Forres & District Flower Show results

Well after a very stressful Friday trying to prepare veg for two shows I managed to bench 11 exhibits at Forres today.  Sorry no pictures as phone was dead at show.  6 firsts 3 seconds and a third.  So really pleased.  This show has been won by the same fellow for years and this is the first time he has had any real competition   unfortunately he is not very talkative and I did not manage to have much of a blether with him.  I had firsts in potato board and both coloured & whites. Peas, Stump carrots and Beetroot, my seconds were my veg collection which consisted of Leeks, Celery,Parsnips,Stumps & Peas: other seconds were Pair of Caulies and Cucumber with a second set of stumps getting third.
So all in all a happy chappie just need to start to plan for next year now and see if I can make further improvement.

Looks more like failure than Success.

Well here is another helping from my garden.  Like every where else Morayshire has had its share of cold wet weather which has held everything back.  My hopes of getting any quality veg ready for the NVS Scottish Branch Show at Kelso on the 26th of August have all but disappeared.  Some of this has been down to the weather but I have to admit there is a fair amount of it down to me not being well enough organised. That being said I have not given up hope all together and the 26th is still nearly 8 weeks away.   

 Here is my Parsnips (Polar). you may remember that after sowing they were then covered by 5inch of snow.  The foliage is about 14 inches and I'm hoping I will get some for my local show on the second week of September 

I've got a whole bed of Cauliflowers like this one.  I had hoped they would be ready for Kelso. But I think I might be a little early with them.  If that is the case I have a show on the 11th of August. The plants are 2ft apart so that gives you some Idea of the size they are now.  As you will notice I have them under enviromesh to keep them clear of butterflys etc.  

This is some of my Pablo beet root. The plants in the fore ground have only recently been singled whilst the plants in the background are growing on strongly and I have hopes of getting some ready for possibly early August.  

This is one of my Stump root carrot beds. These were also covered in snow and took almost 4 wks to germinate.  However as you can see are now growing strongly but will not be big enough for the NVS show at kelso.  In the fore ground is some more beet root.

Here is a close up of the sweet candle, it is about the thickness of my index finger.

Well these are my peas but as you can see I've balls up with the camera and it looks like they are growing on their side.  The plants of my first sowing are about 28 inches and look to be ready to flower.  I'm hoping to have some for the 11th of August.

Well folks that's all for now please feel free to comment.

Will my Shallots be "pregnant" this year, is size everything!!!

Well I really hope I'm a better veg grower than I am at mastering this blog technology.   Things have been moving on a fair bit since I last blogged. My Shallots have finally recovered from their snow "bath" in early April and are growing on quite nicely.  I am however a little worried as it was about this time last year that they decided to start going double, which is of course no use for showing. Traditionally the lifting date is the 21st June.  My largest shallots are about 5 inch in circumference so I need them to put on about another inch plus in the next week!  I've also got my pea area set up and my first sowing growing up their poles with another sowing well through in the green house and my final sowing going in tomorrow.  As you can see I've 8ft canes secured 9 inch apart with the peas trained up the canes. My stump carrots (Sweet Candle) have finally started to move on now after taking over 4 wks to come through.  They are fairly strong but I'll be without them for my first 2 shows.  As I will with my parsnips (Polar).  The stronger ones are about 6 inches high with the later ones about 2 inch.  I've include a pic of my show tatties which are working away quite nicely.  I'm currently watering them once a week. Each bag gets the spray gun for 25 secs in a hope to keep the moist and deter common scab.

I've also had a wee bit of luck on the Vole front with a number of adults captured and relocated!

Peas

Shallots

Sweet Candle

Coloured Tatties

 Polar Parsnips

Leeks finally have new home

I finally managed to finish glazing the greenhouse I'm using this year to grow my leeks in.  It is an 6 x 8  house which I picked up a couple of weeks ago for the lifting.  There was no glass with it but I had glass from a previous expedition up North and as I'm not glazing right up to the eves just now so that it does not get too warm I thought "jobs a goodun". As you can see I've created a bed down each side of the house and started transferring my leeks in.  They are at 12in centers and the support is 15 in apart and 28 inch from the ground.  This is loosely based on my good friend Neil "Islay malt" Muirhead's design so if it all goes pear shape we know who to blame. All I hope now is that my resident (onion & leek loving) voles do not find their way into this green house.   

This is my Parsnip bed.  as you can see the heavy snow and cold weather has had a fairly drastic effect on them.   I have at least 2 blank stations out of my 20, the ones in the back ground have been singled and are now starting to move on. They are about 3 inch high, the variety is Polar.  Its the first time I've grown this variety.  As you can also see I am attempting to grow in a peat bed with stations cored out and filled with my mix.   

 

At last my tatties are starting to show through.  I'm about 4 wks behind from last year and with my first show at the end of July it will be tight.  I've 100 bags in this year with the following varieties:- Harmony, NVS Sherine  The Bishop for whites, Blue Belle, NVS Amour, Kestral, Maxine & Purple Eyed Seedling for coloured.  I also have a bed with vales emerald and pixie which I find can "scrub" up quite well.