Page 23 - Simply Vegetables Summer 2022

Protect our local vegetable & produce shows
So here we are in July, often a month of hot and close weather with drought and heavy rains in the balance. Midsummer Day has gone and it will be less than eight weeks to the first local autumn shows.
The last couple of years have made havoc with the regular show programmes. May I suggest that you plan to support your show this year? These exhibitions are an opportunity to achieve well-earned respect by winning certificates, cards, rosettes, cups, medals, and prize money!
July is the big month in the garden.
It is not the time of the year to sit back observing mother nature continue her wonderful work. It is the period to be growing healthy plants by prudent feeding, watering and lots of TLC.
• “A holiday this month? No chance!
Delay it again? A bit longer this time?
• The family? No! What? Miss the
enjoyment and thrill of sausages cooked on the BBQ and picnics of sandwiches, cake and fruity drinks, together in the sunshine?”
Soft fruits are gathered when they can be made use of. Preserving the best when freshly picked.
Gladioli are a favourite for a display of colour at the Show. They will have been planted at regular intervals after Mid-April. First the early flowering corms on the lighter, sandy soils. Later flowering varieties are the last to have been planted. When the flowers are open the plants become top heavy and support is advisable. If you are a bit late with your supports, avoid damaging the roots with your stakes.
Supplementary watering: In the course of a month when there is little or no rainfall, one inch each week will give a boost to the
plants bound for display to look their best as potential exhibits.
Generally, I find that it is about right
to give a pint of water to each plant, or a ‘can-full’ for a six-foot (1.8m) row. This as an addition to your fortnightly handful of a chicken/slug pellet mix and pint of diluted milk, sprayed-on to keep the mildew away.
At home: Of course, there is the little matter of keeping the lawn tidy. Leaving the grass area for the wildflowers to establish themselves. Remove the weeds, cut the edges and protect against all the unwanted baddies, both insects and birds.
Growing vegetables for exhibition
Just a few related and practical tips.
Runner Beans: Are always a challenge
to exhibit. The Judges will be looking for snappy freshness. Feed this hungry crop regularly with a dressing of fertilizer to speed-up growth. Remove the side shoots. Nip out the growing point when it reaches the top of the canes. Beans are always thirsty. Water over the plants in the evening to help set the flowers.
Peas: It is six weeks from first flowering
to the show. This month requires regular watering after the first flowers have formed, to progress pods into exhibits for the bench.
There is a lot that you can do to improve to a good sample. Hoe regularly; Mulch with lawn mowing’s alongside the rows; Remember to snip off the tendrils! Support the plants and keep the pigeons away.
Potatoes: Keep an eye-open particularly on the development of the more prolific varieties. Resist from encouraging too many large spuds developing tight in the bags and spoiling the shape of your entry. Keep them regularly soaked, particularly when they are flowering and be alert for an outbreak of blight.
Giant Marrows: Exhibition specimens expect to be setting the flowers. Cover both male and female flowers in the evening before they start to open and pollinate during mid-morning next day. Shield ‘fertilized female flowers’ with a plastic bag and rubber band for two days to avoid any cross pollination. Allow to set and grow
a maximum of five fruit on a main vine of 10-12 feet long. Side vines: stop at three feet long and bury them for plant stability and growth.
Beetroot: Continue to sow at two-to-three- week intervals, growing at six inch (15cm) spacing. It is well worth producing a few special ones for your show. Choose a patch of soil nicely mixed with plenty of compost. To please the judge, look for young straight tap roots, good fresh skins, freedom from pests and disease, all even size and as big as a tennis ball.
Sweetcorn: There is nothing better to attract family members to your plot than this now popular vegetable. They are good to show and you will be pleasantly surprised with any success you have. Choose a few plants at the southern edge of the rows and limit the number of cobs to two from each plant. An occasional application of general fertilizer will speed up growth and reduce the time it takes to cook the cobs.
The Produce Show
And finally to test your taste: Victoria sponge, Fruit cake, Jam, Scones, Sausage rolls, Bread and Wine. This is where the creative work and endeavours of the members are displayed.
Never is there better value available.
Ron Nuttall
Simply Vegetables 23