Is this just phallus-y?

People laugh when they see this cactus and I don't know why! It managed to net me a 3rd place at Sutton Bonington at the weekend and I think it's a beautiful thing!

Another weekend, another show, another win for wifey!

This is my winning trug from Sutton Bonington Show last weekend. All the veg was either red or purple and I managed to achieve the effect I've been thinking about all season.

I say 'I' but as ever it was put together by Leesa which was no mean feat as she was suffering from a heavy cold at the time. I'll have to come up with a different idea for next season....perhaps yellow and orange veg?

You numbnut Smiffy!

At Sutton Bonington we have a class called 1 veg/1 fruit/1 flower which I've mentioned before and it gets quite popular as most people are usually able to rustle up 1 good specimen of each.

The pic shows my entry of a white gladioli, an onion and an apple. I'd had the gladdy under a black polythene sack for 4 days as it started to open out too early and I needed to hold it back. When I unwrapped it on the morning off the show it looked lovely and several 'florets' had opened out.

However, whilst it had been under the black sack I'd had it tied to a cane to keep it straight and I forgot to take off a small piece of string at the top of the gladdy. For this reason my entry was disqualified and I could have kicked myself. I should have known better but less experienced exhibitors would possibly have felt seriously aggrieved

Sutton Bonington Show 2007

What a show......there must have been a record number of people who visited yesterday and they had plenty to see as far as the horticultural marquee was concerned. We had nearly 800 entries and there appeared to be many new entrants which is always encouraging. In view of the weather we've had this summer the standard was fantastic and I had my work cut out to retain the Society Cup for most points in show for the 7th successive year.

I seemed to spend yesterday in the role of 'vegetable guru' answering questions from gobsmacked people wishing they could grow veg like mine. But I always try to get across to them that anyone can do it with a bit of willpower and the right strain of seed of course. One of the best growers in the country is a busy housewife from Essex who also runs a guesthouse called Sherie Plumb. If she can do it anyone can.

This is one competitive hobby I've come across where your competitors are always willing to pass on their tips so that you can beat them, a rare thing indeed in this day and age. And after helping a fellow competior with advice on Saturday about the display of his veg in the Top Tray class he promptly beat me to first place which in many ways was just as satisfying as winning it myself!

More pics in the next few days.

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!

My Hathern exhibits

Didn't put too many entries in at Hathern this year as I was trying to make a bit of point (eeeeee I seem to be single handedly taking on the World at the moment don't I? LOL) but still managed to come away with three trophies for best carrots, tomatoes and pot plant (for a standard fuchsia).

I did manage to beat our friend Wendy at tomatoes for the second year running, which is the single most important class to win in terms of avoiding 12 months of ridicule from her hubby Graham. And if I'd entered my leeks here instead of Moorgreen I'm sure they'd have won 'best veg in show' but that's the chance you take. Do I want to be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond in future? Trouble is, if I don't put my stuff in at places like this there doesn't appear to be many other growers in the area and the shows will die....especially if the organisers don't help themselves by forgetting to send previous exhibitors a schedule or by getting the schedule completely wrong in places!

She's a star!

Today is mine and Leesa's 20th wedding anniversary. Quite how she's put up with me for all these years is anyone's guess but I'm glad she has because she comes in very useful when it comes to the more artistic classes such as 'a basket of vegetables arranged for effect'. 'We' won this class at Leicester Show with a small basket of red and purple vegetables such as tomatoes, purple carrots, red onions, purple cauli, peppers, chard, beetroot, purple beans etc. Other exhibits were huge baskets of large veg and I didn't think we stood a chance but it just shows you never know....the judge was obviously impressed with Leesa'a artistic arrangement.

So....here's to another 20 years of running around like mad people in the days leading up to each show!

Happy anniversary

xxx

My Moorgreen exhibits.

As I've said not much to show for my efforts at Moorgreen but the competition was at a much higher level than anything I've come up against before. I'm not a million miles away however and was very pleased to get a 3rd in tomatoes out of 20 entries.

The leeks I put in were superb....far and away better than anything else I've exhibited before but I didn't even manage a place, that's how good the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed exhibits were. At both Hathern and Leicester leeks got 'best in show' but neither set was as good as mine were. Ho hum!

My onions looked quite good on their stands but could have done with another week's ripening. I came 2nd with a set of 5 onions at Leicester and reckon if they had been a bit riper also I'd have won the class, but even so 2nd is the best I've ever done with onions before.

Quick Bank Holiday weekend show report

Well....that was an interesting weekend. I competed at Moorgreen Show near Hucknall for the first time and came away with a bit of a 'bloody nose'. It was a real step up in class to what I've been used to and I only managed to come away with a 2nd (for cucumbers) and five '3rd's'. The leeks and long carrots I put in would have won at just about every other show I enter but I didn't even manage to get a place! It was a chastening experience but a useful and educational one also.

I'll be publishing photos of the shows and looking at things in more detail in the ext few days. However, I would just like to mention that I did win the annual Smith/Hallam tomato challenge at Hathern Show again!

A big day in the Smithy year.

After all the hard work of the last few months today is the big day when I'll finally know whether my root crops are any good. You always have half an idea judging from the health of the foliage or the diameter of the shoulders at the top but until you actually pull the first one from it's bore hole you never really know for sure. It could be forked halfway down, or full of holes caused by carrot root fly or it might not carry its weight evenly all the way down.

However, I suspect things will be ok and it's just a case of finding 3 specimens that are well matched. In that case it's just a matter of how many I have to pull as I want to leave plenty of specimens for later shows. I'll be pulling about a dozen long carrots for the three shows over the weekend, 7 or 8 parsnips and a similar amount of stump rooted carrots. I'll probably have an audience as my new neighbours want to watch them come out of the drums......they cannot believe carrots could possibly be that long.

Last night I tied the tops of my onions and shallots with raffia and sorted them into sets. It's amazing how much better they seem to look after they've been tied. My onions are certainly the best I've ever grown.......not huge but an even, well matched set.

Also tonight I'll be lifting 4 leeks and 3 celery. The leeks need the roots washing, any split skins removing and the foliage tying. The celery will need the roots trimming to the

Preparing carrots & parsnips.

As I've said previously, this Friday night I'll be lifting my root crops for the weekend's shows. I'll know exactly how many long carrots, stump-rooted carrots and parsnips I'll need to lift so I'll start by clearing the sand from around the shoulders and trying to match them for size. If the shoulders are the same diameter the roots should all be of similar length and girth....you hope!

I'll lift the exact amount I need and try to match up the various sets that I need for each show. If I'm happy with them I won't pull any more....but if I'm not I may have to pull a few more until I'm satisfied with my sets. Those that don't match may be used in the one veg/one flower classes.

As soon as they are pulled they are hosed down and stored in a bath of water until I'm ready to take them all into the house for further cleaning.....as you can see from the pic I use one half of the kids' old plastic sand pit. Once in the house I fill a bath with cold clean water and proceed to wash each root with a sponge, around each root not up and down. This cleans all the mud from inside the root crevices and prevents scratching.

After cleaning they are wrapped (in their respective sets) in old, dampened towels and put in a cool dark place ready for loading into the car.

Another dictionary explanation

Just looked in the dictionary for a definition of 'Animal rights activist'

=Twat.


So....once again....there you have it.

Another good year for tomatoes?

Despite suffering blight on my indoor tomatoes (it gained access via the odd splash of water through gaps in the glazing) I seem to be getting plenty of good sized specimens ripening in good time for the weekend's shows. I've kept on top of the blight by removing any leaflets showing signs of infection and disposing of them, but I was half prepared for the whole crop to fail.

However, I've been lucky and I'm confident that my toms are better this year than last year when I won 5 out of the 7 shows I entered. They're certainly a better shape than last year due to the fact that I thinned my trusses to give the remaining fruit more room to develop fully, and not get 'flat sides' from overcrowding on the truss. There also seem to be more large fruits than in previous years, again due to thinning out early in the season as soon as the tomatoes are about the size of a pea.

I'd also recommend the idea of sinking a 2 litre lemonade bottle upside down into the soil (with the bottom cut out) and watering into this. This keeps the soil surface dry and prevents any dampness in the glasshouse which tomatoes hate. This can manifest itself as white 'ghost spots' on the skins and can lead to downpointing.

Last night our Society had a tour round a crysanth enthusiast's garden. I thought I was obsessed until I saw what he had to do to keep hundreds of crysanths fed, sprayed and watered....all growing in pots! I admire the dedication of these growers and there's nothing more stunning on the show bench that a vase of large ball shaped blooms but I think if I got into 'crissies' then Leesa would divorce me....she thinks I spend far too long in the garden as it is! He's also growing a few 'tommies' for Hathern Show and took us into his greenhouse to show us. He seemed quite proud of them

A different approach

The failure of certain veg this year should create some advantages in that I won't be rushing around the night before each show as I won't have anywhere near the same amount of exhibits to prepare. Most years I leave my spud washing until last and have often been scrubbing them over the kitchen sink well past midnight.....this year I have very few that are of a showable size. Hopefully, I'll be in bed at a more reasonable hour.....or else I might even bake a cake for the men only section!



I also have very few dahlias ready (if any), my runner beans are at least a week away from reaching the right length, my beetroot are all very small and my brassicas are so far behind that I've lost interest in them and left them to the devices of the cabbage white caterpillars.



Fewer exhibits should mean I can go at a more leisurely pace and enjoy things a little bit more. Therefore, I shall be concentrating on making sure my carrots and parsnips are as well prepared as I can possibly get them. The first ones will be lifted on Friday night ready for the 3 shows I have this weekend.



My weekend timetable will be something like this:
Friday night: Lift roots and load car with exhibits for Moorgreen.
Saturday morning: Stage at Moorgreen.
Saturday afternoon: Prepare exhibits for Hathern and Leicester.
Saturday evening: Attend gala evening at Moorgreen.
Saturday night: Load car with exhibits for Hathern and Leicester.
Sunday morning. Stage at Hathern and then Leicester.
Sunday afternoon. Attend Hathern Show. (exhibits auctioned off)
Monday afternoon. Attend Leicester Show.
Monday evening. Bring back exhibits from Leicester Show and go straight to Moorgreen to bring back exhibits from Moorgreen Show.

A hectic schedule ! But all worth it if I can pick up a few trophies along the way. My best year was 2004 (above) when I won a total of 18.