Page 61 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2021

Ted and David taking judging the fun competition very seriously
WANTED! Prime suspects pocket competition winnings
Hants DA
We have been relatively busy at Hants DA since the last issue of SV. In the July issue, I teased that a team from Hants DA were about to be involved in BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair at Beaulieu. Being the first Gardeners’ World Live event to be held at Beaulieu, it merits its own article,
so please see more about this event elsewhere in SV.
We postponed the Hants DA Open Garden until 25th July to benefit from the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. As such, I am sure we
all felt more relaxed meeting up in
the Goulds’ garden and having a good catch up. We were lucky with the weather and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Barbara, Nigel and Phil Gould. Thanks to them and to everyone who attended, for a lovely time.
Ted Perren and David Shergold
did the honours judging our fun competition of “Five veg or salad items in a seed tray”. Paul Shadwell, affectionately known as “The Farmer” because of his stubborn refusal to grow anything for show, came along with his first ever show entry. Ros Holton no doubt influenced that advancement, but rumour has it
that Paul was quizzing the judges afterwards about what the judges were looking for, so he may have been bitten by the show bug.
If the size of seed tray contributed to points, Tony Stevens would have been the outright winner as his trays were massive. As it was, he won anyway. Second was Nigel Gould and third was yours truly. Up until 9am that morning I thought I was going to have to put in a comedy entry, with my five salad items being a cucumber, tomato, pod of peas, tin of tuna and jar of mayonnaise. Then against all
Open Garden 2021
odds, I found a decent beetroot and an undersized green pepper to enter instead of the two rogue items.
In July we had the Southern Branch Championships Virtual Show. More
on that in a separate article in SV,
but I must take the opportunity to congratulate Hants DA member Nigel Gould and Caddy Sitwell from Dorset for their excellent entries. Nigel had a phenomenal show, but I imagine his proudest moment was beating Potato Queen Sherie Plumb to 1st place in the white potato class. Caddy came first
in the Pickling Shallots class with an immaculate set of nine shallots.
Looking ahead, by the time SV comes out in October, we will have held the Hants DA Annual Show in September. Something to write about for the next Hants DA report.
On Sunday 17 October, 11.30am- 2.30pm we have Apple Day with Chris Bird from Sparsholt College at Wellow Village Hall, Buttons Lane, Romsey SO51 6BR. Chris will be showing us a collection of locally harvested apples including heritage varieties. There
will be an interactive talk with an opportunity to taste the different apple varieties.
For Tuesday 9 November 7.30pm
we have James Hocking with a talk on “The Golden State - California’s Finest Wines” – Venue TBC. James has over two decades of experience in the wine industry, mostly specialising in the import and sale of the best wines from ‘The Golden State’. The evening will be an introduction to a selection of wines with wine tasting included. Spittoon provided so there is no excuse for drinking and driving.
We are having to find a new venue with a bigger room for our monthly Hants DA meetings, hence “Venue TBC” for the wine talk. It has been raised before that our meeting room can be a bit snug and particularly
in the aftermath of Covid-19, we appreciate our members may feel more comfortable in a more spacious room. Nigel and Barbara in their determination to get Hants DA monthly meetings up and running again, are doggedly researching suitable venues. I will email details of the chosen venue nearer the time, but please continue
to check the NVS website for the most up to date information. Many thanks to Fiona Shenfield for her help posting the updates.
Alison Clarke
Hants DA Secretary
Simply Vegetables 61