Points make prizes!

Most of my veg and dahlia plants have now been planted but there's no time to rest and a little planning ahead can pick you up some 'cards' in other classes. I have split several clumps of different succulents and potted them up into 3" clay pots and topped them off with a granite chipping mulch. These will hopefully fill out a little and look good for Sturton at the beginning of October when there are several classes for cacti and succulents. For the sake of a little time and effort I may be able to pick up a 3rd, 2nd or even a 1st in the class for 3 succulents in max. 3" pots. Make sure you pop in a label if possible, give them a good watering and you can more or less forget about them for weeks at a time as they really can look after themselves.

Another class at one of my local shows is for a small basket or vase of various herbs, and with this in mind I gave a lemon balm plant in my veg garden path a good haircut as I know that by early September there'll be plenty of fresh young shoots for picking and arranging with other veg such as thyme, rosemary, chives etc. If I left this plant it would flower and go to seed and would look very straggly and totally unsuitable for exhibition. Again, with a little effort and creativity you can create an attractive display which can pick up an extra point or two in those shows where there are trophies for most points in show.

At most shows I tend to pick up points not just in veg but also for dahlias, fuchsias, herbs, cut flowers cacti and even for baking a cake in the 'men only' section!

Start sowing

At last I've managed to get the first of my seeds sown. Today I did some red cabbage (Maestro), brussel sprout (Abacus), red onion (Red Baron) and onion (Bristol). These are all in the cold greenhouse along with a pot of parsley which is needed for the enhancement of displays and baskets.

Inside I've sown a pot of Morning Star celery which, along with cauliflowers, is one of the two crops I really want to improve on this year as I've never really been able to show either to a high standard. Celery needs quite a long growing season so I've sown some seed onto some moistened compost in a pot and covered them over with vermiculite. They'll be kept warm to aid germination and should be ready for pricking out in a month or so. At that point I'll transfer them to the greenhouse by which time temperatures should have warmed up. However, I will have to keep an eye on night time weather forecasts as celery is very susceptible to frost or even low temperatures and will die very easily if allowed to get too cold.

Herbal cures not so wacky?

At our horticultural society the other night we had a talk from Lynne Tann-Watson on 'Herbs through History'. Now, she turned up dressed in black and with a shock of aubern hair and proceeded to lay out a load of pamphlets entitled ' The Witch's Garden' and I though 'Oh shit here we go' as I'm not shy at admitting I think herbal cures and the like are a load of mumbo jumbo but I must say she gave a very entertaining talk that almost had me believing that a tincture of lemon balm and spearmint can cure my upset stomach (or was it piles?). Anyway, she has a website:

http://www.witchsgarden.i12.com/

And she has some very interesting looking recipe books that I was almost tempted to buy. It seems our ancestors ate just about anything that they found growing underfoot and the Romans introduced all sorts of goodies when they invaded our shores......especially rosemary which is about the most fantastic herb I can think of, but only when used in conjunction with a lovely slab of dead Larry the lamb! Anyway, as I said she was very entertaining and I'll certainly be looking at planting more herbs in the garden with a view to using more in the kitchen.......when I say 'I', I mean Leesa as I don't 'do' kitchen.