Nearly all over for another season.....

The garden is looking a little sorry for itself as it often does at this time of year. I have tried to tidy up as I go along, but inevitably as I'm rushing around getting everything ready and loaded for the various shows things get left lying around......secateurs, string, canes, cabbage leaves etc.



The wet summer seems a long way away now, and we've had a few weeks of sunshine and fine days........a good job at the moment as we're having an extension built and half of our roof is off! I'm starting to get a few runner beans at last and my cucumbers have been one of the season's success stories. The plants in the greenhouse have gone mad and the foliage is still lush and rampant. My dahlias have been ok but I wonder what size tubers I will get up in the autumn. The plants just sat there for weeks because of the incessant rain in July and only started to grow about the middle of August. A stange thing is that all the blooms seem to be at their optimum in the midweek between shows and have gone over slightly come show day. They don't seem to be holding as long as they used to.



The potatoes have been a total disaster. There's been plenty of small ones for the kitchen but I haven't exhibited a single spud all season. After spending so much money, time and effort on the preparation it was a real heartbreaker to lose them to blight.



But it isn't all doom and gloom. I've displayed my best ever carrots, parsnips, leeks and onions although I haven't picked up as many wins because the competition has been so high. I'd rather get a place in a good contest than a win against far inferior exhibits, and I think it shows that the future of the hobby is good as I'm seeing quite a few new exhibitors on the local scene.



I only have a couple of shows left now....Sileby this Saturday and then Sturton at the beginning of October. In between those two me and Leesa are having a weekend away at Malvern Autum Show where it's the National Championships of the National Vegetable Society. The setting for that show is truly stunning, at the foot of the Malvern Hills and you could spend a fortune on plants and sundries at the hundreds of stalls on the showground. It's well worth a visit and although it gets busy there's plenty of room to move around and it's also a doddle to get in and out of......a far cry from the likes of the NEC, Tatton Park and Chelsea.