Sabotage?

I've had the following email from a reporter on the Daily Telegraph:

"Dear Simon, I'm a journalist on the Sunday Times and writing a piece for our gardening section on rivalries in the world of vegetable shows. As you do. It follows a story in the Telegraph this morning about an allotment gardener whose leeks were attacked. Searching about for inspiration, I stumbled across your blog and notice that you've not only personal experience of sabotage but hint that it's relatively common. Or at least, not entirely unknown. Would you be available to chat about it briefly?"

I've found the article in question http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/09/13/noindex/nleeks113.xml . I've replied to the reporter asking him to contact the National Vegetable Society. Thankfully this sort of thing is very rare in the showing fraternity but it's more prevalent in the north east of England where big money is at stake for the best leeks. I'm glad to say round my way there isn't really a problem and as I keep insisting most other growers are more concerned about helping fellow competitors rather than doing them harm.

There is perhaps more of a tendency for cheating, or at least bending the rules as far as they can go. I know of a few growers locally who allegedly buy their produce at the after show auction and then put it in another show the next day in their own names. Quite what satisfaction they get from this is anybody's guess and they're not kidding anybody.

Year's ago I came across an old boy who tried to take off the leaves of my cabbages saying they would look better. Whilst inexperienced I still had enough about me to insist that he left them alone and I duly beat him to 1st place. He also had a knack of being able to accidentally knock the flower from the ends of your cucumbers when you had so carefully managed to transport them to the show intact! Luckily he no longer shows and we're better off without such people. The village show is a uniquely British affair and is there to be enjoyed by everyone, with nothing more than the odd bit of friendly banter between fellow exhibitors.