In it to win it (part 2)

Apologies for making this blog invite only, but it had to be done as I was getting so much spam that it was taking too long to wade through each day. Also, I shouldn't be showing up in search engines before too long which should keep certain folk happy. I always found it quite amusing that people complained about my blog so much when there was this perfectly useful little 'X' thingy in the top right hand corner of all computers that could be clicked if you no longer deemed me worthy of screen time.

I took virtually all my big onions down to Westminster. Not that they were that great but after staging I realised I was going to be taking home a fair few quid. This was because I was one of only two entries in both the large onion class and the collection of onions, and although I knew they wouldn't get a 'first' the prize money for coming second was £50 and £40 respectively, so for the sheer effort of bothering to take them I was handsomely rewarded. Some of them were still green underneath despite having been harvested mid-August.

Whilst we enjoyed Westminster Tuesday really is a crap day to hold a veg show meaning at least one day off work but the venue is stunning and as I have intimated there is a fair old wedge of prize money on offer. I've never really understood mid-week shows and I believe it puts the working man at a disadvantage but I suppose each organisation has its reasons, some of them historical. I was contemplating giving Westminster a miss next year but as the entries were down by quite a bit then you do feel a certain responsibility to keep going for the sake of the future of the show. Hopefully I've persuaded a few of you to have a crack next year as there is some good prize money on offer if you are prepared to make the effort. I hope the RHS does a bit more marketing on the Westminster Shows as it would be a shame if the show died through lack of interest. Yes it's a real bind getting veg into the middle of London but if you can then try and car share and by using a website called ParkatMyHouse you can find a local address to leave your vehicle for about a tenner a day. I found a pub about a mile away. If you travel overnight and don't leave until 6pm you also avoid the congestion charge, although sadly not the crazy London traffic. Alternatively the North East Derby DA get a coach load up which certainly takes the stress of driving through London away and I'll be going back to this option next year. If anyone needs advice on entering, getting to and from the venue for future reference then drop me a line.

I grew pot leeks for the first time this season and whilst I virtually neglected them after planting they nevertheless made a reasonable entry at Westminster and won me another first prize, although I was the only entry! Another ten quid. Ker-ching! I shall certainly be growing a few more of these next season, the variety was Cumbrian. I grew some reasonable Pendle blanch leeks last season despite almost total neglect so perhaps there is a theme running here? They were certainly a lot easier to prepare and transport than blanch leeks.

To round up the rest of my Westminster results I got a 3rd for two beautifully conditioned Blyton Belle marrows although one was a bit smaller than the other. Once we get to the end of September they don't grow as fast as they did and I ran out of time to match them up for size. The larger one had actually been cut at the end of August.

A pleasing 3rd in the coloured potato class with Amour. I really wish the judges at Westminster would rearrange the exhibits how they found them rather than slinging them back on the plate from a few yards away!

1st with 15 leaves of chard 'Vulcan'. I have to thank Leesa for choosing the 15 and arranging them.

2nd in the chilli pepper class with Hungarian Hotwax. Leesa chose these too!

3rd for parsnips 'Polar', sadly a variety that is no longer available. Looks like i'm back to square shouldered 'Pinnacle' next year!

3rd for courgettes 'Ambassador'.

1st for lettuce 'Saladin'. I dug the roots up intact, washed off all the soil, wrapped them in damp tissue followed by kitchen foil and the plants stay nice and fresh for the two days of the show no problem.

A very pleasing 3rd for my celery 'Evening Star'. I even beat former National Champion Geoff Butterworth so that has given me a real boost to carry on growing celery despite the fact that we don't eat the bloody stuff! Besides, celery doesn't last too well on the show bench and gets left behind every time.

2nd for french beans 'Prince'. The timing of my sowings were for Malvern so I was really struggling to keep these going and they were a tad 'beany'.

3rd in the 4 dishes class. I had to stage some pretty poor 250g onions in this class or I might have easily got a 2nd. Sherie Plumb won the class.

So that's my final show of the season done and dusted. I'll leave the final word to Medwyn.

London calling

Next up is my 4th Clash (see how clever I was there!?) with Dave Thornton at the RHS Westminster Show a week today. This is an absolutely stunning venue in which to stage vegetables and if you can make the effort the rewards are good as the RHS give very good prize money across the classes, not just in the big collections. Thanks to a website www.parkatmyhouse.com i've managed to find a parking spot at a local pub for 10 quid a day (you can claim this back) so I shall be driving into London in the early hours in order to avoid the congestion charge. Leesa will be travelling down on the train later on in the morning as there will definitely be no room in the car for her this time around.




The reason for this is i've entered 35 classes including 5 collections in the hope of clawing back some of the points difference between myself and the Derby Dingbat. He currently leads by a seemingly unbridgeable 716 to 351 but hopefully i've got a few tricks up my sleeve as Westminster has classes for things like squash (of which I have a nice specimen), turnips, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, cylindrical beet (I have 4 drums of these to empty out!), loose leaf lettuce (my current speciality!), courgettes and chard. When I informed the Thornquat of all my plans his smug face quickly changed and I know he's looking for late rule changes as we go to press just in case. Having said all this he usually picks up a rook of red cards at this show, especially if the Welsh boys don't turn up as happened last year. Therefore I don't doubt that Medwyn will be taking his photo again for GN....yawn!

As well as my Westminster preps i'm also in the process of digesting the NVS Judges' Guide for my impending exam this Saturday. Because Midland Branch aren't holding an exam this year i'm having to travel down to Dorchester in southern country-bumkin land so i'll be setting out early for the 200 mile trip. It means I will be not be entering Sturton Show in Lincolnshire for the first time in 12 years. As well as a two hour written paper there is a mock show that you have to judge, coming up with a 1-2-3 in each class. There are two collections A & B that have to be pointed, so i'm hoping that my experience in entering several collections this year and concentrating on the pointage given to each competitor will stand me in good stead for this. I may sleep in the car if i'm too tired afterwards but as there are more village idiots per hectare down south I don't really want to be hanging about after dark.

Has the World gone mad?

My middle daughter announced yesterday that she was looking after a friend's pets whilst he went on holiday. Nothing strange in that I thought until they turned up. A dog? A cat? A hamster? A goldfish? Nope.....a huge bloody great snail and a couple of smaller ones.

I spend half my life trying to kill them in my garden and now my daughter is feeding one in my house! I give up!

I wish I could blame my woes on snails at the moment. Last night I emptied out my Kestrel spuds and they're even more scabby than my Winstons. They look like Keith Richard's cock after a 60 gig European tour. I informed Dave Thornton of this today. After he had stopped laughing he did admit to me that a lot of members in the North Derby DA were reporting the same at a recent meeting so I am in good company. The probable cause he feels is dry compost at tuber initiation, which is when the foliage is about a foot high. Thinking back, that was probably late June for me when it was really hot here in the Midlands. I obviously didn't give the bags enough water.

Not a problem as such but an issue with my tomatoes. A week to go to my first show and i'm struggling to get them ripe despite hanging bananas up. They are starting to go but I won't have a great selection for the first couple of shows. Some of the trusses are so heavy i'm also having to support them with string tied to the horizontal supports to stop the truss breaking off.

One success story this season is my courgettes. I've grown them in cordon fashion, tying to a stout pole as the grow and cutting off the lower foliage as they go yellow. The air circulation helps stop mildew and towards the end of the season the fruits are borne clear of the foliage and easy to pick at the top of the plant. I shall certainly be trying this method again.

Marrow escape.

History is littered with things that people should have said, often with terrible consequences for not having said it. Things like:

"Get your head down Sire, that clumsy twat is going to have some f*cker's eye out". King Harold's body guard 1066.

"You did turn the gas off didn't you". Mrs Farriner, Pudding Lane, London 1666

"That sure is one butt-ugly baby. I think it'll be best for everyone if I flush it down the loo?" Twice, at least, to my knowledge...Mrs. Hitler's physician, Austria 1889 and Mrs. Unsworth's midwife, Lancashire 1970.

"You know we really shouldn't be going this fast with all those big white floaty things around us". First mate, Titanic, somewhere in the Atlantic 1912.

"Jeeeeesus. That french fella can sure knock the sherberts back can't he!" Mohammed Al-Fayed Ritz Hotel, Paris 1997

"Are we all absolutely sure about this? My sources tell me this Benitez fella doesn't have the first f*cking clue!" Silent Anfield board member 2004.

Add to these if you will...... "Heather, make sure you harvest the courgettes whilst i'm away before they get too big".

Future plans, and holiday prep

Now that Andy Murray has skulked off back to Scotland to work how he can stop letting England down in future my thoughts are turning to my impending holiday. Being away for a fortnight means I shall scarily be relying on my eldest daughter to water my beloved plants and quite frankly I'm very nervous. Last time I entrusted her with this task for a short weekend walking break I came back to a greenhouse full of dead and dying plants. All I can say is that should I come back to a similar scene of carnage I shall devote this blog to naming and shaming her, including posting several embarrassing photographs from her youth. You have been warned! This is a big year for me and I don't want to put any pressure on but rest assured my success or failure all depends on you! And stop leaving anonymous postings sticking up for foxes!

I shall be leaving a daily instruction rota for the different watering and feeding which should be simple to follow even for a non-hort! In previous years my small onions have needed to be harvested once they reach 3.25" dia. whilst I have been away, but as they were planted later this year I should be back home in time to carry out that task. The main thing is making sure the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines in the greenhouses get watered each evening. The tap roots are now well down and can manage on water that falls from the sky so they can be left well alone. Everything else will be given a good drenching before I go and unless you get a scorcher whilst I'm gone (I sincerely hope not!) then they should last until I return with my gorgeous body tanned and relaxed.....but no doubt quite a bit fatter!

Thanks to modern technology she can text me a photo of any potential problems so that I can advise her whilst I'm lounging in the sun reading Kitchen Garden or on the beach looking at the various pairs of Table Daintys on display and assessing them for size, shape, colour, condition and uniformity.

Talking of marrows, this weekend I do need to get my Blyton Belles planted against stout sticks and frameworks. They are small plants as I have sown them later this season to cater for the likes of Malvern as I have found the plants running out of steam by mid-September in the past. Les Stothard used to sow in early July for an early October show but I think my mid-June sowing will suffice. I shall place each plant onto a dollop of well rotted muck and leave a shallow 'dish' in the soil so that the water gets straight to the roots. The plants are trained up the poles and then along horizintally so that the fruits hang down away from the foliage. More on this in August.

I hope to take a few photos from the allotment tomorrow evening where my pumpkins have been planted. I also have a 100 or so onions of various variety, some sweetcorn, courgettes, and butternut squashes. The ground has been baked hard these last few weeks and watering is a problem so anything harvested from there is merely for the pot.

Finally, here's to Germany. If they beat the Argies tonight I'll be one step closer to winning my 11-1 bet on them reaching the final. Should be a nice little lump of seed money for next season!

For fox sake!

Not quite sure about my parsnips this season. Despite all being sown within a few days of each other I have quite a variance in the height of the foliage from drum to drum. One good thing is that there doesn't appear to be any sign of yellow fleckles (canker) on the foliage after a spray with fungicide a few weeks ago.

I am growing my courgettes a different way this season after seeing this method in the NVS magazine. Basically you tie the plant to stout poles as it grows in effect growing it like a standard. The fruits will eventually be borne clear of the ground and the lower leaves can be snapped off as they start to decay. It also allows me to grow other crops underneath.

And you didn't believe me but it's happened again.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3022078/Fox-mauls-boy-in-playground.html

Total urban extermination is the only answer. Any comments disagreeing with this viewpoint will be deleted immediately!

Courgette Blyton Yellow?

You remember the Blyton Belle seeds that appeared to be giving me yellow marrows?

Well they only got to grapefruit size and then grew no more so I cut two small ones and entered them at Sutton Bonington last week in the class for two courgettes. They duly won, and I also got 2nd with two regular green courgettes.

Mass planting time.

The Spring Bank Holiday weekend is always a very busy one planting wise. It's usually safe that I can plant out the first of my tender plants without any risk of future frost ....but not certain...keep an eye on the weather forecast! With this in mind I've planted out my celery and a pumpkin, and have sown my first french beans and courgettes.

At home my cabbages are making regular growth. I've also took the opportunity to plant up my surplus onions, brassicas, celery and pumpkins on the long strip of land that I've been loaned on a local smallholding. I've also sown a couple of rows of beetroot 'Boltardy', carrots 'Early Nantes' and 'Purple Haze' and turnip 'Purple Top'. It was a pleasure planting into land that has already been kindly manured and rotovated for me by the owners, so all I have to do from now on is water and weed. How easy is that!?!

I've planted all of my tomatoes into the greenhouse borders, and in front of each plant I've inserted an upturned plastic bottle with the bottom cut off through which I can water during the season. This allows water to get straight to the root and also keeps the surface of the soil bone dry.....tomatoes hate humidity.

I've planted my peppers (Luteus) 2 or 3 to a large pot and these will be grown in the same greenhouse as the tomatoes and take the same feeding regime.

And thankfully Hull survived despite their beating by Man Utd's 3rd team so I can now fetch the dahlias Kev's grown for me without embarrassment. On the subject of dahlias apparently Garden News is soon going to be running an article on the legendary Les Stothard who as well as raising the Blyton strain of dahlias was also the mastermind behind the marrow Blyton Belle, which I believe is unbeatable when grown well. I'm growing another of his marrows that he says has the potential to be even better than Belle so we shall have to wait and see.

Next year's varieties

Long carrot – Resel. New Red Intermediate from Graeme Watson
Parsnip – Pinnacle (Medwyns)
Stumps – Sweet Candle (Medwyns/Shelleys)
Potatoes – Kestrel/Maxine/Winston/Pixie (ESP)
Tomatoes – Cederico (Shelleys)
Cherry toms – Sakura and Sungold (DT Brown)
Onions and leeks – bought in plants from top growers
8oz onions – Vento (Medwyns)
Shallot – Hative de Niort (new stock hopefully!)
Celery – Red Star (Medwyns)
Beetroot – Red Ace (Shelley)
Cabbage – Globemaster (Medwyns) Kilaton (DT Brown)
Red Cabbage – Autoro (Shelley)
Runner beans – seed from a secret source!!!
French beans – Declic (DT Brown) & Purple Speckled (own saved seed)
Peas – Cavalier (DT Brown)
Marrow – Blyton Belle (own saved seed direct from Les Stothard breeding line)
Pumpkin – sent off for some from the grower of the recently crowned european record (should be fun!)
Courgette – Ambassador (DT Brown)
Lettuce – Sunny (DT Brown)
Brussels - Abacus (Medwyn)
Caulis – bollocks to caulis!!!

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.

More Leicester exhibits

My Leicester exhibits

This is quite a large show and a first prize has to be earned. I got six '1sts', seven '2nds' and three '3rds' which wasn't bad out of 18 entries. My '1sts' were for stump rooted carrots, courgettes, pickling shallots, Top Tray, a succulent pot plant and of course the basket of veg that the wife put together. The stump carrots looked particularly good and I was very happy to get 2nd for my onions which is as good as I've ever done.

However, some shows always baffle you as to how the judge arrives at his decision and I've never won with tomatoes at Leicester. I came 3rd this year and I'll never be able to fathom out why. When I walked away after staging I thought my toms were a 'stitched on' 1st place....as I did last year and the year before that ! But some small, pallid looking specimens gained 1st and 2nd places......ah well. Sometimes you just have to accept it. The cucumber class was also a puzzle, where I lost out to two tiny little gherkin type cucumbers.

Sadly, next year's show will probably be the last as the City Council are not funding it any more as it doesn't 'tick enough boxes' on the funding criteria! However, if you're a tattooed, pierced, organic ethnic with an animal sanctuary catering for fluffy puppies and homeless ducklings who otherwise can't be arsed to get off your lazy backside and do a proper job I'm sure the Council will be falling over themselves to throw money at you!

Where everything is at......

Long Carrots. Could be belters. Foliage strong and healthy and shoulders look heavy. Unfortunately, no way of telling for sure until they're harvested.

Stump carrots. One bed of Osiris looks ok but the main bed of Heracles appears to be struggling for size. Foliage is small and weak looking although no real sign of pest or disease.

Parsnips. Foliage good. Shoulders look large but as with long carrots only time will tell if they're good ones.

Large onions. 9 decent ones harvested. Stripped to the first unsplit skin, dusted with talc and now ripening in boxes of sawdust.

Shallots. Hopeless. Far to small to be serious contenders. Pickling shallots reasonable.

Tomatoes. Nice round fruits ripening due to policy of thinning the trusses. Some blight damage on 3 or 4 plants. Affected foliage cut off.

Cherry tomatoes. All suffered blight. Most plants died weeks ago. Some plants soldiering on forlornly.

Potatoes. All plants affected by blight although some tubers are being harvested that are of a 'showable' size. Kestrel in particular very poor.

Cucumbers. Growing well and many fruits forming.

Courgettes. Have been harvesting for several weeks. One Ball is a lovely round, yellow fruited variety that should look good on the show bench.

Marrows. First fruits formed on one plant but probably won't be big enough for first shows.

Two other plants haven't started to 'trail' yet.

Runner beans. Struggling. Plants look healthy but lack of bees means not many beans are showing.

French beans. No problems. 'Prince' looking the best bet for showing.

Beetroot. Struggling. All roots appear to be no more than marble size.

Celery. Foliage excellent. Needs regular checking to remove decaying foliage and weak stalks.

Leeks. Excellent size although splitting is a problem. Lost up to seven layers at the weekend on some of the larger specimens.

Cabbages. Massive disappointment. Not hearting up.

Caulis. Hopeless as usual.

Brussels. 'Brilliant' plants poor although some buttons now growing. Red 'Rubine' is a better looking plant but no buttons making size yet.

Aubergines. 2 tiny fruits have finally formed.

Radish. Plenty to choose from for the 'trug' and 'basket' classes.

Pumpkin. 1 fruit the size of a grapefruit. Not going to be a winner in the heaviest classes !

Swiss chard. Small.

Okra. Give up on this next year

Hot peppers. In pots in greenhouse. Not turning red yet although loads of 1" long fruits.

Purple carrots. Foliage looking good. Will be interesting.

Purple caulis. Have all struggled. Some small hearts have formed but shall not be growing again.

Long beetroot. Poor size.

Longest beans. Runners now starting to grow and several pods showing at 6" ('Yardlong') beans Stopped growing straight after planting and have done nothing.

Dahlias. Very small plants that are really struggling. Emma's Coronet is the best of a poor bunch.

Fuchsias. Looking ok.

Pre-holiday overview

Long Carrots. Foliage looking strong on most specimens although at least 2 stations have succumbed to some form of pest or disease.Rain and winds battered them in June but they seem to have come through fairly unscathed.

Stump carrots. No problems.Foliage looking good

Parsnips. Foliage suffered in winds of late June and several large stalks broken. This will affect ultimate size.

Large onions. Still growing strongly. Biggest is 4" dia.

8oz onions. No problems now although 3 were lost to white rot a few weeks ago. Will probably start to reach harvesting size while I am away!

Shallots. All in trays on sawdust ripening. Good shape but only 9 are larger than pickling size. Should have good entries in pickling classes however.

Tomatoes. 6 plants up to top of the string with several good looking trusses on each. Later plants are struggling to catch up and may not make decent plants in time.

Cherry tomatoes. All growing outside this year. Slow due to wet, cold June but usually pick up quickly during July and August.

Potatoes. Winston foliage looking very poorly...perhaps due to waterlogging. Amour,Kestrel,Nadine and Maxine all growing very strongly. Needs spraying against blight.

Cucumbers. 5 planted but 1 died within hours! No other problems. Marrows. Planted 3 weeks ago but have not strated to climb yet.

Courgettes. Planted several weeks ago but very little growth made. As with marrows I expect these to suddenly take off.

Runner beans. Planted in last 2 weeks only. No problems so far. Better fence erected.

French beans. No problems so far especially with 'Prince'. Only had one seed germinated from 'Purple Speckled' so more stock will have to be purchased next season.

Beetroot. Just been thinned out. Mangold fly attacks a problem again.

Celery. Looking good so far.Taking off collars and examining more regularly than usual.Leeks. Biggest ever. Some sign of leek moth caterpillar damage but otherwise no problems.Cabbages. A few slug holes but no sign of caterpillars yet. Rhubarb spray seems to be working.Large variety 'Brigadier' looks as if it could be exceptional. Kilaxy struggled at first but appears to be ok now.Caulis. Planted in pockets of ground alonside leeks and Tasco onions. Foliage ok so far.Some have been lost presumably to cabbage fly despite powders being applied at soil level. Really need more ground to be able to grow successfully.Brussels. Green brussels 'Brilliant' as expected. Red brussel 'Rubine' lookes very good.Peppers. Plants are all in large pots and appear in good health.Aubergines. In pots in greenhouse.No fruits showing yet but quite a few flowers.Lettuce. 2 trays of seedlings will be planted after holiday as and when space becomes free.Peas. Complete non-germination.Old seed.Radish.First sowings will be made this week then successional sowings at 2 week intervals.Pumpkin. 3 plants planted but only one looks any good. No pumpkin set as yet. Will only grow some smaller fruits for the 'any other veg' classes.Swiss chard. Poor looking plants.Okra. In pots in greenhouse. Plants look better than last year. Don't like to be too wet.Hot peppers. In pots in greenhouse. Plenty of flowers.Purple carrots. Foliage looking good. Will be interesting.Purple caulis. Foliage good. Grown as novelty only for the trug class but may try them against their white counterparts if any are ready. Should make the judge earn his corn.Long beetroot. Only growing 6 stations in a spare drum. Some mangold fly attack. Will probably use for 'any other veg' class where round beetroot are specified in the schedule.Heavy carrot. 4 large pots with carrot grown for weight only in greenhouse. Impossible to tell if they will be any good but seem ok so far.Longest beans. Growing specialist strains of runner and french beans for length only.Runners are ok so far but french ('Yardlong') beans appear to be suffering from some form of chocolate spot disease.Dahlias. Cuttings were very late again and growth is very slow apart from 'Jomanda' which seems robust as usual.Fuchsias. Poor summer had helped in as much as low light levels had resulted in lush looking foliage.

First courgettes planted

I planted my first courgettes last night, the variety 'One Ball' which gives round, green fruits. I have another variety 'Orelia' to plant which are narrow, yellow fruits like Chinamen's willies !

Although these are specifically bred to be 'courgettes' in actuality if you leave them they will grow into small marrows so the idea is to pick them as soon as they are a few inches long for optimum yield. In the past I've actually exhibited 'courgettes' (and won with them) by picking small fruits of my marrow plants.

For 'show' purposes you need to select 3 (or however many the schedule asks for) and try and ensure the flower is still attached to the end. This needs to be done as near to show day as possible, certainly no more than 3 days before. You may have to pick one on the Thursday and wait until Saturday for another 2 to match. Cut with about 20mm of stalk and stage on paper plates all facing the same way.

Progress update

Long carrots Foliage looking good and a good 8-10" long.

Stump carrots Thinned to one per station. Foliage 2" high. No problems so far (Heracles)

Parsnips Erratic growth but few problems otherwise. Sprayed against aphids twice already.

Large Onions In greenhouse......very good foliage and starting to swell.

8oz onions Planted outside and growth as usual. (var.Tasco)

Shallots About ready for lifting but size disappointing. Foliage has been poor.

Tomatoes 6 plants of 'Cedrico' in greenhouse. 2' high and 2 flower trusses. 6 smaller plants to go in this weekend.

Cherry toms 'Gardeners Delight' and 'Sungold' planted in row outside next to leek bed. 10" high no flowers yet.

Leeks Already on 18" collars and 1" dia. No problems with foliage yet.

Beetroot Successional sowings 'Pablo' from early May. Most seem to have germinated.

Cabbages 'Brigadier' looking very good. 'Kilaxy' may have succumbed to a virus as leaf edges crinkled and yellowing. Red Cabbage 'Maestro' also looking good.

Brussels 'Brilliant' starting to grow well.

Caulis Still in cells in greenhouse. Will be planted out in place of lifted shallots.

Runner beans First sowing of 'Enorma' made 2 nights ago in pots. 2nd sowing in a week or so.

French beans First sowings will be this weekend. 'The Prince' & 'Purple Speckled'

Cucumber 'Carmen' will be sown this weekend.

Marrows First sowing made last night 'Blyton Belle'

Courgettes 'Orelia' and 'One Ball' germinated in pots in greenhouse

Pumpkin Plants ready for planting

Potatoes 4 varieties 'Winston', 'Kestrel', 'Nadine', and 'Maxine' planted and through compost in varying stages. 'Amour' to plant this weekend but would have liked to have had them in at least a fortnight ago.

Peppers Planted in large pots. 'Californian Wonder' and 'Sweet Spot'

Many other veg in various stages on and around the plot.

Get planting

The risk of a late frost should now be over with.......so now's the time to be planting all the tender veg such as courgettes, marrows, lettuces, runner and french beans, as well as all your bedding plants.

Having said that, as I grow for show I haven't even sown my beans yet. I'll be sowing my runner beans in pots tonight. I find that you have better results if you plant out strong plants and germination is more or less guaranteed. They soon make good strong growth and allows me more time to prepare my supports properly. The variety I grow is ENORMA.

My french beans will not go in for at least another week as these only need 8 to 10 weeks from sowing to cropping. I'll be growing THE PRINCE and PURPLE SPECKLED. I'm even toying with the idea of growing these in large pots to make picking easier and to keep them out of reach of slugs.

After my weekend away I've had to throw away several trays of veg and bedding plants.....that's what you get if you leave the watering duties to an airhead of an 18 year old daughter !