Page 25 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2022/23

Fun Carrot Competition
GREAME LA MARQUAND FNVS
There were sixty-seven entries in our fun carrot competition which was held at the Flower and Produce show at the Royal Jersey show ground on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of August.
The event featured carrots of all shapes and sizes that were entered into two keenly fought competitions. The three best uniform carrots and the funniest looking single carrot.
The system worked well as entrants were able to harvest up to ten carrots from their own individual thirty litre pot and choose the best three for showing. This left seven carrots with just one to choose from for the funniest looking carrot which were in all shapes and sizes.
I was amazed by the interest shown
in both these competitions, especially from the children who entered, with some of them arriving at early doors the next morning to see if they had won a card, especially the red-first prize card. I was
of course delighted to find out that first, second and third places in the three best carrots were all won by Children. Nora Treanor and myself were the Judges.
Our judges for the single funniest carrot competition were Collette Bisson and
Gill Kay both feature writers from the JEP [Jersey Evening Post] who both did a sterling job in choosing the winning entries which provided some hilarious specimens.
This is a competition that has steadily seen an increase in entries over the last few years, as there are more folk growing their own vegetables in containers, which is encouraging for children especially when there are prizes involved.
It was also good to see nine members from the Salvation Army’s growing group
taking part in the competition, thanks to Salvation Army Captain Richard Nunn. Here is what Richard had to say after the event. Our Salvation Army gardening was really excited to take part in the carrot competition at this year’s summer show.
It is a really fun and easy way to celebrate the hard work our group has put in over the last few months, and we were pleased to take home a few prizes. Our project works with adults with additional learning needs, and we have the privilege of seeing a group of people gain in confidence and skills and have fun. We want to say a big thank you
to the RJA&HS the Jersey branch of the National vegetable society and the other volunteers who made the show such a success. We would also like to express our
thanks for the donated produce from the show, especially the beautiful veg grown by the States of Jersey prison service, which will be used in our cafe’ in St Helier in our free daily soup.
Thank you for your kind words, Richard and on behalf of the Jersey Association of the National vegetable society. We would like to thank the Royal Jersey Agricultural society for setting up the table space
for our fun carrot competition and for facilitating us. This competition would
not have taken place without them. The Jersey Association of the NVS would also like to thank our sponsors Marshalls seed, for sponsoring the carrot seed and prize vouchers, and Sonnic support Solutions for sponsoring the compost and containers.
Collette and Gill judging
Richard Nunn and group
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