Make a date

The show season will be kicking in soon and from about the middle of this month you could pretty much exhibit somewhere in Britain at a show every day of every weekend until November. So get on Google and look for your local shows and try and support them if you can. For those of you who want to see the very best vegetables on display anywhere in the World then here is a list of the National Vegetable Society's various shows as well as a few others that attract some of the best growers up and down the country. The National Vegetable Society has an annual National Championships (this year at Malvern) and each of the five branches hold their own regional championships. There is a more comprehensive list of many other shows on the NVS website http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/horticultural_show/Horticultural-Show-2012-UK.php


Tuesday 24th July to Thursday 26th July
NVS Southern Branch Show at New Forest Showground, Hampshire. Contact Chris Neel 01425 629694 or email c.neel1001@btinternet.com

Friday 10th August to Saturday 11th August
NVS Midland Branch Show as part of Shrewsbury Flower Show. Contact Pat Brown 01782 566395 or email patbrown59@uwclub.net

Sunday 26th August
NVS Scottish Branch Show at Tait Hall, Kelso. Contact Grant Cathro 01382 580394 or email jgrant.cathro@sky.com (WARNING; you may have to mingle with ugly and/or hairy men from the north)

Friday 31st August to Sunday 2nd September
Dundee Flower and Food Festival at Camperdown Park, Dundee. Main attraction British Potato Championships. Email flowerandfoodfestival@dundeecity.gov.uk (WARNING; see above)

Saturday 1st September to Sunday 2nd September
NVS Welsh Branch Championships at Bryngarw Country Park, Bridgend. Main attraction British Taproot Championships. Contact Mary Thomas 01691 780420 or email maryfron2005@yahoo.co.uk. (WARNING; sheepfiddlers abound and they speak funny)

Sunday 2nd September
NVS North East Derby District Association Show at Glapwell Village Hall. Contact Dave Thornton 07778 622628 or email davidthornton969@btinternet.com (WARNING; David Thornton. Nuff said)

Friday 14th September to Sunday 16th September
NVS Northern Branch Show at Harrogate Showground. Main attraction Heaviest Onion Weigh-off, UK Carrot Championships and Annual Bullshit Bloggers Challenge (BBC). Contact raymondorme@live.co.uk (WARNING; Unsworth and Bastow may hold hands in public again)

Saturday 29th September to Sunday 30th September
NVS National Championships as part of the Malvern Autumn Show, Three Counties Showground. THE BIG ONE! Contact Pat Brown 01782 566395 or email patbrown59@uwclub.net (WARNING; Upsetting sight likely of Scotsmen crying when I win peas)

Tuesday 9th to Wednesday 10th October
RHS Westminster Show, at the RHS Horticultural Halls, Greycoat Street, London SW1P 2PE. Contact lucindacostello@rhs.org.uk (no relation to Abbot or Lou).

Saturday 27th October to Sunday 28th October
Derbyshire Horticultural Association Show at Royal School for the Deaf, Ashbourne Rd, Derby. Contact petercooke@ntlworld.com or phone 01332 553429