My veg patch

Right then....here goes.

As you can see from my profile and picture below I grow and 'show' flowers and veg. I've been doing this for over 10 years now mainly at small local shows but I am hoping to start showing at National Vegetable Society Shows in the near future.

A common misconception people have is that the 'big veg' they see at shows are no good for eating. I can assure you that they are as good as, or even better than any supermarket veg or stuff that you would grow on your own plot. When 'showing' any veg quality MUST be as important a consideration as the size and uniformity. The only difference is that 'showmen' use seed that has been re-selected so that they naturally grow bigger than the seeds you might acquire from the usual seed sources.

We've just returned from a 2 week holiday in Scotland and The Lakes and this is always a nervous time for me as I have to rely on others to look after my produce while I am away. Apart from a few 'holey' brassicas everything seems to be looking good so I'm hopeful of some good results once the show season starts at the end of August.

My growing regime differs to anyone else who grows veg in that I have to 'time' all my stuff to 'come good' at roughly the same time.......from late August to early October. I grow all my veg in my garden which is over 300' long, but I only have quite a small veg patch at the bottom. I'm trying to take over more of the garden for veg growing but domestic politics mean that I have to leave some flower border space and lawns for the kids to play on.

Also, the way I grow means that we have an absolute glut of veg during September (rejects not destined for the show bench that is LOL) so family and friends benefit from fresh veg that month.

I'm am NOT organic as I do use sprays ........although I do try to companion plant where possible. If I didn't grow tagetes in my greenhouse my tomatoes would be infested with whitefly......I don't know what it is about tagetes but they really do work. Otherwise I reckon growing organically = dead veg and flowers. I hate the way organic growers bang on about 'saving the planet' etc and look as me as i'm Beelzebub !

Anyway....enough for today......attached is a pic of my veg patch from the middle of June.