Green-fingered villagers are celebrating being shortlisted for a national community garden award.

Not only that, but they are under the spotlight for their achievement and will be on BBC TV in the next two months with filming due to start tomorrow (Wednesday, August 13).

The cameras will be rolling for the One Show to film the locals cultivating a piece of land behind the village hall.

The site is called The Plot and the enthusiasts have only been digging for success for a year.

They have been shortlisted for the RHS Growing Together award for community gardens.

The gardeners largely grow fruit and veg and started the now productive patch from scratch.

The RHS and BBC One’s The One Show have joined forces to celebrate the UK’s community gardens for a third year. Nominations opened for the Growing Together Award for Community Gardening 2025 at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show with comedian and keen gardener Tom Allen.

The award shines a light on groups that have transformed underused and unloved spaces into thriving community gardens, benefiting the whole community and bringing new people from all backgrounds and abilities into gardening.

The Princetown garden is at the back of the youth club building which has donated the land and a storage unit for gardening by villagers and is being overseen by Dartmoor Forest Parish Council.

When the plot started off Hazel Williams, one of the founders of The Plot, stressed the garden was not an allotment as people are not allocated individual parcels of land: “The Plot is for plotters, as we call ourselves, to join in with everyone else in creating the garden and helping grow flowers, fruit or veg in a communal way.”

Gardeners do not have to have any experience or knowledge of gardening, but if they do, it’s an advantage as they can pass on their knowledge to the others.

The garden is for everyone, especially for people who don’t have a garden and just want somewhere outside to potter about in. It is also for people who want to grow their own produce to become more sustainable and perhaps save money on shopping and eat more healthily. Just being outdoors and meeting new people also boosts mental health.

The ‘plotters’ meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays 9.30am-10.30am and Saturday 10am-11am

Comedian and keen gardener Tom Allen will profile the finalists and reveal the winning community garden onThe One Show in the autumn.

Last year’s winners, Grass Roots Oldham, were praised for taking a derelict site and turning it into a green oasis with orchard, forest school, animal husbandry and conservation workshops.

Tom Allen said: “I love the Growing Together Award because it celebrates everything gardening – the environment, wellness and more than anything, community. It shows what we can all achieve if we work together to bring life to otherwise underused spaces and the results for everyone are immense. It is win-win all. It is what The One Show and The RHS do best – inspire us to get off our screens and get into gardens.”

The overall winner will receive £1,000 in National Garden Gift Vouchers with £100 each for the runners up.