Hedging your bets!

People often ask me what date do you sow such and such veg if you want them in perfect condition in time for a show on a particular date. Around 1pm when judging commences! The answer can never be a simple one. The vagaries of the great British climate mean no two seasons are remotely the same, even if you manage to fend off all pest and disease attacks. Your watering and feeding regime will vary slightly from season to season depending on your circumstances. And of course we all forget about Lady Luck whose services we need now and again. Some seasons she may give us a huge dollop of luck, and others she's concentrating on helping your competitors, the fickle two-timing bitch.
 
Timing is never really an issue with onions apart from needing an early in the year start in order to give you enough time before the show to get the skin ripened. Shallots harvested in June can be stored in boxes until the week before the show when you can tidy them up and tie the necks. The colour and condition will actually improve as the show season progresses. Leeks will sit quite happily in their beds as long as you give them plenty of moisture and weekly maintenance of the flags and barrels. The long roots can cover a show season from August through to November from a single sowing. Potatoes harvested in July can be shown well into late Autumn if you cut the haulms back and leave the pots for a week or more before emptying out so the skins harden, storing them in dry compost until you need them for washing the day before your show. Even tomatoes can stay firm and fresh looking on the trusses for several weeks since the introduction of vine ripe varieties such as Cedrico.
 
Timing becomes more important for summer crops and legumes such as cucumbers, lettuce, beetroot, french beans and peas. I shall be going into peas in a lot of detail from June as I attempt to bench a set of 12 at this year's National when I will be sowing them 85 days from the show date. With the other crops I find you sometimes need to hedge your bets and sow little and often. Globe beet need sowing about 15 weeks before your show, turnips and lettuce need about 10 weeks, french beans 10-12 weeks, kohl rabi 8-10 weeks, radish 4-6 weeks....in theory. In reality I very often find some globe beetroots will get to size after 8 weeks while others hardly get past golf ball size. Once your french beans are an inch or so long they seem to get to the required length very quickly and will soon go past their best, so you need several plants to choose from and keep picking them regularly to ensure you have plenty to choose from in the two or three days before the show when you can pick when they get to your required length and store in a cool place. If you let one pod go past its best I find the plant is never quite the same again. Lettuce will hold in good condition for a week or two but it's best to sow and grow a tray of a dozen or so every couple of weeks.
 
So, keep a detailed diary, count back from your show date and make sure you sow accordingly, but be prepared to sow another batch a week before and another one a week after if you want to be absolutely sure of having it all right on the night!