Page 63 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2020

Welsh Branch
Welsh Branch report
It’s certainly been very different this
year with all our shows cancelled. Our attention has turned to next year, and at the time of writing we are trying to arrange things for hosting next years National Championships. All our preparations so far have had to be by telephone.
Our chairman Jim Thompson and our show manager Arwyn Edwards are currently looking at the possibility of taking the championship to the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagons near Cardiff. It’s an excellent venue we’ve held our branch championships there a few times in the past and since the new building has been completed, we’ve
heldit in the atrium. This means all the visitors have to pass through the show venue. The uncertainty until recently whether the show would be in Scotland as they couldn’t hold it this year or would it come to Wales. Added
to this contacting the museum with many of their staff on furlough has meant that at the time of writing these notes things are up in the air. However, should we draw a blank on this we will have to rearrange the show to Wrexham. Our branch championships would have been at Wrexham this year but of course the Corona Virus put paid to that. We were
all looking forward to the show in Wrexham this year because the team up there, Gareth Morris, Andrew Jones and Don Owen and others had obtained sponsorship for most of the classes. Any more than this I can’t tell you at the moment. Probably by the time you are reading this we might well have some of the answers.
It’s been a frustrating year to say the
least, our get togethers at the RHS Cardiff Show and the Royal Welsh show were cancelled. Of course, these are our main opportunities to raise some funds to fund our championships. The most annoying part was that we had raised a lot of plants to use at these venues, and with everyone being so uncertain of what we could or couldn’t do
at the start of the pandemic, most of these plants went to waste. In my case what could I do with 150 chilli peppers. If I’d grown them all, Treorci could have been the chilli capital of Wales.
Personally, I had started erecting a second-hand large polytunnel next to
my greenhouse because my wife had decided that I’m getting too old to carry
my chrysanthemums in 10 inch clay pots
50 yards uphill into the greenhouse. All the materials were ordered online and often I had to wait a week or two for delivery. On one occasion I only wanted a few bolts but rather than jump in the car and collect them, I had to wait a week or two for them to arrive. Even if I had a younger person to fetch then, nothing was open anyway. But when it came to putting the polythene sheet on the top my wife came up trumps. She’s only a few years younger than me but to be honest she’ll have a go at anything, and being a keen seamstress she’s fussy enough to make sure the polythene is on nice and tight. The down
Zenith Tomatoes
side is she bosses me about.
On the up side, vegetables have grown
well. We’ve picked lots of legumes. The potatoes are cropping well. I’ve grown Zenith tomatoes this year and what a crop they’ve given me. They are very vigorous. After a very mild wet winter it has surprised me that my apples didn’t have a lot of flower and the crop is the lightest, I’ve ever had.
I’m now looking forward to the Welsh Branch being able to hold a meeting. I’m beginning to wonder if the other committee members look the same as I remember.
Ivor Mace
200 Club Winners
Chairman’s Thoughts
In my previous ‘thoughts’ I mentioned the word ‘easy’. It’s now got ‘difficult’! Trying to organise a National Show with venues which are still in effect in ‘Lockdown’ and obviously have more important matters to deal with – their staff
and survival- is not easy. See Ivor’s Branch News below for what we are trying to arrange. I have spent many hours on the telephone gathering points of view and suggestions from members of the committee and Sandra our National Chair. The final decisions will have to be agreed
by the committee whenever that is possible.
I have taken part in two Zoom meetings of the Trustees. A new experience and one that I am not very comfortable with but needs must! One of these meetings was to approve the annual awards. Congratulations to Owain Roberts for his Fellowship. Very well deserved.
As far as my trialling of varieties, methods and recipes goes it seems that so far I have got rid of the ‘freckles’ on my Parsnip and Carrots, have decided which round beetroot to grow next year and that Mimi tomatoes are difficult to grow with trusses far apart and pointing in different directions but taste delicious! I have also confirmed that my large onions will stop growing at 14’ for circumference and that the leeks in Hydroponic tanks are the best I have ever grown. I will try to write a proper report in the future. So please keep safe and enjoy your garden and the produce.
Regards, Jim
No
Name
Prize
Jun-20
108
Elodie Hocking
£20.00
147
Alaw Jones
£10.00
123
Ellen Bennett
£5.00
Jul-20
59
Thara Lindsey
£20.00
114
Anne Morris
£10.00
42
Ian Nicholson
£5.00
Aug-20
152
Cecil Townsend
£20.00
132
Ceinwen Thomas
£10.00
92
Ron Jones
£5.00
Sep-20
123
Ellen Bennett
£20.00
41
Terri Nicholson
£10.00
6
Catlin Boyle
£5.00
Oct-20
110
Gareth Morris
£20.00
1
Ewan Thomas
£10.00
40
Gerry Gibbs
£5.00
Nov-20
194
Ann Roberts
£20.00
186
Luke Briggs
£10.00
196
Ann Roberts
£5.00
Dec 2020 (Xmas)
192
Viki Pinkham
£50.00
153
Guy Hall
£40.00
52
Geraint Griffiths
£30.00
163
Ann Whiffen
£20.00
New Polytunnel
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