12th & 13th June 2026
Turriff Showground, Turriff, Aberdeenshire, AB53 4EF
what3words: ///broached.fetch.cluttered
Talks and Demos
Headline sponsor
Talks & Demos Schedule
Friday Talk Tent One
- Sofia Alexiou, Grampian Growers – Biomass from plants & their uses in pharmaceuticals
- Elaine Rush, Epic Tree Care Ltd – Arboriculture
- Anna Christie, NTS Fyvie Castle – Career development
- Industry Question Panel with Carole Baxter
- Andy Watson & George Nicol, Scottish Bee Keepers Association – Bees! The planet’s saviour
- Nick Chambers, UHI Moray College – home composting
Friday Talk Tent Two
- Ali Easson, Hemp It Up – Hemp farming in Aberdeenshire
- Scott Baxter, Pictish Worms – The life of worms
- Rosie Leagas, Bennachie Bonsai – Bonsai growing
Saturday Talk Tent One
- Victoria Bennett, award-winning author –
- Fiona MacKenzie, Plants Etc – demonstration of terrarium set up & growing
- Dawn Mclachlan, author & allotmenteer – The Plot Thickens; the wider benefits of allotmenteering
- Tania Henzell, Glenkindie Pantry – The Pink Elderflower Tree
- Industry Question Panel with Carole Baxter
Saturday Talk Tent Two All Day
- Jackdaw Forrest School – all abilities, hands-on nature activities
Industry Question panel
Friday Panel
- Carole Baxter
- Kirsty McLean
- Jake Dickie
- Jackie Bibby
- Alison Easson
- Anna Christie
Saturday Panel
- Carole Baxter
- Nick Chamber
- Elaine Rush
- Dawn Mclachlan
Industry Panel Members
Carole Baxter
A life-long gardener best known for her work in the Beechgrove Garden, Scotland's longest running garden programme, and the related TV work.
Carole made her TV debut on the programme in 1986. She formerly worked in Kildrummy Castle gardens before moving to the gardens of University Air Squadron in Aberdeen. It was while she worked there that she commuted to Elmwood College in Fife to earn her degree in amenity horticulture.
Kirsty McLean
Kirsty from Aberdeen, has been designing gardens professionally for over 25 years, earning herself several garden design awards in the process. Kirsty also served as a guest designer on the Beechgrove Garden between 2001 and 2006 where she met and made friends with Carole.
Jake Dickie
Jake has worked closely with Kirsty McLean on many of her garden designs. Jake is co-founder and one of three directors of Landform Ltd, the Aberdeen based landscaping business formed in 2013. At Landform Ltd they pride themselves on providing quality, customer focus and communication.
Jackie Bibby
Jackie owns the social firm Solstice Nursery at Banchory Devenick on the outskirts of Aberdeen. At Solstice Nursery they provide a workplace for people recovering from mental illness, empowering them to develop employable skills with qualifications while aiding their recovery. The project is multi award winning with many trade and members of the public enjoying the wide range of locally grown shrubs and perennials.
Alison Easson
Alison and her husband John have farmed John's family farm at Kirriemuir together since they married in1993. After becoming obsessed with Hemp research, Ali began growing and harvesting hemp seed. In 2022, she began trading Hemp It Up with cold pressed extra virgin hemp oil at farmers markets. Since then, her products have expanded to produce protein powders and infused oils and latterly, hemp soaps.
Anna Christie
Anna left school to study Social Work at Robert Gordon's University and finished with a BA in Social Studies which led her to work at Foxlane Nursery then on to Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) before realising horticulture was where her heart lay. She studied HNC Horticulture at UHI Moray College while working at Kellockbank, then on to Garden Rejuvenation and finally NTS Fyvie Castle gardens.
Nick Chambers
Nick is yet another life-long gardener beginning his career at 16 as a self-employed gardener before enrolling at Hadlow College of Agriculture & Horticulture to complete a Diploma 1991. He then completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Landscape Management at University of Redding in 2000. Nick has made Aberdeenshire his home and has worked as a lecturer in horticulture at UHI Moray College since 2005, helping thousands of people explore this career avenue as well as hobby gardening.
Elaine Rush
Elaine previously worked in Project Management, but really got stuck into tree work in 2018 when she joined her partner, Clive at Epic Tree Care Ltd. Elaine has since achieved several qualifications in various areas of tree welfare.
Dawn Mclachlan
Dawn carry's a life-long obsession with veg growing and is a Director of The Green Space Collective and for the past 6 years has run free seed banks in the Huntly area. Dawn is currently managing the expansion of this seed project out throughout Aberdeenshire.
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