Page 58 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2024

Class
Vegetable
First prize
Second prize
Third prize
1
Onions, 250g or under
Norman Holland
Ken Holland
Essex DA
We’re well under way with our programme of events for 2024, with the February, April and May talks having taken place at the time of writing. However, our May meeting on Asian Hornets will also have happened by the time the July magazine is published, and depending on the timing of delivery,
our Mini Show might also have already happened (if it arrives after 14 July)!
Our first talk of the year was carried over from last October, with an insightful talk from Tracy at The Giggly Pig Company on her life and how she got into pig farming. And an added bonus was that there were sausages for our members to buy after the talk which went down a treat!
Following this, Stuart Mills from Fargro came and gave us a talk on Alternatives to Peat. Stuart gave a very interesting talks on the pros and cons of various peat-free growing media such as Woodfibre, coir and bracken amongst others. Although
it seems like us gardeners still have a
lot to learn about growing peat-free, particularly in terms of pH, watering and nutrient retention, I’m sure we’ll all rise to the challenge as peat-based composts become less readily available.
In May, the NVS’ own Vanessa Jones came and spoke to us about the potential detrimental impact of Asian hornets to our native bee population and therefore the importance of knowing how to identify and report a sighting. We’re all keeping our eyes peeled now!
In addition, we held our Essex DA Mini Show on 14 July. We had 98 entries this year, slightly lower than last year, but it was still a great display of exhibits put on. Although we did our special class again for 2024, where we distributed Patty Pan summer squash plants to members at
2 Onions, over 250g
4 Onions, green salad
6 Potatoes, coloured
8 Beans, runner
10 Beans, broad
12 Cabbages, green
14 Shallots, exhibition
16 Courgettes
18 Cucumbers, indoor
20 Cucumbers, mini
22 Tomatoes, salad
24 Collection of 4 kinds of vegetables 26 Collection of 3 kinds of herbs
28 Novice class
Norman Holland Ken Holland Sherie Plumb Sherie Plumb John Brackley Dave Willox John Brackley Sherie Plumb Sherie Plumb Sherie Plumb No entries Sherie Plumb Emily Harris
No entries
Sue Holland Alan Ripley Peter Plumb Peter Plumb Sherie Plumb Peter Plumb Norman Holland Peter Plumb Amy Plumb John Brackley
Peter Plumb Linda Willox
Alan Ripley Geoff Blower Ken Holland Ken Holland
Fred Plumb Dave Willox Chris Harris
Norman Holland
3
Onions, shown as grown* (excluding green salad)
Sherie Plumb
Peter Plumb
Sue Holland
5
Potatoes, white
Sherie Plumb
Peter Plumb
Ken Holland
7
Carrots, other than long
Dave Willox
Ken Holland
9
Beans, dwarf
Sherie Plumb
Peter Plumb
11
Beetroot, globe
Peter Plumb
Ken Holland
Geoff Blower
13
Cauliflowers
Peter Plumb
Sherie Plumb
Norman Holland
15
Shallots, pickling (max. 30mm)
John Brackley
17
Table marrows
Sherie Plumb
Peter Plumb
Ken Holland
19
Cucumbers, outdoor
No entries
21
Tomatoes, cherry
Peter Plumb
23
Peas
Peter Plumb
25
Collection of 4 kinds of vegetables (1 of each)
Sherie Plumb
Dave Willox
Peter Plumb
27
Any other vegetable
John Brackley
Sherie Plumb
Dave Willox
29
Special class – summer squashes
Peter Plumb
our April meeting, the weather conditions meant we only had one entry unfortunately. No one could get them to set! But right on cue, at the time of writing two weeks after the show, the plants can’t stop producing squashes! We’ll have to have a think about what we do for this class in 2025.
Thank you to everyone that came
and supported the show either through exhibiting or coming to visit as well as Linda for making the refreshments. Thanks
also to Jan Lovell for judging the show for us. A full list of prize winners are above.
We still have a vacant Secretary position on our Essex DA committee. If anyone is interested in taking up this role, please get in touch.
For further information on Essex DA events, please contact Emily Harris on emily.plumb@btinternet.com or Sherie Plumb on 01621 741787.
58 Simply Vegetables