Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => The Show Bench => Topic started by: Ice on August 09, 2010, 20:11
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Well here it is, as requested and aimed specifically at those of us who want to show our veg. (No sniggering at the back) :lol:
If you have no interest in showing or have negative opinions about showing then this is not the place for you. Please don't post here.
I've never entered any competitions before but want to help my local community as I had a fantastic time at the village show yesterday. It also helps that I learned that my uncle
Bernard does all the judging locally. ;) :lol:
Keep it fun, enjoy the challenge and for goodness sake don't take it too seriously. :)
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Well after seeing Spanas photos of her local show on her diary pages I think local village shows should be entered and kept alive they look great fun :)
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well here goes lets give a big hand to the mods for there good work the pics don't have to be totally professional just enough detail to see what is needed like these maybe
(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/phil1961/Image2-2.jpg)
a basket of five veg
(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/phil1961/Image7-2.jpg)
3 onions from seed
(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/phil1961/flower%20garden/2ndprize2.jpg)
(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/phil1961/flower%20garden/Isobel3.jpg)
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i think it also depends if its NVS or just a local friendly thing
dont get me wrong I grow my veg to eat just like everyone else but now and again a lovely little fruit or veg comes and its so nice if you do get a little bit of recognition . by the way at the oswestry show if you enter 5 or 6 different things you get free entry ,entrance is £10 normally so the wife and i enter and the kids get in free and we park the car with the vip,s so it makes it a cheap day out the kids love it and I get to chat with andrew jones who is a close friend of medwyns and certainly grows some fantastic veg here are is onions next to mine ,i dont have to tell you which are his lol
(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/phil1961/JULY012.jpg)
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Thanks philskin. :)
I'll contact my uncle and get some advice if I can. Don't know him that well but we both love to grow veg so we have something in common to talk about.
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Thanks philskin. :)
I'll contact my uncle and get some advice if I can. Don't know him that well but we both love to grow veg so we have something in common to talk about.
I believe that beetroot and carrots have 4"of foliage left on in some shows
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The rules seem to vary with each show which is nice in my opinion. It would be awful if it were all standardised and sanitised.
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im not likely to enter any competitions yet but i will enjoy checking out this thread , and maybe it will inspire me to have a try at growing some veg to a good standard ,
how about sharring your tips on any special growing treatment ::)
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Well I've never grown anything worthy of showing either! but I will be keeping up with this thread to drool over all your lovely photo's!
Phil has already made a good start! :D Keep it up people!
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Instead of having one rather long thread, it would be easier if people started their own topics. Just makes it easier to read through. Thanks. :)
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Good thread Ice.
Our show is on Saturday but I'm camping in the New Forest over the weekend.
However, Helen, the chairman's wife, is going to put my produce out for me.
It's not serious but there are nice cups to be won etc like best gardener. The produce is than' auctioned' off.
I'm showing about 18/20 items if all goes well and have high hopes for my carrots/snips and squash. I'll get some pics on here when my stuff is prepared.
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Thanks Pompey Spud. Lots of photos are the rule on here. :)
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Lovely thread, thankyou Ice. I entered our Village Show one year with a quiche and the comment was 'your pastry is so short I'm surprised you managed to roll it out'. If the Judge knew how much squidging I had to do to line the flan tin they would have known I didn't roll anything!
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Lovely thread, thankyou Ice. I entered our Village Show one year with a quiche and the comment was 'your pastry is so short I'm surprised you managed to roll it out'. If the Judge knew how much squidging I had to do to line the flan tin they would have known I didn't roll anything!
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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I have got a show coming up on the 28th Aug will post some more pics then ,meanwhile if anyone would like to see anne,s flower arrangements just ask please I will post some here
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Of course we want to see the photos of Annes flowers :)
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Please put them in seperate thread as it will be easier to locate rather than keep adding to this thread.
You don't need to ask if we want photos. Photos are the law on this site. :D
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This is a lovely section.
It's really important to enter local shows as numbers of entrants have been going down and as the saying goes use it or loose it.
I started entering our local show, with knitting rather than veg about 5 years ago , because there were so few entries. Didnt' expect anything but actually got placements, including first, and a couple of years back a little cup for most points. :) I'd started putting in cakes by then.
So this year I shall be showing some onions and a couple of jams along with the other stuff.
So go ahead and give it a go for the fun of it - you never know. Just remember to read the show schedule. It will tell you whether to leave tops on or off and maaximum and minimum sizes.
Good luck M
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there is a garden show on at the memorial hall in Oswestry in Shropshire on sat 4th sept if your going could you please take some piccies ,would love to see the standard of veg there but we are elsewhere thanks everyone
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(http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w337/millgriff/mypictures123.jpg)(http://)
This one was for the Warwick horticultural show, but the show was banned at the last minute. The show has been running for the last 70years in the park next to the castle, with thousands attending each bank holiday. Well just have to see what happens next year .
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That's a shame :( Why did they stop the show Griff ?
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We dont know any details it seeds all the old committee resigned on block and the new committee said they need time to go through the books. So watch this space.
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Sounds very odd :unsure: Hope they sort it out.
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What a great section to have on here. I will watch this area with great interest.
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(http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w337/millgriff/mypictures123.jpg)(http://)
This one was for the Warwick horticultural show, .
Griff, what is that, is it still alive? :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Heres the state of play at the moment. All aimed for our local show on the first Saturday in September.
The onions are coming on, I might get a good set of three but I don't think that I will be able to challenge for the largest in show.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0088.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0086.jpg)
The leeks, I have had better at this time of year but still plenty of time for them to put on a spurt.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0091.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0090.jpg)
The Kestrel potatoes in bags are looking good. I plant one tuber per bag and feed with Phostrogen. Before anyone asks if they are all foilage and no spuds :D the answere is no.
One bag often feeds two of us for a month.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0093.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0092.jpg)
The St Valery carrots growing in a 3' deep box look to be at about the same stage as they were this time last year. Once again they are watered once a week with a full strengh solution of Phostrogen.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0094.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/IMG_0095.jpg)
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Some classy looking veg there. Grown kestrel for the first time this year and they are by far the best earlyish potato I've eaten, lovely taste and texture.
Be nice to see them again in a few weeks to compare their progress. :)
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I love this thread :)
We have our show coming up in a couple of weeks. I get very involved in organising it so hubby is left to decide what we are entering. This will be the fourth show, each one being bigger and better than the last, but will only be the second time that we have entered (we had only just got our allotment the first year and were on holiday the second year).
Last year we did pretty well - we got some seconds and thirds for our veg, the kids both got a second for their entries in the miniature garden and vegetable beast and I won a first with my Victoria sponge and got the trophy for best overall in the home produce section.
The show is very laid back - no strict rules or anything like that. We just want people to enter and enjoy themselves. It is very cheap - 25p per entry and no prizes, unless you win a best in category. The only ones guaranteed to win a cash prize are the first, second and third in the junior categories.
This year we have added a hand crafted item section and also added cupcakes to the home products section.
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I'm liking this thread a lot, even though my showing consisted of a third place for beetroot at the WI veg show back in the ealry 80s.... and there were only three entries :lol: :lol:
The children at school are entering the local pumpkin competition run by the Newbury Show team later in the year so I can post a pictute of their 'offering' :D
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Some fabulous photos there yorky, good luck with the showing but I'd envy those just as veg to eat in any case :D
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Well its the big day on Saturday. This year instead of entering a set of three onions in the dressed class, I am going to try one of these beautys in the heaviest in show class. The biggest one is topping the scales at 5lbs 5oz.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0085.jpg)
In the none veg classes I am entering two Fuchsias, a bush and a standard.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0091.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0092.jpg)
I am going to try two Pelargoniums, one an Angel variety and the other a Zonal red.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0089.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0090.jpg)
Last year I got a second place in the foilage pot plant class. So heres hoping I can go one better with this Coleus.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0086.jpg)
If a few more flowers open on this Schizanthus I hope to put it in the any other pot plant class.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0088.jpg)
The carrots and leaks will be coming out of the ground tomorrow. So hopefully some more pics then.
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Lovely photos, thanks for posting them. Looking forward to the rest and of course some from the show on saturday.
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Oooooowwww, it all looks sooooo lovely. I hope you have a good day :happy:
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Well here are the carrots and leeks before I started on them.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0093.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0094.jpg)
And these are the leeks that are going to have to do.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0096.jpg)
It was hard to get a matching set of carrots. I had to settle for these three even though one is smaller than the other two.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0097.jpg)
This one is no good for showing but its the fattest carrot I have ever seen.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0098.jpg)
My final entry is this red cabbage.I have never entered this class before so I dont know what to expect. You have to be in it to win it, as they say.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0095.jpg)
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It all looks wonderful.
Those leeks have gotta be winners. :happy:
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Excellent piccies and good luck :)
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Just got back from the show and it wasnt a bad day all told. I got 3 firsts, 3 seconds and one third. I drew a complete blank with my carrots but made up for it by winning the heaviest Onion class.
Here are a few general pics of the show.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0106.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0109.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0108.jpg)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0107.jpg)
I wish that I could say that this one was mine. It won the prize for the best exhibit in the whole show.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/loiner18/Garden/Show/IMG_0110.jpg)
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Well done :D
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Great stuff, yorky.
I don't intend exhibiting them, but I've grown some Kelsae onions this year, which are still growing.
I don't want to pull one out to find out, but just to give me some idea of what the weight might be, roughly what diameter were your winners?
Mine would not win shows, but I'm chuffed they've grown at all. Last time I tried it, I got a jar of pickled onions out of them!
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Well done, and it looks like a big turnout as well which makes getting any sort of prize even better. :happy:
I take it the dahlia is an arrangment in a basket :unsure:
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just to give me some idea of what the weight might be, roughly what diameter were your winners?
The one weighing in at 5lbs 5 oz is 21 inches in diameter
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Well done, and it looks like a big turnout as well which makes getting any sort of prize even better. :happy:
I take it the dahlia is an arrangment in a basket :unsure:
Yes the Dahlias were in a basket, they actualy looked a lot better in real life than they do on the photo.
The turnout was actualy down on last year. Sweetcorn seems to be having a paticulary bad time in this part of the world. There were only two entrys for that class, last year there were so many they had to make extra space for them.
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just to give me some idea of what the weight might be, roughly what diameter were your winners?
The one weighing in at 5lbs 5 oz is 21 inches in diameter
Diameter? :ohmy:
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just to give me some idea of what the weight might be, roughly what diameter were your winners?
The one weighing in at 5lbs 5 oz is 21 inches in diameter
Diameter? :ohmy:
Sorry, that should have been circumferance (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Confused/redface-oops-6.gif)
It had been a long day.
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Thanks, yorky - I thought you'd grown some world beaters there!
Some of mine are coming in around the 15"-17" mark, which I'm really chuffed with as they were grown for a crop, rather than showing. Perhaps with a bit more TLC, they'd been up there.
Is 21" a standard show size, (unless you're going for the biggest)? I only ask because whilst looking for something else, I stumbled across an article by Medwyn Williams, where he said that he harvested his once each reached that size, to get a uniform size for showing a group of them.
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No, 21" is not a standard size. Us lesser mortals than Medwyn Williams struggle to get one to that size. Never mind a perfect matching set of three.
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Ta.
I just wondered as you both mentioned 21".