Malvern 2012 Part 4

After winning tomatoes at Malvern in 2010 against 30 odd entries I haven't won a bloody tomato class since! The plants have grown very strangely this season and I struggled to find 12 fruits to put down at Malvern although in the end I didn't think they looked too bad, certainly not in the dark when I staged them!

Fluctuations between daytime and nighttime temperatures were to blame along with the almost total lack of sunshine at times here in the Costa del Midlands. It was no surprise that the winning set came from a grower towards the south of the country, admittedly one of the country's very top showmen Derek Aldred with this very nice set.

I'm also not convinced that the soil in my greenhouse border hasn't contributed to some problems, so with that in mind I shall be replacing it during the Winter months rather than giving them a few 'winter floods'. Emptying out a couple of tonnes of soil and replacing it is always a ballache of a job but it's been 4 years since I did it so it's about due. I will also empty out a trench before planting next May and fill with M3 compost to make sure the plants don't go short of food. Someone suggested I ditch Cedrico and try Zenith available from Medwyn's as they'd had success with it. I'll take that suggestion on board but for now I'll stick to Cedrico as when it grows right it looks great with its long, spidery calyces.

I had entered the large onion class at Malvern but for some reason my bulbs are still bloody green even though they've been up for the best part of 7 weeks now. I've had the fan on them, then covered them in dark cloth as the nights grew colder but they still steadfastly refuse to ripen, although they're still firm bulbs. I'm at a loss as to what I've done wrong as i've always been able to get my onions a nice colour by mid-September at the latest. John Jones won this year.

Ray Spooner won the 250g to 1.5kg onion class and whilst a couple of the bulbs were a bit tide-marked they were nevertheless a very well-matched set.

Sherie Plumb won the 250g class with Toughball.

I notice in Medwyn's GN column this week that Sherie advises she sows her onions a week after Malvern to have them ready for her July shows. This is dedication but quite frankly I intend to forget about veg shortly until the New Year. You have to have a break from it in my opinion and besides I want to try and get the plot in better shape and get some construction work done ready for a polytunnel in the Spring.

There weren't many caulis at this year's National with David Peel taking the honours.

I believe it was David's second National win as he won french beans last year at Llangollen. I shall be trying again with caulis next season, growing them in a raised bed where I grew my celery this season. David also had an excellent Harrogate Championships  a couple of weeks back winning several of the spud classes, but Sherie Plumb was back on form at Malvern winning both the coloured and spud classes. Just when you think people have the beating of her the clever minx gets things back on track with a vengeance.

The Millennium Class always attracts plenty of entries and it attracted more than ever this year with John Smiles coming out on top for his first ever win at National level. John has had a good year, also winning the Northern Horticultural Society's Master Gardener Class at Harrogate where you staged a vase of flowers, a pot plant, a dish of veg and a dish of fruit.

I actually came last in the Millennium (someone has to!), my pathetic globe beet and mismatched tomatoes letting me down badly. I really did struggle to get globe beet germinated this season for some strange reason. I usually have hundreds of them growing away in several rows no problem whatsoever. Despite this, the Millennium is one class I shall be going all out to try and get a ticket in at Harrogate 2013 when it is the Northern Branch's turn to host it. It was introduced as a class anyone could grow for, the thinking being that you don't need any special set-up to grow all 5 crops, although after the summer we've NOT had then I suggest a heated and lighted greenhouse is required to grow tomatoes, small onions and globe beet!

Meanwhile at the Labour Party Conference Ed Milliband has promised to rebuild Britain as one nation. It will be called f***ing Poland!