The King of the Pfaffers!

Each night when I return to the house from the garden, my missus will invariably ask me what I've been 'pfaffing about at down there?' Despite my protests that I'm performing vital tasks she's not wrong.

The thing is you can sow your seeds or plant your plants in the Spring, do a bit of watering and feeding during the Summer, pull your veg on show day, plonk them on the benches and no doubt you'll pick up the odd prize along the way. But to be sure of getting first prizes, best in show awards and trophies etc you need to become a bit of a pfaffer! This means doing all those little 'tweaky' jobs in the last few weeks that just add those finishing touches and can make all the difference to your exhibit. The sort of things I mean are:

Straightening runner beans, french beans, cucumbers and courgettes in their earliest stages when they're only an inch or two long. If done in the evening after a hot day they are quite easily to manipulate.

Shielding cucumber and marrow fruits with bits of polystyrene to stop them getting scratched.

Cutting back tomato foliage to ensure ripening fruits aren't too shaded.

'Talcing' onions and storing in boxes of sawdust.

Measuring shallots in special rings to ensure they are graded according to size and tying the tops carefully (a pleasant task from a garage armchair on drizzly evenings whilst listening to the radio).

Untying celery and leek collars, removing yellowing foliage and split flags and checking for pests.

Checking fuchsias for any yellowing leaves, spent flowers and picking off.

Disbudding dahlias to leaves the strongest, central bloom to grow away.

Making display aids such as 'Top Tray' boards and spraying them black.

Writing down a 'schedule' for each show noting staging times, items to take etc (essential when you might have 3 shows on one weekend)

and so on and so forth !

It's no good getting up on the morning of the show, throwing everything into the car and setting off. You have to plan things and prepare properly in the days and weeks beforehand so that you don't make silly mistakes