Page 30 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2024

Many readers of this wonderful magazine - who probably grow fruit
as well as vegetables - exhibit their vegetables at local or national level
but rarely exhibit their fruit. So, on this occasion I am not going to talk to you about growing fruit but instead am going to try and persuade you to take part in your allotment show or local horticultural society show by exhibiting fruit. Hopefully the next few paragraphs will encourage you to consider exhibiting some of your fruit and at the same
time for you and those readers who
are already exhibiting I will suggest a few tips on how to best show off your produce and win a coveted first prize.
The first thing I must note from my perspective is that as far as I am concerned exhibiting is not just about winning
prizes - OK I know that this could be an ultimate aim - but generally speaking it is all about putting your best produce on the showbench, showing the general public just what can be grown and how it can be grown at its best and perhaps at the same time winning the odd pound or so for a pint or two.
So why exhibit anything at a horticultural show? Interestingly the origins of exhibiting garden produce are to be found in the
age of the Victorian Head Gardeners who were determined (and often encouraged by their employers) to show to the public just how good they were and to other Head Gardeners that they were the best. The result was usually a feast of horticultural
produce which the public could only gasp at in amazement!
However, what it did was to show just what could be grown and as a result many gardeners started developing similar aspirations. Although it was not until
the twentieth century that the ordinary gardener started to seriously emulate their Victorian predecessors which they did with great gusto and although gardening has changed considerably since those Victorian times there is still a great display of horticultural produce at certain times of the year to be seen all over the country. It is good to see that there
is still great enthusiasm
and from my perspective
there has been an upsurge
in interest again since
Covid times and many
younger allotmenteers
and gardeners are now
becoming involved in
exhibiting and having fun.
this is often best observed as each exhibitor proudly brings their produce to the show. To me the show is the culmination of the growing season, whether it is for daffodils, roses, vegetables, fruit etc. and that is why I find it such an evocative time.
I suppose it is the late summer or autumn show that is my favorite as it is then that growers exhibit their fruit and vegetables - each of them resembling mini–Harvest Festivals! These are the shows where produce fit for the table or even better is carefully displayed along with the jams and wines often made from the
same stock! And it is these shows that are probably of most interest to the readers of this magazine as what better place than to show just what can be grown in the kitchen garden!
To me the best thing about the local shows is that for fruit in particular
is that everyone has the same chance of winning as everyone is growing in the same conditions - there are no real specialist growing techniques for fruit unlike
those used by some chrysanthemum, dahlia, vegetable growers etc.
So, having persuaded you to enter some fruit what do you do? Well before you do anything you need to obtain the show schedule for the show you are going to enter. Although this may seem a grand
Why not exhibit your fruit?
And yes, of course, I do
mean fun! There is always
an amazing camaraderie
between exhibitors and
this, in my opinion, is at its
best at allotment and local
shows. I firmly believe that the majority of allotmenteers cannot wait to prove that what they have said about their produce is actually true having put up with insults over the growing year! Other gardeners who belong to horticultural societies, garden clubs etc. have an equal amount of fun and
Many younger allotmenteers and gardeners are now becoming involved in exhibiting and having fun
30 Simply Vegetables
GERRY EDWARDS FNVS