Page 51 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2022/23

Northern Branch
Chairman’s report
Ron and myself sharing a joke at RHS Tatton
Manchester and Cheshire DA
It is with great sadness that I need to inform everyone of the passing of two of our Cheshire DA members Roy Pitchfork and Ron Finch. Ron and Roy were heavily involved for many years with
our stand at RHS Tatton Flower Show with helping us to win many gold medals, they will be greatly missed.
At our Manchester and Cheshire meetings we had Damson Tregaskis, head bee keeper for
Hive 5 Manchester come to us in September. It was a very interesting talk, We all learned a lot about bees that we definitely didn’t know before. We didn’t have a meeting in October as the room was already booked
but as I write this I am planning our November quiz and buffet.
We don’t have meetings in December or January and I am making plans for this years program of events.
If you want to hear of these events then feel free to contact me to be on our email list, manchesternvs@gmail. com We are hoping to have a wide variety of speakers for the coming year.
We meet at the Hough End Police Club, Mauldeth Rd West, Chorlton every 1st Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm. Everyone is welcome, you can just turn up.
Sandra McNicholls
RHS Tatton Ron Finch 4th from left, Roy Pitchfork 2nd from the right
MEMBERS 20000 TO 29999
As the year is coming to an end (I am writing this in October) we can reflect back on the season which has been indifferent across the country. Where
I live, we have had very little rain all season. Crops were low compared with other years, and we still have a hosepipe ban in place in October. We have had our first frost of the Autumn with ice needing to be scraped off the car windows. Visiting allotments this year I noticed
a marked drop in winter crops being grown and summer crops maturing early.
up, run and dismantle the shows we would not have the events we have.
As you know by now, I work at a wholesale plant nursery growing millions of plug plants and a few more mature plants for the councils and winter season plants. We have also been trialling some peat free composts to see if it can compete with the standard peat and clay mix that we are using. This has been a challenge in many ways with the mixes being too fibrous that the machines were unable to fill the trays as good as required or too much binding material included making the compost
very wet and sticky once again blocking
The shows I have attended and judged at were of a very good standard although entries in classes were down
at most events. The Autumn
flower show held at Newby
Hall proved to be a one
of the best shows around
with the horticulture tent
filled with excellent produce
staged in the Northern
Branch Championships and
the Northern Horticultural
section which included the
giant vegetables and the
fruit sections. Next year the
National Championships will
be held at this event in place
of the Northern Branch
Championships.
Two other events I attend
were the Monkton leek
and vegetable show and the Stanley show in County Durham. Both of these are of
the highest standard with produce that would win at any level. It is a pleasure to attend and judge these events and the success of these are all down to a few dedicated organisers who work hard to keep them running. This is the same for any of the shows. Without the dedication of individuals giving up their time to help set
up the machines. Other mixes were falling apart at the gapping stage making it impossible to gap the trays with machines. We are adapting the mixes to make them suitable. This is something that we will have to work with in future as the use of peat is going to be restricted or banned.
By the time you receive this report we will have sold the Poinsettia crop and Cyclamen plus dug up and sold the Hyacinths which are all grown for the winter market. I should have
also taken three weeks’
holiday from work which I am reluctant to do although the winter months is our maintenance time which is servicing and cleaning, not my favourite jobs.
Anyway, I hope you all have a good rest before the new season begins and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Adrian Read FNVS Chairman Northern Branch
Without the dedication of individuals giving up their time to help set up, run and dismantle the shows we would not have the events we have
North Yorkshire and South Durham DA
The North Yorkshire and South Durham DA has been busy over the past three months, attendance at the DA meetings continue to be well attended.
The August meeting was a great event. Our annual Potato Challenge where the potatoes given out in April are weighed. Once again Tom Moore was the victor with a fantastic weight of 22.1lbs (10.02 kgs) from one potato. Newcomer Mike McCarthy was in second place with 18.6 lbs (8.4kgs), and Deryck Forrest in third with 12.6lbs (5.7kgs).
Our September meeting hosted the DA Mini-Show which was a great success although entries were down a little on previous years, but the quality on the bench was fantastic. Our Giant Marrow Competition will take place at the end of October and November we will host one of Adrian’s challenging quizzes.
Simply Vegetables 51