Page 49 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2024

East Yorkshire
District
Association
I appear to have missed the submission date for the previous edition of Simply Vegetables probably because I spent
a month vacationing in USA, watching the solar eclipse and visiting lots of other exciting places in Texas and the southwest states. So, a quick precis of all events held since the start of the year follows below.
At the AGM held in January, the existing Committee was re-elected en bloc.
Our February meeting was loosely entitled Gardeners’ Question Time
and featured Roger Burnett and Sheila Johnson from North Yorkshire. In view
of the imminent peat ban, the benefits or otherwise of peat-less composts featured strongly in the discussion.
Our March meeting featured John Smiles from West Yorkshire who talked about
the NVS Millennium Class and a lot more besides, including how to grow tomatoes and cucumbers.
Our April Meeting featured Tracey Parkinson from Goole and her passion for dahlias. She has achieved considerable success since her initial Novice Champion win in 2012 and has gone on to win
Best Pompom in 2021 and Open Centre Champion in 2022. She grows Pompom and other small varieties of dahlia, but her favourites are the Collarette dahlia varieties which leave no room for error between cutting and staging.
At our May meeting we were treated to
a talk on Sweet Peas by local grower John Mabbett. Although John modestly claims not to be a great Showman, he has actually
Mires Beck Nursery
done quite well at some of the larger Sweet Pea Shows. At RHS and NSPS Shows,
the use of oasis as a staging material is
not allowed (because of environmental concerns about the use of microplastics) and damp play sand has to be used instead.
In June we visited Mires Beck Nursery which is an impressive example of community collaboration which provides an important social care function as well
as assisting wild flower conservation.
The nursery grows a selection of 400 perennials, 50 herb varieties, a hundred species of Yorkshire wildflowers, as well
as a number of nut-bearing trees and Phragmites reeds which are used to improve water quality by harnessing excess nitrogen and phosphorous.
At the end of July, we will be visiting
a local allotment site, but submission deadlines mean that a report on this visit will not appear until the next edition of Simply Vegetables. Traditionally, we hold no meetings in August and December.
Sheila and Roger
East Yorkshire and West Yorkshire
DA Shows are usually held on the same weekend to enable members to exhibit their produce at both events. The date of the EYDA Show is confirmed as Sunday 29th September 2024 and will be held at Cherry Lane Garden Centre, Beverley.
Reports on our July visit to Hessle Allotments and our Autumn events will feature in the next edition of Simply Vegetables but, in the meantime, our programme of planned events and current news can be seen on our website http:// nvseyda.uk. and Facebook page. National Vegetable Society – East Yorkshire D.A. Our continued aim remains to provide a variety of interesting topics throughout the year that will appeal to our existing members, as well as attract new ones.
Paul Neve FNVS
John Smiles NVS Medal – Carrots
Tracey Parkinson
John Mabbett
Simply Vegetables 49