NVS West Yorkshire District Association show & Smithy

First of all I will get it out of the way and congratulate Smithy on beating some Welsh veg Grower who's name escapes me at Malvern, well done Mate. My fortunes yesterday were not as good. I decided to stage my onions and a few other bits at the West Yorkshire NVS district association Autumn Show in Leeds the home of Leeds United. On arrival it became obvious that I may be a little out of my depth but as I had spent £5 on petrol I decided to table my exhibits. The classes I entered were Onions under 250g twice, 5 potatoes Coloured , 3 different varieties of Potatoes 3 of each,Tomatoes, Cucumber,and a collection of four veg on an 18" X 18" base not to exceed 16 points. I chose Garlic Peppers Beetroot and French beans at the time I was under the impression that Garlic was a 15 point veg, it would appear my advisor from the Midlands got it wrong! this cost me a card only a third but it would have been the only one of the day. The onions looked as good as the rest mine are the ones on the front Left in the photo so I was disappointed with the result on them. All my other exhibits were well beaten by far superior veg. I would say that the whole thing was well organised and supported with Quality veg and Flowers but then it was in Yorkshire. enough said

Harrogate

Visited the Harrogate Autumn show today what an experience, there was one thing that really caught  my eye in particular it was a stump root Carrot called Abaco. The photo is from the 3 stump and 3 long Carrots class there were around a dozen exhibits on the table all the stumps were Sweet Candle except for these which scored the highest points (17) I duly went across to Exhibition Seeds Stand and bought some seeds.

I will still grow Sweet Candle to see which I prefer they are not as long but are a really nice shape with a smoother  finish. there were some cracking leeks and Onions I now need to get some Pendle Improved from somewhere and some decent Onion seed.

I did gain some confidence in the fact that had I exhibited my Vento Onions they would have almost certainly got a card there were in my opinion none to touch them so I will be entering them next week at the NVS West Yorkshire da. show next week and will se what happens.

there were other areas where I may have picked up cards and I will be concentrating on these next year all in all a cracking day out some snapshots of the day can be seen below.

Zoo Magazine

I have had a veg picture published in this weeks Zoo Magazine page 31. This must be a first it is a valid excuse for you to buy it though.lol.

Weekend Baking and SAS

On Sunday I considered baking a cake but thought I would leave that to the Southerners. Instead I spent the day tidying up a bit and continuing with the construction  of the new Tunnel I have decided it will have mesh around the bottom to about a metre then Polythene above. I also pulled some Parsnips from the Kitchen bed they were massive shame about the canker, tasted OK though went well with the Sunday roast. Poppy the pumpkin is still growing and is 5 foot round now so won't be a record breaker
Also check out the link below re my work, its in the News of the World so no longer secret. I work on the same team as this Guy !!! real men work with the SAS and do not bake cakes lol
www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/900397/Who-dares-swindle.html

JBA potatoes Potato Growing Forum

Iain at JBA Seed Potatoes has launched a new Potato growing forum well worth a look
http://www.growingpotatoes.co.uk/
check it out .

Last weeks Show Photos

Back from Ireland I have been on to the Garden briefly today between the rain I was hoping to carry on with the new tunnel but the weather stopped that happening I hope it is better tomorrow. I have some good under 8oz Onions that I may enter in a couple more shows with anything else that looks good from the garden at the time.

below are some photos from last week as promised.

Westport Ireland

Working in westport this week, a beautiful place to be if it ever stops raining and the mist clears I will be able to see it. I will post some photos soon when I can get a fast enough Internet connection.

Dan Cleans up at Ingleton

Had a day out today in to the Yorkshire Dales, to Dans of  http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/Exhibition-show-vegetables.html local show. It was great to meet him and see his exhibits. We arrived just as the Show opened to the public and Dan was surveying the tables as we entered ,his exhibits were excellent and he had scooped most of the main prizes (well deserved) good job he has a van as he would need it to transport all the trophies. Carrots were amaizing in my opinion slightly better than the ones Smithy won with last week at Leicester must be the Northern air. My wife Linda took a photo of the 2 of us for my blog I will name it Team Yorkshire. what a handsome pair we are. Dan does not look that happy to say he has just cleaned up, he never offered to get the drinks in either true Yorkshireman.

Show

I came across a different side to showing today. I tabled 40+ exhibits and got 6 first 10 second 5 third which was enough to win most points in veg section, we checked the cards 4 times to confirm this. When I mentioned this to another exhibitor they said that they would not be happy if a local did not win, several of our society turned up to help a struggling show. I will not be attending next year enough said on that
the judging was fair and correct apart from the marrow class where a large Courgette won 3rd over a Blyton Belle of good shape and size with flower still attached more than enough said I will post photos of my entry's as soon as possible

Celery and Show

Well thats the show staged will return at 4 to see the results.

On the Celery front the red Star has done really well with little care apart from loads of water and a weekly dose of Calcium to keep the heart rot at bay, the one in the photo should hopefully give me a red card, but there were some good contenders in the class when I staged mine

Work in Progress and Another Show Tomorrow

Work is well underway with the construction of the new 30ft x15ft Polly tunnel I have managed to sink all the 14 scaffold poles and fit all the gas pipe hoops. I have also constructed one end of the framework that will have an opening window for ventilation I have not decided weather to cover the structure with mesh or polythene but there is no rush to make the decision at the moment.

I have another show this weekend in the next village to us which is
Meltham I have never been before so I do not know what to expect. I intend to Table around 40 exhibits, some will be recycled from last week so we will see what happens. I have harvested my pot leeks (grown for fun ) and will be exhibiting the largest one in the any other veg class I have also managed to recycle my Blanch Leeks (just) they still look OK for local level and may get a card. I now know that I can do much better next year and am aiming for a card at Harrogate just to p**s of Ed Miliband (if you look on Smithy veg at the comments on the post Leicester 2010you will see what I mean) lol.

ME AND LINDA IN'T PAPER

Finally got in to the local paper, if you click the link below you can see the photo. I would have bought it but at £20 I think it is a bit steep.  Robbing ********
http://huddersfieldphotos.newsprints.co.uk/view/15790834/pc280810aflower_02_jpg