Countdown.

Well the time is almost upon me when I can find out whether months of hard work has been a waste of time or not. I already know I have decent shallots and 8oz onions, and my runner and french beans should be ok also. But it's the things you can't yet see that will intrigue until the day before the show when you pull them. I'm talking of course about my long and stump carrots and parsnips. Two years ago I pulled some cracking Pinnacle parsnips that got best in show at Leicester. The skin finish was superb but I'd had no idea from the state of the foliage that they would be as good. Last year my parsnips foliage looked amazing but I pulled roots that were riddled with canker. This year? I can't decide. The foliage is reasonable but certainly not great. Parsnips bury themselves right down so I can't tell how big the shoulders are and I don't want to root about as this is a way of letting the canker spores get to the root a lot quicker....if there are any.

I'm semi-concerned about my Sweet Candle stumps as they haven't started forcing themselves up yet to expose the shoulders.....a sure sign that the stump end has formed.....despite being in the ground for over 20 weeks now. Dave Thornton said his were the same. I'm banking on the fact that I used a lot of vermiculite in my bore hole mix and hopefully this makes the compost more spongy and 'gives'. In the past I've suffered with a strange rippling near the stump and I think this may be down to compaction. When you pull your roots you notice that the compost is fairly solid a few inches down, and I'm hoping the vermiculite has stopped this happening. It may also have stopped the roots forcing themselves up. I shall soon be finding out. I need 13 stumps for this weekend's shows.