Page 60 - SV 3 2024

Southern Branch
MEMBERS 50000 TO 59999
Oh, how time appears to fly, it only seems a little while ago that I penned the Chairman’s Report for the Spring edition of SV and now here I am in April preparing my report for the summer edition, where does the time go?
The Sussex DA have just had a good weekend at the South of England Spring Live event (20th & 21st April) and Marion Neden will be providing a more detailed report for SV. Paul Dalby (Sussex DA Co-Treasurer) and myself sit on the
SEAS Horticultural Committee, which is responsible for the planning and running of the horticultural events at the Spring Live, South of England Show and Autumn Show & Horse Trials and a fair proportion of
our time was spent on the children’s seed sowing table where we invited children
to sow either dwarf French bean seeds
or pumpkin seeds then take them home
to grow on. Those who elected to sow
the pumpkin seeds were also invited to bring their fully grown (or not) pumpkins to the Autumn Show and be entered into a competition (either on the Saturday or Sunday) for the largest pumpkin. As can be imagined, most took up the offer to sow pumpkins!
The weather is unusually cold as I write this article and is certainly delaying any planting out, even down here near the South Coast and on the southern side of the Downs which is where I
live. Whilst my garden is reasonably sheltered, I am reluctant to start seeds off in the greenhouse until there is some certainty that temperatures will pick up. As I have mentioned previously, I gave up my allotment at the end of September last year, having had the plot for over 20 years, so my growing plans for this year
have been drastically cut back and I am mainly concentrating on veg growing in containers, in the greenhouse and covered area that was the chicken run plus some veg, including runner beans, to be grown in a couple of raised bed.
The NVS Southern Branch AGM was held on Saturday, 6th April 2024 at the
East Horsely Village Hall, where I am pleased to announce that all Branch Officers and Committee Members were re-elected. I was a little disappointed with the attendance numbers but fortunately we did have sufficient for a quorum. I would like to thank those who travelled some distance across our Branch from the likes of Devon, Essex and Hampshire, it was much appreciated.
The Southern Branch Championships, together with the New Forest Show are due to take place on 30th, 31st July and
1st August 2024 at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show in Brockenhurst where I am looking forward to being there once again. I am sure that Ali Clarke will be making mention of it in the Hants DA Report and the event is on the NVS Events Page on our website.
By the time that you read this, the annual BBC Gardeners World Live will have been held in the grounds of Beaulieu on 3rd, 4th & 5th May 2024, where the Hants DA will again have had a promotional stand there. I have volunteered for the Friday and I just hope that the weather will have been kind to us over the three days, including the setting up day on Thursday the 2nd. It’s just a little too late for a report to be included in this edition however I know that Ali Clarke will be submitting a report for the Autumn edition.
I am also looking forward to welcoming
all of our members to the NVS National Championships on 21st and 22nd September 2024 at the South of England Agricultural Society (SEAS) showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, where it is
the Southern Branch’s turn to host the Championships, having last hosted it in 2019 at Brockenhurst. The Show Schedule and Entry Form is included in this edition of Simply Vegetables, and I have done a separate article, also in this edition, relating to the Championships. Even if you do not wish to enter the competition, please come along and support it, and for those who have never attended an NVS National Championships you will be amazed at the quality of the exhibits.
If you do not believe that you can grow national championship quality vegetables (and not all of us can), then why not enter the SEAS Autumn Horticultural Show being held over the same weekend. All entrants staging on the Friday afternoon, 20th September, will receive free entry to the showground and you may even come away with a place card and prize money. Full details can be found on the SEAS website at https://www.seas.org.uk/autumn-show/. As well as the NVS Championships and SEAS Horticultural Show there is plenty else to see, including the annual horse trials, now being held at Ardingly. There is ample free parking, so why not make a day of it. Dogs are also very welcome on the showground but please keep them away from the show animals and respect any signage relating to dogs.
As always, I close by wishing you good growing and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Norman Dickinson FNVS Southern Branch Chairman
Surrey DA
This year’s programme of events got off to a great start with our talk in March
on the Joy of Giant Pumpkin Growing, followed by Companion Planting for Edibles in April and Heritage Vegetables in May. Hopefully you will be starting to harvest your crops and looking forward already to our Autumn / Winter meetings resuming when you can start to wind down and relax with fellow enthusiasts at the following talks:
11th September - Horticulturist, Barnaby Millar: The Veg Garden in Autumn
9th October - Guildford Bee Keepers Association: Bees and Pollinating Fruit,
Vegetables, and Herbs
13th November - RHS Fruit Expert, Jim
Arbury: Growing Unusual Fruit
All meetings take place at 8pm in
the Millennium Room at East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Ave, East Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 6QT. Entry is free for NVS members and visitors are welcome so please pass the word on to your gardening friends.
The success of the Surrey DA has
been thanks to the group of dedicated, knowledgeable and generous members who gave their time arranging high quality talks, visits, mini-shows, demonstrations
and promoting the aims of the NVS at RHS Wisley events. Sadly, due to the
lack of members coming forward to step up and take their place, the Surrey DA
will close at the next AGM. If, like me,
you enjoy learning about growing and showing edibles from the experts; chatting and swapping plants, seeds and tips
with local growers and sharing the joy
of producing beautiful and tasty crops email SurreyNVSSecretary@outlook.com and join us in running the Surrey DA and making it flourish!
Moira Mannas, Surrey DA Secretary
60 Simply Vegetables