keep a diary; register the weather, planting times and varieties used. Note your successes and failures; this is particularly useful for beginners to gain experience and ensure you grow what you like eating when you want to eat it.
Do not rush everything at the beginning of the season, watch the weather forecasts. Plant and sow to suit your needs, avoid gluts but ensure continuity, particularly with salad crops. Don't fill the plot in May; remember to leave space in the summer for those overwintering crops such as Brussel Sprouts, Kale and Leeks.
Always keep your plot tidy and weed free. ln my experience a clean, well managed plot is always the sign of a good and productive grower.
Guide to Vegetables for Exhibition To assist those new to growing for showing, the following are amongst the most reliable and successful currently available. This is not an exhaustive list of all vegetables but seeks to example those most regularly listed in show schedules and seen on the show bench. ln addition to their show qualities, underlined varieties have the added benefit of carrying the Award of Garden Merit, given in recognition of their performance in field trials carried out by the RHS. Most are available through commercial seed houses, whilst some will have to be sourced from specialist seed suppliers and breeders accessed through the horticultural press and/or the internet.
Aubergine Bonica, Black Beauty, Moneymaker and Scorpio
Broad Beans, Giant Exhibition Longpod, Hylon, lmperial Green Longpod and Relon
Beans climbing French Algarve, Cobra and Fasold
Beans dwarf French Hawkesbury Wonder, The Prince and Safari
Beans runner Benchmaster, Enorma, Liberty and Stenner
Beetroot, globe Cardeal, Jolie, Pablo and Red Ace
Beetroot, long Long Black and Regar
Brussels Sprouts Bright, Crispus, Churchill and Maximus
Cabbage Brigadier, Kilastor, Lucus, Rodeo and Rovite
Carrots, long New Red lntermediate {reselected)
Carrots, stump rooted Nandor, Octavo, Speedo and Sweet Candle
Cauliflower, white Boris, Raleigh, Skywalker and SV5818
Cauliflower, coloured Clemantine (Orange), Graffiti (Purple), Navona (Romanesco) and Trevi (Green)
Celery Discovery, Evening Star, ldeal and Morning Star
Courgettes Ambassador, Defender, Tosca and Venus
Cucumbers Carmen {under protection), Marketmore (outdoor) and Mini Munch {Mini}
Garlic Solent Wight and Giant Elephant
Leeks blanch Llanedwen, Pendle lmproved and Welsh Seedling
Leeks, pot The Cumbrian and Yorkshire Green or Blue
Lettuce Analena, Matilda, Rosedale and Lobjoits (cos)Marrout
Marrow Badger Cross, Blyton Belle and Bush Baby
Onions, exhibition Kelsae, Showmaster
Onions, 250g & under Bonus, Hytec, Marco, Red Baron, Red Rover, Toughball and Vento
Parsnips Gladiator, Panorarna, Palace, Victar and Viking
Peas Alderman, Hurst Greenshaft, Show Perfection and Turner's Spring
Peppers, chilli Apache, Jalapeno, Joe's Lcng, Scotch Bonnet and Tangerine Dreann
Peppers, *sweet Ariane, Bendigo, Diablo, Lany and New Ace
Potatoes, coloured Kestrel, Amour, Maxine, Blue Belle & Purple Eyed Seedling
Potatoes, white Winston, Nadine, Sherine and Harmony
Raddish Bacchus, Celesta, Robin, Sollto, Sparkler {summer} and Round Black Spanish {winter}
Rhubarb Livingstone, Raspberry Red, Stockbridge Arrow and Victoria
Shallots, exhibition Ambition, , Aristocrat, Hative de Niort & Jermour
Shallots, pickling Hative de Niort and Aristocrat
Sweetcorn Gold Crest, Moonshine, Swift & Ovation
Swede. Helenor, Magres, Tweed & Marian
Tomatoes, medium Cappricia, Maisey, Shirley and Mecano
Turnip Golden Ball, Sweet Beli and Tokyo Cross
Tomatoes small Minoprio, Sungold & Sakura Cherry
Tomatoes beefsteak Burlesque, Country Taste, Gigantomo and Marmande
Barry Newman {RHS Show Schedule Committee}
