Collections

The premier class at any large veg show and which most growers aspire to is the class for a collection of vegetables. Very often this is for 4 or 6 kinds and can put a drain on the resources of those with limited space and so very often the class isn't that well supported and gets dropped from the schedule.

Collections of 6 kinds may be very well at large NVS shows but I would like to see schedule makers at smaller village shows use a bit of imagination and reduce the number of specimens in each dish.

For instance, I would have to think twice about finding 3 carrots/3 parsnips/6 tomatoes/4 potatoes/3 celery and 3 caulis for a collection of veg especially if I also wanted a similar amount in the main classes. However, if the collection called for 4 kinds of 2, or 6 kinds of 1, then it's a lot easier to harvest and match some more veg for a collection.

The RH picture above shows a winning collection of veg at Malvern Show in 2003 and as you can see every dish is stunning and would win the individual class in most village shows up and down the country. The LH pic is from Sturton Show where they ask for 6 kinds also, but only 1 specimen of each. It's usually well contested as exhibitors can put all those subjects that they couldn't quite match up with another 1 or 2 to make a dish in the individual classes.