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.

Nairn & District Show Results

Well after a hectic early morning I bench 11 exhibits at Nairn this morning.  The show was not as well supported this year and the exhibitors I spoke to all blamed the weather.  With that in mind there were still some very good exhibits there.  So you can imagine my delight and surprise when I went back this afternoon to find that I had managed 9 firsts and 2 seconds from my 11 entries.  With my collection being judged best exhibit in the veg section and also winning the cup for most points in the section.

 My collection, with Pendle Improved, Blue Belle, Kelsae, show Perfection and Sweet candle. This was awarded Best in Section

My white potatoes "Harmony"

My Potato Board with NVS Amour,Maxine,Blue Belle & Harmony 

Lastly My globo Onions which were First in the under 250 gms class.

I was also first with my Leeks,Cucumber,Parsley,Shallots & Cauliflower and second with Coloured potatoes and beetroot

Growth despite the weather

The weather has been pretty poor this week but the veg are growing despite that. 

 I have 18 inch collars on the celery.  As I've said before this is my attempt at growing celery for showing and I've opted for foil insulation as a collar.  pluses are it keeps the plants cool in the heat (what heat) and warm in the colder weather (every day)  These plants I hope will be ready for the Black Isle show on the 2nd August.  fingers crossed.  

This is my onions from set,  The ones in the fore ground are Hercules and unfortunately they took a fierce beating from the weather recently and I'm struggling to get any quality for showing. 

The peas are now starting to flower and all I need is some sun and plenty bees and we will be in business.  I'm hoping that they will be ready for 11th August but might be pushing it. 

The Leeks have put a spurt on in the last week or so, particularly since I took all the split leaves off.  You can see from the picture above that the button is well up now and about 15 inches.  The collars are 17 inch and I might lengthen them yet.  The leek is about 6 inch in girth so I need them to stop going up and start going out. 

This is my first attempt at the 250 gram class.  the onion above is Globo sown in the middle of February. It is about 8 inches just now and I have put a shinty ball next to it to give you an Idea of scale. (shinty ball is about same size as a tennis ball)

Finally my "large" onions! The one in the picture is 14 inch (shinty ball along side) and I have another 3 about 13 inch so hopefully I can get a set from them. 

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