A quick check under the raised bed cover at lunchtime revealed that my long carrots were through 9 days after sowing. The three drums were sown last weekend, giving me a total of 43 potential roots to go at.....hopefully! The only problem I have now is to remember the extra depth I've got the drums at, raised as they are on a wooden frame that I can stand on when tending and watering. A few times now I've stepped back forgetting how much higher they are than last season and nearly broken my neck in the stumble. And before there are any smart-arse comments from the gay Yorkshire brigade yes I am only an Oompahloompah!
31 of my 35 parsnips stations are through, the remaining four have seemingly failed to germinate, so I have set some more seed indoors on tissue paper for pre-chitting. I will also sow some of these in the ground for kitchen use only. I had a cubic metre of washed concreting sand delivered yesterday so tonight I shall be filling up my stump carrot bed as I have used most of the original sand from that for the extra depth in my long root beds and drums. This weekend there will be only 19 weeks to Llangollen and Sweet Candle supposedly takes 22 weeks to stump up properly, that is get the pronounced stump shape at the bottom of the root which is always the last thing to develop on a stumpy. Talking to Ian Stocks yesterday he says he's had them stump in 18 weeks so I'm going all out to get the bed of Candles bored and filled this weekend. I usually get about 60 in this bed, which is no more than paving slabs in concrete on their edges. A photo will follow after the weekend's efforts. I also have a smaller raised bed where I can fit in another 24 or so.
Should the Sweet Candle not make it in time for Llangollen I've set up some pipes in my greenhouse with a trial variety called Caradec and most of these are now germinated. I have three roots per pipe, giving me over 40 potential stumpers to go at for the Millenium Class where you need a set of 4. I shall pull a likely looking Sweet Candle the day before the show, but if it hasn't stumped then I'll leave the rest to grow on and go and pull all the Caradec instead.
9 comments:
Reminds me of that unfortunate incident at Westminster last October.
See::
http://vegpatchblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/rhs-autumn-harvest-show-westminster.html
panic over thought i was late for my peas for wales but takes around 100 days but put 40 in for any shows that may be earlier got schedule for wales today so hope to see you there simon
I would be more like 80-85 days actually Chris. Will be making two sowings for Llangollen....1st and 7th June.
Been following this site for a couple of years--tempted to enter my local show---confused by how to stage entries---some photo's show entries laid on black cloth, other in dishes, some in what appears home made units---some in a medium sand/gravel/or other?.
Do some shows have different rules on staging?---those paper plates-does the show provide them, or does the exhibitor have to.
Pleased if Smithyveg can find time to point me in the right direction. Hoping to have a go with stump carrots and cherry tomatoes.
Basically if your show doesn't specify you can stage them how you like but a proper judge should only assess the merits of your exhibit. A bad judge may get blinded by elaborate display attempts that mask faults.
Keep things simple. Shallots and onions on plates of sand or vermiculite. Potatoes and Tomatoes on plain white paper plates. If the bench is black cloth or plastic then stage roots straight onto it.
Bigger shows provide everything. Like I said....check the schedule before you go to see what you need to take with you. Any questions feel free too email.
Thanks--I took a a photo of your 1st prize tomatoes at Malvern in 2010--they appear to be on a specially made wooden board.
On the cherry tomatoes, a background showcard says a "class for a DISH of 12", but the winning exhibit is again staged on a custom made board.
The boards at Malvern and other big shows are provided by the organisers and you have to stage on these so that everyone is on one level playing field.
A 'dish' is a generic term used by the RHS and NVS to signify a set of vegetables. We may say a 'dish' of 5 long carrots for instance but you'd never display or even fit them on a dish. Some 'dishes' of veg are however displayed on a dish ....toms/shallots/spuds etc
Confusing huh?
Thanks again for help, that's very clear--all I've got to do now, is defeat the carrot fly.
Get an enviromesh framework around them that the carrot fly cannot get through.
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