A-Maisey-ing

Went to North Mids DA meeting on Monday night to listen to the great welshman Charlie Maisey give a talk on growing tomatoes and cucumbers for show. Charlie is walking proof that as you get older you can more or less say or do what you like and everyone will laugh but I know he's ruffled a few feathers over the years.

He was well known for pushing the boundaries of the schedule so that he couldn't actually get disqualified but made sure his exhibits were presented at their best. He would display his tomatoes on cloth with curtain rings underneath them whilst everyone else's fruits were rolling around on paper plates. If the schedule doesn't say you can't do it then he couldn't be shown a 'NAS' ticket and he undoubtedly scored a few wins with his trademark presentation as judges came to recognise it.

These days most big NVS shows have specially made boards that you have to display on so it is now far more of an even playing field. However, it has to be said he does grow exceedingly good tomatoes but I was quite happy to realise that I knew 99% of what he had to say. However, one piece of advice that he was quite adamant about and which i'm happy to pass on here, is that if your show is staged in a large marquee rather than a building then do NOT stage your toms overnight. This struck a cord with me as Malvern is obviously held in a huge marquee and I didn't put my set in until just before judging, totally by chance as it was the last thing I got out of the car. Charlie reckons those fruits staged overnight in a marquee (it doesn't happen in buildings) are always marked down on condition as they become softer and the calyces look less fresh. Whether that had a bearing on my win in Malvern I don't know but what I do know is it gives me a pathetic excuse for showing my winning set again here. The tomatoes at Malvern were actually judged by Charlie as well!

Another good tip (and one that I did know) was to ALWAYS water your tomato plants with tepid water. Wherever possible I try and keep a couple of full watering cans in the greenhouse so that when I come to water in the evening they are at the ambient temperature of the greenhouse.

After the break Charlie touched on cucumbers and this was a bit more enlightening for me and will lead to me growing my cuc's a totally different way this year. More on this later in the season but it means I have to build some tables to fit my greenhouse so it's another job on the list. Charles has also won the National with runner beans a record 8 times I believe, at a time when you needed 18 pods rather than the 15 you need now. He gave a packet of his Stenner strain of bean up for the DA raffle, a strain that Sherie Plumb and Andrew Jones now use to win with at National Shows now that Charlie has given up competitive showing. And guess who won said packet of beans? Yup.....you guessed correctly, the old Loughborough gobshite himself. However, as one of the nation's worst runner bean growers I don't think Mrs. Plumb needs worry about me just yet. I can only dream about getting a dish of runner beans like this for now.

The snow has mostly gone from these parts but on the drive back from the DA I just had to pull over and take a photo of the temperature recorded on my car's dash. I know colder temperatures have been recorded in Britain but -13 is something I have never seen before. I just hope a lot of pests and beasties have been severely depleted and that next season will get off to a flyer as a result. Somehow I doubt it. They are more resilient than we think.