We eased out of summer with our last walk of the 2025 season with some incredible sights and spots in Vauxhall that set us up for the edible joys of autumn. Both gardens and walkers need some time to just allow nature to do its thing.

Led again by two Lambeth Tour Guides, we welcomed some new walkers. Some had come from North London where word of this route’s mix of industrial history, famous past residents and ground breaking horticulture had swept the gardeners and walkers’ grapevine. Others were so local they share the same postcode. We also got to see some of our returning walkers who had had the date in the diary since our Brixton walk from early June. It’s such a pleasure to see the group’s dynamics and friendships grow across the months as well as our plants!

This time meeting at the Garden Museum started us off with the rich history of Lambeth, its exhibitions and the physical space of the old church and its modern extension which hosts the wonderful restaurant and a famed patron of the arts. We are too discreet to disclose whose trip to the Garden Party with Cecil Beaton joined us to hear the story of the pedlar and his dog. Legend has it as long as his stained glass window remains the church and its parish will thrive.

Today that parish is the borough of Lambeth, the church is the first Garden Museum in the world and the pedlar put his name to a park on our walk. Our temporary attendees departed and we explored the Healing Garden in Old Paradise Gardens in depth. Two beds are solely for the local community, one embraces industry with plants used in dyes and glazes of Lambeth’s famed potteries and two feed the restaurant. We sniffed herbs, guessed what might be on next week’s menu and as all August gardeners and eaters do, shared courgette glut recipes and tips.

We learned how much of this area is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall or Prince of Wales due to a tradition dating back to 1337.We showed the walkers film royalty at The Queen’s Head next to Pedlar’s Park. Today a café, it was a pub run by Charlie Chaplin’s uncle. His autobiography is vivid on memories of family meals there, showing how both community and food are the seasoning that enhances our lives.

A threatening thunderstorm gave us extra time to spend with Andy at Urban Oasis Plant Nursery on the corner of Newport Street and Black Prince Road. We visited quickly on our previous walk around a busy Saturday selling to customers. This time we finished the walk here with the Prince of pumpkins and King of Compost giving us a full audience.

A man of many talents, compost is his true passion. Like anyone truly innovative and expert, he explained a complex natural process using nature’s own resources including wet leaves and bacteria in terms anyone could understand and use to take their composting to the next level. Andy’s trick is to adapt the reused, repurposed and use it to create deeper roots. Every single item in the nursery has been recycled, donated and developed into more than the sum of its parts. Even the site it sits on has this ethos.

Andy’s compost technique channels heat and humidity to create a hot house where cuttings thrive, the compost breaks down to something that makes gardeners travel across London for and creates a perfect environment for his roof pumpkins.

Not just a food source, their leaves and weight are part of the temperature control within the hot house and protect the other plants from sun. They create a protective canopy over the roof for wind and rain. Each plant, root, shoot, blossom, bug or fruit in a garden is as much a community as us.

Andy’s expertise and respect for the natural makes this a real oasis. He hopes to sell composting masterclasses and a written guide to his technique alongside the plants. And coming soon: The Great Pumpkin Competition!

For an entry fee, guess the weight of all the edible pumpkins and how many edible pumpkins the roof holds. First prize gets a variegated Monstera and a unique money can’t buy Champion Vauxhall Roof Pumpkin. Three runners up win a roof pumpkin. The rest will go charity or into the garden.

Follow @urbanoasisplantnursery on Instagram or visit Wednesday – Sunday to get the dates. These aren’t a patch on your pickable decorative pumpkins. This is a veritable squash of pumpkins, ready to your best recipes and to share with others.

We can’t wait to hear what you grew, picked, foraged (or won) when we see you on walks again next summer. Share with us and the community gardens and projects we visited via our Instagram or at our other upcoming events. Remember our core value: if you eat you’re in! Food and community is the seasoning we love no matter the season.

Thank you to all our guides, walkers and the gardeners, makers, eaters and community members who gave us 10 incredible free experiences together this summer.