Onwards, upwards, outwards and backwards.

I've decided that shallots are evil little things and that anyone who can grow them to the highest standard deserves to be tied to a dunking chair for they are surely practitioners of witchcraft most foul! On checking mine yesterday I found that a couple had already started to go out of shape and these were ones that I got up first so it obviously doesn't follow that they start to go out of shape when the new growth has stopped. Perhaps some just have it in their genetic make-up? I managed to harvest about forty at 48mm diameter so hopefully I'll be left with plenty to make a set or two. I'm also trusting that the red tinge to most of them will go once the loose skins and first complete guard skin are rubbed off come show time. Purple skinning has been much more prevalent this season and indeed if you are exhibiting in a marquee and they are left overnight this colour will start to appear even on the brownest of bulbs unfortunately. It is actually a fungus.

I have been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast as conditions are getting very close on occasions to being perfect for potato blight. When temperatures are above 10degrees C and there is 80% humidity for two consecutive days , then conditions are potentially perfect for the blight spores to start bouncing up into the atmosphere and landing on your precious potato foliage (and outdoor tomatoes!). This is what is known as a 'Smith Period' (fine name but a shite disease). As rain is forecast again in the next few days, with temperatures in the upper teens I took the opportunity of a dry evening to spray my spud foliage as a preventative measure. As the Irish once found out to their cost, when your spud foliage shows the first signs of the dark blotches signifying they have been infected then your spuds will be dollops of ground snot within days. As Dithane is no longer available to the amateur gardener I used Bayer Disease Control which several growers reported good success with last season. I used a single sachet of the blue/green powder in a one litre sprayer and gave all my spuds a good covering, making sure I also squirted into all the nooks and crannies of leaves lower down rather than just spraying the canopy. I shall repeat this process every 10 days whilst conditions persist.

It has been one of the worst summers I can remember for the large black slugs. Walking down the garden on damp evenings there are literally hundreds of the damn things, some as big as mice. I've read that these large slugs are actually carnivorous but I don't believe a fucking word of that and have been liberally scattering slug pellets across the plot. On a Facebook Allotment Group I belong to one chap called me 'clueless' for advocating the use of slug pellets, which I shall remember with huge smugness when I'm tucking into my roast carrots and spuds this autumn and he's no doubt crunching up more eggshells, stockpiling branflakes and nursing his bad back from his nightly rituals of bending down to pick them up by torchlight. Fucking twat.

I did buy some Slugclear which you water in, with the intention of using it on my celery. Last year, because of the huge amounts of water you have to give to celery, I found that slug pellets were being washed away and I did suffer a few stick nibbles, so I felt Slugclear could be the answer. However, when I read the instructions (for once!) on Slugclear I observed that you should NOT use it on edible crops. The 'not' was highlighted in bold black letters with the address of an undertakers in the smallprint beneath. Now, I can't stand celery and neither can the rest of the family, but my mother-in-law does so despite the very real temptation I decided to stick to pellets for now. My celery is still looking good and about 20" tall on average. I have been feeding Chempak no.2 at half strength and dribbling calcium nitrate solution into the plants to prevent celery heart rot. A regular spray of Decis prevents the celery leaf miner rendering them useless for show.

My onions are averaging 14 1/2" diameter ***(I mean circumference of course!) and put on a 1/4 of an inch overnight. I have a dilemma in that I now don't know whether to pull them at 18 1/2" which is what Dan recommends for the 1.5kg class or let them grow bigger and have a go at the large onion classes. I think I may be biting off more than I can chew by doing that so I'll be content with 3 pounders this season and try and aim for good uniformity for the 1.5kg option. And still no sign of bolting, white rot or botrytis. Surely this cannot continue?

My long beet 'Regar' were all thinned to one per station a couple of nights ago but I fear I made my sowing way too late to have any chance.

And as well as having some long rows of globe beet 'Pablo' I have also sown 16 stations in cored holes in sand, filled with the same mix as for the long beet (it was left over!). Mark Hall grows all his globe beet this way and he certainly does get some nice round roots with long taps. I've always felt it was a lot of trouble to go to but I'm giving it a go in this small trial and see how we get on.

Not sure I'll be able to exhibit any cherry toms this season as little eyes have found them and finds it very funny to flick the flowers!

Progress report

Tomato Cederico. All plants growing well. First trusses thinned a week ago.

Celery Morning Star. Growing well. First loose collars to be applied this weekend.

Large onions. Swelling nicely and on par with last year.

Blanch leeks. Not as big as last year but look healthy. 3 lost to maggot fly justafter planting.

Shallots. All pots in garage for drying off. Will be 'harvested' atend of June and stored as usual.

Onion sets Stuttgarter Stanfield. Strong looking plants.

Red Baron onions. Growing slowly. Some slug damage!

Parsnips Pinnacle. Growing well. Lush top growth.

Red cabbage Maestro. Only 4 planted but strong looking plants.

Green cabbage Globemaster. 6 planted and looking fine so far.

Brussel Abacus. Some aphid damage that has been dealt with.

Caulis Cornell. Only just pricked out.

Long carrots. Shite!

Stumps Sweet Candle. Best foliage I've ever seen on a stump. Really strong looking, but early days yet.

Potatoes(Winston/Kestrel/Nadine/Malin) Kestrel at most advanced stage but foliage has needed a feed. Will keep eye on the blight forecast this season.

Beetroot Red Ace. Several rows growing as expected.

Runner Beans Enorma. No problems so far.

Marrows Blyton Belle. First 3 plants set out against canes last weekend.

Courgettes. Orelia and One Ball. First plants set out last weekend.

Cucumbers Carmen. Sown at weekend and germinated today.

Dahlias. Rooted cuttings potted up for planting late June.

A season that promised so much.

This was supposed to be the season that convinced me I could compete against the 'big boys' at Midland and National level but it's only shown me I still have lots to learn. The pics above were taken at Malvern Show in 2003 and were totally awe-inspiring to see.

Admittedly, it's been a horrendous season and I dread to think what newcomers to veg growing must be thinking. The hot, dry Spring followed by the wet summer has been a terrible combination and this year I suffered from potato blight for the first time ever. I only hope it doesn't put them off as I can assure them you don't get many seasons like the one we've just had...thank God!

It's not all doom and gloom....my leeks, onions, carrots and parsnips all seem better than usual and of course at this point I still don't know what my competitors on the local scene have.....I will only know after the first shows during Bank Holiday weekend. But having adjusted my timings for certain veg because they matured far too early last year, the lack of sunshine this year means they are weeks behind....I will be struggling to show things like tomatoes, runner beans, marrows and beetroot. Just when you think you have things cracked a new set of problems rears up to test you in a different way!