Come to a talk by Georgina Barney, artist and founder of Plant Dye Studio.

In 2017, Georgina planted three historic dye plants in the old playground at her studio complex, Primary, in Nottingham: woad for blue, madder for red and weld for yellow. This first dye garden has subsequently expanded to showcase a range of dye plants, as well as medicinal and edible plants which are shared with the community. As ‘Plant Dye Studio’ Georgina shares her skills in making and using dyes, inks and paints from plants.

Georgina will introduce the principles for making plant dyes and pigments for paints and inks; give an overview of useful dye plants for a functional dye garden, and bring a showcase of her textile and fine art works made from plant colour.

Follow Georgina on Instagram
@plantdyestudio and @georgina_barney

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Speaker - Liz Morley  from Nottingham City College

What happens when you take 25,000 teenagers, 5 scruffy patches of municiple land, one small pot of money and one gardening-mad photography teacher?

 Find out all about what Liz Morley and the students of Nottingham College have done to make a difference for nature in the city. 

She will share the trials and successes & tell you about the takeaway ideas that have given biodiversity a boost: from plant combos  to soil life and homes for all kinds of critters. 

How are we going to get the next generation gardening? Liz has a few suggestions.

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Our monthly talks are now over until the Autumn, but we have an extra event on Wednesday June 10th 7.30pm at the United Reformed Church.

Join us for a screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing - an eye-opening film bringing together nine leading UK scientists and experts with the latest evidence and why it matters for things like:

🌧️ Extreme weather
🍞 Food security
🏥 Health
💷 Nature and biodiversity

Please do come along next month and bring a friend.

The film is based on the National Emergency Briefing in Westminster (featured by ITV, Channel 4 and The Times) with appearances from Chris Packham, Deborah Meaden, and a range of voices ('gogglebox' style) from across the UK.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

After the film (45mins) there will be a short open discussion about how we feel after watching it and what it means for us, particularly as gardeners.

Plant Swap!

FREE admission

Bring your spare seedlings, plants and seed packets and swap them for something new! If you've not got anything spare you can still join in, just give a donation instead.

Peatlands - Lessons from the bog

1.15pm doors open
2.00pm Start of talk
with live BSL interpretation

Tickets £12 / £9
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/nottinghamorganicgardeners/2066127

ALYS FOWLER - Author of Peatlands: A Journey Between Land and Water will talk to us about the secret, beguiling magic of Britain’s bogs. They are the air-conditioning units of the world – filtering water, preventing flooding, preserving history and providing habitat.

Confirmed stalls so far:

Five Leaves Bookshop
The Dormouse Project
Nottingham Organic Gardeners
Earthed Up!

LOCATION DETAILS: Entrance to event via 'Fletchers' event venue, located at the bottom of the Nottingham Contemporary steps, close the skate park under the tram bridge.

'Restless Natives and Little Green Aliens - the flora of Nottingham'. Join botany enthusiast Karen Fry to learn about the wild plants living amongst us, why Nottingham is one of the best cities to go botanising in, and how you can get involved.

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Meghan King - Finds Liaison Officer Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Talk by Professor Rebecca Earle (Department of History, University of Warwick), and is author of Feeding The People - the politics of the potato.

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Join us at the URC in Sherwood to browse 30+ varieties of seed potato as well as onions, shallots and garlic. The place to buy your potatoes for growing in the midlands!

£1 entry - free to NOGS members
Our regular pop-up cafe with cakes and hot drinks available.
Parking is restricted to stall holders and blue badge only.

VARIETIES
We will endeavoured to provide a good range of varieties of seed potato including unusual and organic varieties.

POTATO VARIETY LIST 2026 << CLICK TO VIEW!

Potatoes to grow in your garden or allotment, will be sold at 20p each (5 for a £1)

STALLS AND INFO
Thomas Etty Seeds a family ran heritage seed and bulb supplier. They have been a key part of potato day for many years and will be back this year with their wide range of seeds.

Sherwood Open Gardens are with us to share all the details on the 2026 open gardens scheme and will be selling plants.

Rigsbys Seasonal Foods are back again with their award-winning handcrafted food and drink, locally sourced or foraged. Their innovative products are a winner! 

Nottingham Growing Network will join us to promote community gardens across Nottingham city and county, offer advice and support with community growing.

Refugee Forum volunteers will be at Potato Day to showcase their community garden and sell a small selection of plants.

Palestine Heirloom Seed Library will be fundraising to support growing and saving heirloom seeds enabling Palestinian farmers to protect their heritage and lands.

Queens Medical Centre Tranquillity Garden Volunteers will have a raffle and plant sale to raise funds for this important garden at the Hospital. The garden is in need of some new plants to ensure the space remains vibrant and welcoming to staff, patients and visitors alike.

Jack Frost's Honey - delicious locally made honey. 

AND…
Return of the Potato Games! Hugely popular for adults and children alike games include mash potato sculpting and guess the wight of the potato- keep an eye out for Ellie dressed as a potato!

VENUE / TRANSPORT INFORMATION
Venue: United Reformed Church, 1 Edwards Lane, Sherwood NG5 3AA (Behind the Sherwood Manor Pub)
Buses 56, 57, 58, 59, 87, 88, 89 from Parliament Street to “Sherwood Shops”.
Blue Badge parking only at the venue – plus local free car parks.
 

TIME SLOT SUGGESTIONS
10am - 12pm: ideal for those who know what they want and for those who want particular varieties from the list. When finalised the list will be posted on our website and shared through Facebook
12pm - 2pm: ideal for those who would like more time and advice.

FREE for members / £2 non-members on the door

Whet your appetite for potato day with a chat about all things spuds. Join Rachel Palfreyman (who has ordered the varieties for Potato Day for about 15 years) and Graeme Green (potato grower and chip enthusiast). Please join us to hear all about the previous season of potato growing, hear about their favourites and what’s available to buy at this year’s Potato Day on Jan 31st. Tell us about your favourites too!

FREE for members / £2 non-members on the door

No speaker this month, but join us for a social evening.
Bring food and drink to share if you wish.

You can buy your 2026 membership at this meeting.

A talk by Dr Linda Birkin.

Introducing spiders, their biology and ecology. What they are, what they do, how to manage habitat for spiders, fun spider facts- everything you need to know!

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

Bethan will talk about her 3 month trip to USA exploring local food growing systems.

”Last year I travelled the USA learning about Urban Farms and Gardens and how they shape communities. I saw vertical farms in shipping containers in Boston, city composting and an urban teaching farm in New York, community gardens in Philadelphia rooted in the Puerto Rican history, university campus farms run by students and the most incredible food event celebrating Radicchio in Portland.

I can't wait to give you a whistle stop tour of inspiration and hope through gardens and inspiring stories so we can work together to make our city more green and resilient for the future! Invite your pals who love gardens!”

Entry - £2 guests / free for members

7.15pm for a 7.30pm start

There will be a review of the year, voting of the committee for 2025/2026 and an opportunity to hear from you about what you would like NOGs to offer in the coming year. We will have an external facilitator to run a session after the AGM to help us explore what NOGs should look like in the coming months and years. We would really welcome your presence and energy in helping us take NOGs forward into 2026.

The role of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are to be voted for at the AGM.

If anyone would like to find out more about the committee or the roles, please contact chair, Andy Callow contact@nogs.info

New Committee Members welcome!!!

We really would welcome new people to the committee and you would be made welcome and supported. We are also interested in people who perhaps want to join the committee for specific tasks - potato day or the allotment for example. It's your NOGs and the more people can be involved in the sharping and tuning of it the more meaningful it is. We are a friendly group and its good fun!

Get in touch before the meeting - contact@nogs.info

NOGS AGM report - download pdf to read

Free Admission