I have attended many a show and viewed lots of produce on display. My feelings have generally been mixed towards the entries. Sometimes it's 'wow, I'd love to grow x like that'. Often it has been 'I could do better/ have better than that on my plot'. The old adage rings true - if you don't by a ticket, you can't win the raffle. You may have a bigger marrow than the prizewinning specimen, but if it's on your plot instead of on the judging table it's a meaningless statement.
So, show schedule in hand, I leafed through the classes and decided at very late notice what I could enter based on what I was growing on the plot. At this early stage I'll say that this approach paid off, but certainly more due to luck than judgement. I would advise anybody interested in showing their produce to get hold of the schedule very early and grow with that category in mind. At the 'interested amateur' level it is unnecessary to go to the same extraordinary lengths as some of the seasonal professionals but it certainly does help to know what you want to show and how it should be displayed if you want to stand half a chance of winning.
The number of entries had doubled this year. I'm not sure if this was indicative of more general interest in the show or because it had been such a better growing season compared to the last. What this meant was more competition and a generally good (not great) standard of entry. Entries were required in advance, with no entry on the day, so it was a case of paying your money (25p a go) and taking your chance.
Staging took place on Saturday afternoon so I spent Friday evening and early Saturday morning picking pretty much everything I could and then preparing them for show. I learned at this early stage that a large amount of produce is required to find the three or so specimens required in any class. There are far more rejects than contenders! Take potatoes as an example. Show growers have buckets of them in clear compost and still reject the majority. Try digging up a few rows of Charlottes from the open ground and finding three identical! Ditto the tomatoes. I had loads of ripe ones, but could I find six of equal size and ripeness worthy of my name on the show bench?
Anyhow, vegetable stress aside, I harvested enough reasonable quality fruit, veg and flowers to enter and score in the categories below. Beginners luck? Maybe. I'd like to think it was part beginners luck and part the fact that I know what I'm doing when it comes to growing. I produce crops to eat, not display, but I've always taken pride in the way I grow my plants and the aesthetics of my allotment. I know what my plants need to be productive and give me the highest yield possible. I understand soil preparation, plant propagation and growing on, watering and feeding regimes, pruning and thinning, etc. This good crop husbandry means I grow produce to good average size and quality, despite focussing more on my stomach, which stands up well to showing at an amateur level.
Did I enjoy the experience? Overwhelmingly yes! Winning a few categories certainly helped but it was more than that. It was fun and I got to meet a few people and learn a few tips and techniques to take away and try for next year. There were lots of whingers and sore losers, which actually surprised me, but most people took pride in the wider displays and the fact that people still wanted to show off what they had grown. I may have caught the bug. I will strive to do better next year and really put a youthful cat amongst the old boy pigeons! Now where can I source some giant onion seed..?
Classes entered and result:
- Cabbage (one) - third prize for my red cabbage
- Tomatoes (three red) - second prize
- Six runner beans (*novice category) - FIRST PRIZE
- Longest runner bean - FIRST PRIZE
- Celery - third prize
- Any other vegetable - FIRST PRIZE for my luminous green chilli pepper
- Four vegetables on a tray - FIRST PRIZE for my combination of aubergine, green pepper, yellow courgette and beefsteak tomato
- Three apples - second prize
- 12 blackberries - third prize
- Half bottle liqueur - FIRST PRIZE - judge obviously liked it and most of bottle gone!
- Vase annual flowers - FIRST PRIZE - for my white cosmos
- One large marrow - FIRST PRIZE
- Marrow <40cms -="" li="" prize="" third="">
- Three white potatoes - second prize
- One vegetable, one flower spike - no prize
- Three coloured potatoes - no prize
- Three beetroot - no prize
- Six runner beans (main category) - no prize
That's a pretty good effort leaving plenty of room for improvement. I'm sure I can compete in some of the categories I did not enter this year. I need to score in onions, leeks, cauliflowers, runner beans, cucumbers and tomatoes to have a chance of lifting the Memorial Cup for the most overall points scored. Roll on 2014!
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