Growing Skills, Growing Community
Growing Skills, Growing Community
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A new column from Deirdre, eeCAN Trustee & Wisley Allotmenteer
Hello everyone! I’m Deirdre, a retired senior nurse, former university educator, and longtime believer in the power of community, nature, and shared learning. Some of you may know me through my work as Trustee with eeCAN, where I’ve been helping explore how we might bring more hands on growing opportunities to Epsom & Ewell.
Our vision for an Epsom & Ewell community garden remains very much alive. While we continue searching for a suitable space, I’ve taken the opportunity to deepen my own horticultural skills so that when the time comes, we’re ready to grow something truly meaningful together.
That journey has led me to the RHS Wisley Allotmenteer Project 2026 (RHS Garden Wisley Community Allotments Project / RHS) where I’m learning the practical rhythms of soil, seasons, and sustainable food growing. Each visit teaches me something new; sometimes technical, sometimes beautifully simple and all of it will help shape the community garden we hope to create here in Epsom & Ewell.
Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing a short update in this newsletter: what I’m learning, what’s growing, and how these lessons might translate into a future shared garden for our borough.
🌿 What You Receive as a Wisley Allotmenteer
The programme is remarkably generous. Alongside expert teaching and a shared plot, we received:
30 packets of seeds (27 vegetables + 3 pollinator friendly flowers)
Seed potatoes and onion sets
A beautiful reference book: Grow Your Own Veg Through the Year: 365 Days of Homegrown Vegetables and Herbs
Tools, gloves, secateurs, and protective footwear
Access to RHS learning resources, 8 Masterclasses, 8 drop in support sessions and the Wisley community
The tutors also recommended the RHS YouTube series Get, Set, Grow (Get, Set, Grow! / RHS) which is a treasure trove of short, practical videos that complement our sessions beautifully
Plan your plot
Our homework before the first masterclass was simple but important: plan our plot. The tutors emphasised that we should consider crop rotation, succession planning, the “hungry gap,” (between winter and spring) and to make sure we grow produce that we actually like to eat.
🌳 Planning My Plot: The Tree of Life
Each allotmenteer shares a 4m × 3m space which although modest it is still full of possibility. Since we only have the plot for one year, the full four year crop rotation isn’t essential but the principles are still worth considering for home growing and our future community garden.
I found myself torn between two styles I love:
the neat, orderly rows of Victorian kitchen gardens
the joyful chaos of interplanting edibles with flowers
In the end, I chose a design that blends both: The Tree of Life.
I sketched it in my notebook, then used AI to colour it. The trunk and branches form the paths; the beds fill the spaces between. I even added a tiny pollinator pebble bath. This was once a forgotten chip and dip plate, now repurposed with stones gathered from the allotment paths.
Feedback from our RHS tutors was positive so I’m going to give it a go.
🌱 Masterclass Week 1: Soil, Seasons & the Big Rotation
Our first formal session covered the foundations of growing food and etiquette on growing in a public space.
Key lessons
Keep paths clear and weeds down
Test soil and mulch annually
Hardy crops can be sown outside; tender crops must wait for frost to pass
Shade lovers include lettuce, rocket, peas, and spinach
The classic four-year crop rotation:
Brassicas → Legumes/Alliums → Potatoes → RootsBrassicas are hungry; roots dislike manure; beans don’t need overplanting; alliums must stay weed-free
Potatoes: chit, plant deep, earth up, watch for blight
It was a chilly morning, but a brilliant start — full of practical wisdom and the quiet excitement of a new growing year.
🌼 Why This Matters for eeCAN
Every seed sown at Wisley is also a seed of possibility for Epsom & Ewell.
The skills, confidence, and connections built through this programme will help us shape a future community garden that is:
welcoming
sustainable
educational
and rooted in local needs
I’m delighted to take you along on this journey — and I hope, in time, to be gardening alongside many of you.
Until next time.
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