We had a fabulous talk tonight at our hort.soc. given by Clive Bevan, grower of giant veg. He's a real character and he told us some crazy stories such as the time he had to have a crane to lift some 120lb cabbages in pots over his house. A top tip which I'm happy to pass on is to use 3" pieces of rhubarb in your planting holes for things like cabbages and caulis, and in long strips alongside your rows of carrots and parsnips. As he said, he knows of no other animal, pest or beast that eats rhubarb apart from humans. When it breaks down in the soil the acid juices are released and sterilises the soil around the root ball. In turn the plants suck up the juices and become impregnated against attack by pest and disease. I shall certainly be giving it a go this season.
Another thing he was passionate about, and which I fully echo is the need to grab hold of new exhibitors at shows. He told the story of his first show when his onions 'shown as grown' were disqualified because he cleaned them up to much. Another grower approached him after judging and told him he knew he would get disqualified. As Clive said why couldn't he have told him that before judging as he could have popped home and got another set that would have won. The other grower said he wouldn't have done that as he wanted the red card. Clive duly looked him in the eye and said 'well you won't bloody well win the red card next year!' At the following year's show he duly swept the board.
The point here is that we all need to keep an eye out for new showers and guide them in the right direction if we see them looking unsure, confused or doing things that may get them given the dreaded 'NAS' card. So what if they may beat us in the process? We all want the show to carry on don't we? Too many village shows are falling by the wayside through lack of exhibitors and we all have to do our bit if we want them to carry on.....and that means passing on the tips we've learnt over the years.
6 comments:
My bloody Rhubarb gets eaten by Rabbits every year.
Failing this as a cure all pesticide, I suppose if you want something that absolutely nothing will eat,be it man,beast or whatever,can I suggest a Ginsters Pasty ?
Well that's pissed that theory right out of the f***ing water! LOL
Ahh.. no but they only eat the leaves.
Which is even stranger as they are proper poisonous?
Must just be retarded Yorkshire Bunnies ? LOL
Sometimes I think I'm a warrener rather than a gardener and in my experience young rabbits will eat absolutely anything, they seem to only learn by mistakes. I'll definitely try the rhubarb tip though, it might deter caterpillars etc.
I trust you lay the odd trap Dan? I'm quite partial to a bit of rabbit meat....especially if it's free!
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