Land of the giants

The best fun I've ever had growing veg was when I managed to grow a 19 stone pumpkin in 2009. Ive just finished reading a very enjoyable book called 'The Biggest Beetroot in the World' by Michael Leapman (ISBN 978-1-84513-319-1) about the world of the giant veg growers. Apparently there is a rift between the NVS guys and the giant growers which I sincerely hope isn't true as I always like to see the big veg at Malvern. They always put a smile on people's faces.

One of the best growers of giant veg is Peter Glazebrook who is getting ever closer to the world onion record. I've organised a trip to his garden for my local hort.soc. in July and am immensely looking forward to seeing the drainpipes against his house where he grows his long roots, watering them from an upstairs window! And guess what? Peter is a follower of this blog as I found out when he approached me at North Derby DA recently and introduced himself although I already knew who he was....everyone does!

Despite another long bank holiday weekend today will be the first day I've been able to get on the plot as I've spent a couple of days walking amongst another Land of the Giants, Snowdonia in Wales. I dragged 4 pals up and over Crib Goch on Friday. It was a glorious day although one friend in particular took some persuading to make the climb rather than doing the much easier tourist tracks.Note the union jack sticking out of my rucksack....my tribute to the Royal Wedding that was going off as we climbed!!

The two dots at the end of the ridge are myself and the friend in question who I was having to nursemaid across. The views were amazing....the drops potentially fatal. Perhaps I should have told him about it before we set off!

On Saturday three us did Tryfan whch is basically a 3000' rock scramble. It looks steep (see the tiny cars below) but you never really feel in any danger and there were literally hundreds doing it.

I even managed to inch out onto 'The Cannon' for a photo opportunity.

And finally what a momentous day this is!! Osama Bin Laden is finally dead. Excellent news. Now all we have to do is get rid of Gaddafi, Robert Mugabe, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong-il and George Michael!



Seagrave 2010

My 'other' local show that I am quite heavily involved with was another huge success with 350 entries which was a record.

It's always well supported by the local community especially the homecraft and children's classes.

As for me, I got 9 red cards, most pleasing of all in the Top Tray class. My tray is nearest camera with 3 Vento onions, 3 Maxine spuds and 6 Cederico tommies. We had the usual yearly complaint from a miserable exhibitor who can never understand why his veg never wins. The answer is invariably that his stuff is crap. The stuff that he does occasionally win with is purchased from after show auctions. He's never actually grown it himself. Wanker. And if he talks to my missus again like he did on Saturday night I'll break his f***ing legs.

Another 1st for tomatoes. This is the only crop where I think I may be able to compete at Malvern in a couple of weeks time.

My winning cucumbers would have been excellent in a couple of days, being a bit on the small side, but they won nevertheless.

I managed to keep last week's winning leeks for a week by re-wrapping the barrels and keeping the roots moist in wet tissue paper. They came good for me and won again.

Last year we raised £1000 for the local Rainbows Children's Hospice and a representative came to collect the cheque and handover the trophies.

Despite winning 9 red cards, 5 more than anyone else, and a few other 2nds and 3rds I still couldn't get my hands on the trophy for most points. That accolade went to my 118 year old (approx.) apprentice Ian Taylor, who has learnt everything he knows from me. Bloody young upstarts! Next year the gloves are off and we have a wager arranged. Full details to be finalised but you'll need to be on top of your game next year Ian !!!

Ester weighed in at a disappointing 185 lbs or 87 kilos or 13 stone. Still big enough to win the heaviest pumpkin class as it was indeed the only entry. Here I am with a pal loading her back up in the van. She now resides in my back garden ready to be carved out on Hallowe'en.

This weekend I have an unexpected break as the organisers of another local show decided to change the usual date to a week ago and forgot to actually inform one of their regular supporters. i.e. MOI! I'm quite upset about that and won't be going to this show in future. I've since heard that the benches were way down on produce from previous years. Therefore, i'm taking the opportunity to go up Kinder.....and before Dan interjects that doesn't mean I'm performing an unnatural act on a chocolate egg but walking up and around the Peak District's tallest hill Kinder Scout. Should be a welcome break from scrubbing veg for a weekend.

Then it's off to Malvern for my now yearly humiliation amongst the big boys of the veg growing world.

El ranto

During the course of the last few weeks I've visited several local shows as I try to form a Leics DA of the NVS. I did a search on the internet and found plenty of shows to target my leaflets at but was amazed at the lack of information some show organisers give. Some didn't give a name or number to contact which is surely a basic requisite if you want exhibitors to come to your show.

When I visited a few of these shows in person I also came across one or two where the steward on the door had all the charm of a menopausal rottweiler. I felt most unwelcome and a quick scan of the benches told me that the show wasn't as well supported as it should have been. By contrast those that made me feel welcome had a good feel about them and the benches were bursting with produce. The lesson is clear.... make your show as welcoming and enjoyable as possible and people will come every year.

I see also on Paul's blog that he went along to a nearby show to support it and he was told the 'locals' wouldn't be happy if an 'outsider' won most points (he had) and he now feels he won't be attending in future. Another pal, Paul in Cumbria, said his daughter had overheard some old boys moaning about him after he had also swept the board. I've heard this sort of thing myself and i'm contradicting myself to a certain extent by saying that sort of thing has made me even more determined to go back the next year and do it again. Some old boys think they have a god-given right to win the trophies year after year and won't give any credit if someone comes along with veg better than theirs. Paul and Paul.....they're not worth bothering about and as long as the organisers want you there then keep rubbing their geriatric noses in it!

Meanwhile, tonight I popped over to see how Ester was growing. I think she's on a par with Heidi last year in terms of diameter but not quite as deep, so I don't think she will match her 262lbs. Only another 3 days until she makes her bow at Seagrave Show. Bit of a grainy photo from my mobile in the dusky gloom i'm afraid.

Sutton Bonington Show 2010

A busy weekend. This is the show I'm most involved with being on the committee, and the one i've been most successful at over the years. It's also a large country show, the horticultural marquee being only a small part of the whole thing, which attracts some 4000 visitors the first Sunday in September each year. A true British tradition.

Yesterday morning and the exhibits start to arrive. My car was absolutely packed to the gunnels and I had to make a couple of trips back to Loughborough.

Inside the marquee there are classes for everyone to have a go at. We had 750+ entries although the veg was slightly down on numbers this year.

I keep the wraps on my carrots, potatoes and beetroot until the last possible moment. At this show I actually act as steward for the veg judges and I'd strongly recommend you do this if you ever get the chance. Following them round you pick up all sorts of tips and pointers as to what they're looking for.

Meanwhile, outside a couple of my fellow committee members are overseeing the hugely important kids' paper plane competition.

As for my performance this year, I got 11 red cards, 11 seconds and 6 thirds which is actually my worst ever result here. I got 1-2-3 in the onions under 1.5lbs.....

.....1st and second in shallots.....

.....and first with the leeks. These were closely pipped for best veg by John Barton's superb parsnips. I think a little pest damage on the leaves went against me.

I got a 1st with my long carrots. These were actually saved from Leicester last week......

......as were my 2nd and 3rd placed stump rooted carrots. The stumps that beat me were absolutely humungous.

I won both potato classes, winning the coloured class with these Blue Belle. I shall definitely be growing this variety again and giving them plenty of TLC.

It's been a few years since I've won with french beans, but I followed up 2nd place at Leicester last week with 1st and 2nd here.

I'm on a roll with Cederico tomatoes. These were all taken from the bottom two trusses and I have some real crackers to come once they ripen. I think I should definitely have a set for Malvern.

The mexican mouse melons caused a lot of interest, and as at Leicester last week we had to put a label on them to stop people coming to the hort. soc. bench and asking what they were.

Lots of big marrows and pumpkins this year, but I saved Ester to grow for another week. She should make her bow at Seagrave on Saturday. If she carries on growing at the pace she is now, I reckon she could outweigh Heidi from last year.

Leesa demanded a mention for her expertise in arranging my winning trug. Brilliantly done as always darling......but she does of course require top quality veg grown to perfection by a master of his art!!!

So for the 9th time in 10 years I won most points in show and collected the trophy from the Mayor of Rushcliffe.

And if I can just give myself a pat on the back, I've been inundated with texts and emails the last few days from several of my show growing pals thanking me for advice given over the last few years as they all won prizes at their own shows. The next best thing after winning yourself is providing winning advice to your pals, so well done to (amongst others) Paul Wlodarczak in Cumbria (cracking parsnips mate), Rob in Solihull, Craig in Ibstock and Paul Bastow and Dan Unsworth at their mutual gay Yorkshire love-in.

http://paulsallotmentblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/dan-cleans-up-at-ingleton.html

Well done one and all.

Ester's in the lead....

....not a lot of difference between the two pumpkins but this one is slightly bigger I reckon. Still two weeks to the first show requiring the 'heaviest pumpkin' so this should be around about last year's effort of 262lbs with a bit of luck. I can just about lift it a few inches by myself so there's a fair old weight there already. Great fun.

Minnie and Ester put on weight.

As I suspected the first pumpkin Dawn that stopped growing had gone soft at the base so I cut her off the middle plant tonight. She is now destined for pumpkin cake. Other small pumpkins have formed on this plant so one of these will be allowed to grow on.


However, the pumpkins on the two other plants, Minnie and Ester, have now overtaken Dawn so tonight I took the opportunity to get them off the ground onto a wooden board with a couple of old compost bags between. This extra padding will stop stones puncturing the flesh and allowing rot to get in. I could just about lift them to do this so not a moment too soon. Whether they will be as big as Heidi last year at 262lbs only time will tell but the daily growth is noticeable. It was this time last year that Heidi really took off so we shall see. I am leaving a couple of grapefruit sized fruits on each plant at any one time to act as 'buffers'.


The idea is that these smaller fruits stop all the sap going into the big fruit, as too much 'pressure' can cause them to burst open. However, you don't want these buffer fruit to grow too big and take too much away from the one you intend to show. I cut these smaller fruits before they get to football size so it's a bit of a balancing act.

The demise of Dawn

Popped up the allotment tonight and the pumpkin I named Dawn appears to have stopped growing which is a shame. However, the good news is that I have even bigger pumpkins now on my other two plants which were only grapefruit size a couple of nights ago. I have named these two Ester (Hall....see BT ads) and Minnie (Driver). They are on much bigger plants so should now have plenty of fuel to grow big very fast.

I got all my Vento onions for the 250g class up a couple of nights ago. A very mixed bag but I managed to salvage a dozen or so at about 7-8oz. After stripping back all split skins you should be left with an unsplit green skin. If it's brown take this skin off also. I have changed my method of storing this year. After washing and drying I am merely wrapping each bulb in a sheet of newspaper rather than leaving them to stand on beds of sawdust. Apparently, a top showman I heard of used to do this so I'm giving it a try.

Hopefully my wife has now lost interest with this post if she started reading it.....I shall be storing them somewhere in the house for more constant temperatures. Last year I had some skin markings on my ripened bulbs which I put down to condensation from being stored in the garage.

Burying my sorrows in Dawn!

I shall try and take my mind off the spud disaster today by popping up the allotment to see how Dawn is getting on. You should start to see daily differences to the size of your pumpkin now.

And if you thought my pumpkin Heidi last year was big (262lbs) take a look at how Simon (cool name!) McMinnis's is getting on by clicking on his grower's diary below. Growing in a polytunnel helps admittedly, but 400+lbs already is still going some.


http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2010&grower=51148&action=L

Introducing Dawn

Popped up the allotment tonight to see how the pumpkins are faring. Bred from the seed of last year's "Heidi", they've grown a lot since I went on holiday, spreading a good 20'x4' each.




There are quite a few cricket ball sized fruits on the nearest and furthest plants but......in amongst the foliage of the middle plant was this football sized one. Checking back on last year's blog entries Heidi wasn't this big until about the 11th so fingers crossed I may even get a bigger one this year. I have named it Dawn (after Dawn Steele).

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!

Watch out for those frosts

At this time of year it can be quite frustrating when you have a greenhouse full of plants and you want to start hardening off and planting out. A couple of weeks ago I'd put several trays of various plants outside with a view to hardening them off in readiness for planting. However, the last 3 nights have seen temperatures in the Midlands plummet so I've been bringing plants back into the greenhouse (things like onions and brassicas) or going even further and bringing more tender veg indoors overnight.....lettuce, pumpkins, french beans, peppers etc. It's a bit of a ball-ache but worth it for the peace of mind.

So you really do have to keep an eye on those overnight weather forecasts. There would be nothing worse than putting in all the effort to get your tomato plants looking like this....

......and waking up to find several pots of green snot in the morning.

Another very tender crop is celery and I have 10 plants of Evening Star in their final pots. A crop that requires plenty of nitrogen I have already given the beds where I intend to grow them a dressing of Vitax Q4 plus ammonium nitrate, in anticipation for planting out at the end of the month. I've never managed to grow good celery before but I've got a few plans in mind and intend to give them more attention this year with a view to showing a few at the end of the show season.

You've blown it now Gerrard!

You vindictive, rat-eating, cheating scouse tw*t! There's no way you're having the honour of having one of my pumpkins named after you now! Bastard!

Progress

Most of my Sweet Candle stations have now germinated.

These are the first parsnips 'Pinnacle' that came through and are therefore the biggest......a long way to go yet though.

My shallots are starting to split naturally but I will be helping these along at the weekend I think. More on that then. Needs weeding too!

The first 8 tomato plants 'Cedrico' were potted on last night. These will be planted out towards the middle of May and I shall be growing these slightly differently this season to try and maximise yield towards the end of the season for some late shows.

I have 5 pumpkins that have germinated well, and I have named them Gerrard, Reina, Ngog, Kuyt and Carragher. I will probably only grow 3 of these and give the other 2 away.

I haven't often grown long beet but I have decided to have another crack this year with a view to perhaps displaying a set of 3 at Malvern. There were only a couple of entries last year so I figured I may have a chance of a ticket if I can grow a reasonable set. I don't usually like growing in pipes but decided on this method for long beet (var. Cheltenham Green Top), with 8 black plastic 8" dia. waste tubes set into a couple of drums that in turn are set into a raised metal bed. The metal bed and drums have been filled with sieved compost from the compost heap that were well sterilised with some Jeyes fluid. The pipes were filled with the same mix as I used for my carrots. I was given various mixes to try but after speaking to Dave Thornton he said he used his carrot mix last season and grew his best long beet ever, culminating in first place at Westminster for a tap root collection. A cluster of seeds were sown half an inch deep in the middle of each pipe. You don't often see CGT on the benches, most top growers using 'Regar' but I prefer the look of CGT when grown well.

First carrots through

Photos to follow but my first Sweet Candle stump rooted carrots came through in the raised beds today, approximately two weeks after sowing. I shall need to crack on with making some enviromesh covers now, so that I don't have a recureence of last season's carrot fly nightmares.

I have had to re-sow about 15 parsnip stations as I just wasn't happy with the seedlings that emerged. I have placed chitted seed of Polar F1 in these positions but I have marked them with a white label so that I can tell them apart from the Pinnacle variety in the other stations come harvest time. Sod's Law has dictated that there was no pattern to to the failed Pinnacles so there is now a mix of roots in each drum.

A couple of days ago my pumpkins all emerged so I now have 5 plants growing strongly. The patch of land a few miles away that I grew 'Heidi' on last year has been rotovated by the owners and they say they are ready for me when I am. I wasn't going to bother trying to grow a big'un again but they insisted. I think they enjoyed watching her grow as much as I did. Hopefully I won't get swine flu or anything similar at a critical time this season and I can manage the plants rather than leaving them to their own devices. I feel sure I could have grown a 400 pounder if I hadn't been so close to death. I shall have to think of a different name for the biggest Heidi daughter. If Liverpool beat Chelsea this weekend 'Gerrard' is a distinct possibilty.

I potted my first batch of Cedrico tomatoes into 3.5" pots tonight, but the 2nd batch sown a couple of weeks ago seems very slow to germinate for some reason and I only have 3 seedlings up yet. The greenhouse is now bulging with peppers, aubergines, onions and a single cucumber plant which is another earlier than usual sowing as far as I'm concerned, in order to try and have a couple of cu's for the mid-July show I'm hoping to enter for the first time this season.

I am now hardening off my leeks, cabbages, brussels and 8oz onions with a view to planting these out in the next week or so. However, with colder air coming down from the north over the weekend I may have to postpone this, even bring some younger plants back into the greenhouse for a short while again.

Today I had some very good news about a trip I shall be making on the 9th May. I shall give more details nearer the time but all I shall say for now is that I can barely contain my excitement. When you realise (as I did after accepting) that I will be missing the deciding games of the Premiership it will give you an idea of how important it must be.

1725lbs World Record pumpkin

Never mind Heidi....more like Hindenberg! The world record for a pumpkin was broken in America this season at an amazing 1725lbs......that's 785kilos......or 123 stone.........or the weight of 386,400 Liverpool fan's brains! I've sold several packets of Heidi on ebay and will be advising the buyers in the New Year via email as part of the deal. Hopefully, they all be successful in breaking personal records next season, but I think we can all only dream about getting anywhere near this monster.

You can follow several growers diaries on the big pumpkins website:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/

Alternatively, you can come down to earth and follow Dan and see if he makes a hash of things instead. I have to warn you.....he does have photos of himself on here so make sure you haven't eaten.

http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/Giant-record-breaking-pumpkin.html

Westminster Bridge

I love this.......In the mornings, these aptly-shaped shadows all point to the West side of the bridge, which is the side of the Houses of Parliament.



If anyone is interested I'm selling the spawn of Heidi on ebay.....rest assured anyone who has asked for some seed.....these will be in the post shortly!


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Giant-pumpkin-seeds-variety-Heidi-from-the-Sugababes_W0QQitemZ250528501538QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item3a54a98f22"

Hallowe'en Heidi

You couldn't pay me to go to America. I hate their TV shows. Their reliance on therapy makes me piss my pants. But I absolutely love the American import that is Hallowe'en. The kids round here love it also and it was for this reason that I was to be found this afternoon carving my beloved 262lb Heidi into the shape of a hideous fiend. My thanks to Dan for the inspiration!

She was a bugger to start with but eventually things started to take shape.

All beautiful women have their ugly side.

Heidi feels peckish. The pumpkin she is eating must be 25lbs.

One final photo with my love interest of the summer!

My youngest daughter Rebecca and her alien friends seemed impressed!!!