Alan Slingsby meets the Lambeth Horticultural Society – and the man who organises the Country Show’s carved vegetable competition
![LHS flower show](https://brixtonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LHS_spring-show__DSC4983-610x407.jpg)
Lambeth is well provided for when it comes to tilling the soil. There are plenty of organisations keen to help – Incredible Edible, Brockwell Greenhouses and the South London Botanical Institute, to name but three.
But the volunteer-run Lambeth Horticultural Society has been promoting gardening for 67 years since its foundation in 1951.
And, while it has a long history, it is also at the heart of one of modern Lambeth’s cultural treasures – the carved vegetable competition at the annual Country Show in Brockwell Park.
![Carved vegetable competition organiser Bob Tydeman](https://brixtonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LHS_Tydeman_DSC5033_750-212x300.jpg)
Bob Tydeman is the competition organiser and one of several people who help to run the borough-wide society.
It organises two flower shows a year, managing a remarkable display at this year’s April spring show in the midst of unseasonably icy weather. The late summer show will be on 1 September.
The whole floral marquee at the Country Show – which houses the vegetable competition – is organised by the society.
The society also has a hut that is not a hut but a former council estate laundry leased from Lambeth council – it replaced an actual hut, but the name stuck.
Membership is open to anyone and nobody is going to check a new member’s postcode – LHS is unaware of any similar organisations in neighbouring boroughs.
Members, who include two Chelsea Pensioners, can enjoy coach trips to important gardens in the South-East of England, talks on horticulture from April to November in West Norwood’s Old Library, garden supplies at discount prices from the LHS hut and a newsletter three times a year.
Chris Smith of Pennard Plants – which sells one of the largest selections of edible plants, heritage seeds, fruit and herb plants to be found in the UK – captivates LHS audiences most years with a talk about his garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Members’ detailed knowledge of local soils and growing patterns – especially as the climate veers from unseasonably cold to hot – and advice and companionship is also really valuable.
![Betty Cox with Steve Cutler and his young son Stanley at 'The Hut'](https://brixtonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LHS_Betty-Steve_DSC5099_1K-610x326.jpg)
Members form friendships across the usual boundaries. Steve Cutler with a young son is a good friend of pensioner Betty Cox.
People from many different backgrounds might be interested in tomatoes and start talking about them, he says, “and, all of a sudden, you’re talking even more”.
“Gardening is one of the activities that cuts across perceived barriers,” says LHS publicity officer Gabrielle Garton Grimwood. “It creates a bond between people.”
You can, she says, get fanatical about gardening, “so it’s nice to meet people who share your obsession”.
![Gabrielle Garton Grimwood, LHS chair Tony Pizzoferro and Steve Cutler at the society’s spring show](https://brixtonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LHS_DSC5001_1K-610x407.jpg)
The current LHS membership of about 250 is predominantly middle-aged or older, but the society is doing something about that, beginning with a new presence on social media and a revamped website.
Gabrielle and Steve believe it is social media that has elevated the status of the vegetable competition.
And, should you be thinking of competing for the £2 prize money and the glory this year, Bob Tydeman has a suggestion.
He thinks that the fight of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club to keep its ground at Champion Hill would be a good topic for a sculpture.
It costs just £7 a year to be a member of the LHS. You can sign up at www.lambethhorticulturalsociety.org.uk/membership.