Page 42 - Simply Veg 1 2024

Onions and also class 9, 4 veg collection with some very tidy Onions, Garlic, pickling shallots and small fruited tomatoes. John Currie also continued his tomato success with winning class 20 with a nice set of 9 tomatoes.
Next was the National Championships, hosted by the Northern Branch in the beautiful setting of Newby Hall and its grounds and next to a fabulous display which had been created by the West Yorkshire D.A. Well, I must say that I think this has been one of the most successful Scottish Branch scoops in a long time, with 29 tickets being awarded (12 x 1st , 5 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd , 7 x 4th & 4 x 5th).
Niall Currie started off by retaining the six veg collection trophy from the previous year with a stunning collection. Niall also won the 1kg to 1.5kg Onions Class for the 3rd year running which
has never been done
before! He then cleaned
up in the long beetroot
class with a fine set of
Regar (Niall also included
some very nice Regar in
his six veg collection too).
Niall also won the Chairs
Challenge with a very
clean set of Falco Turnip (seed provided by DT Brown to all our members earlier
in the year). Niall achieved a 2nd place
in the blanch leeks (pipped at the post
by a fabulous set by David Metcalf) and he achieved a 4th place in the
20 point veg collection as well
as a 4th place in the pickling
Shallots, just ahead of Susan
Taylor, who was delighted with
her first ever ticket at the
National Championships.
Well done Susan for
a very nice set of
pickling shallots.
Not to be outdone by Susan, Jean Thomson won her first ever tickets at the National Championships too, with a 5th prize for a nice set of Large
Exhibition Shallots and a 5th prize ticket for a very clean set of peas. Well done, Jean. Frank Taylor was narrowly ahead of Jean
enjoyed the show. I mentioned 250g onions earlier and I’m happy to report that young Scott Hodgson achieved a well-deserved 2nd place ticket for his set of well ripened Tasco Onions. Watch out Jim, as Scott’s not far off that red ticket. Also in the tickets for the 250g onion class was Peter Bragg with a 5th place for another very nice exhibit, well done Peter.
A further three red tickets this year, went to Ian Simpson who was delighted to win the Millenium class, especially when this was the first time, he has ever actually managed to enter it. Ian was also chuffed to have retained the Sherine Potato Class and to have finally won the French beans after many years of trying. Excited to enter the new ‘15 points and under’ class, Ian came second to Sherie Plumb and he also came 2nd to Keith Chambers in the Tomato class. Keith has won the Tomato class on seven occasions and has written an article for this magazine on how he grows them. (see page 16). Also in the Championships, Ian was awarded a 4th Prize for his Parsnips and coloured Potatoes, plus a
3rd prize in the peas and a 2nd place in
the 20 point veg collection. Ian was also happily surprised to find out that he had been awarded the Banksian medal. The Banksian Medal is awarded to the exhibitor winning the most prize money (excluding
Class 1 and Class 2).
Jim Pearson continued with the
trend of red tickets for the Sottish
branch members, firstly for his 20 point veg collection with two nice Zaragoza
Jim Gradie entered three classes and won all three!
Class 02 - Millennium - 1st - Ian Simpson - Hercules, Maisey, Bonnie, Pablo, Sweet Candle
in the Peas class
with a 4th place ticket which provided him with some degree of bragging rights, albeit he was very proud of Jean and Susan’s results.
Jim Gradie followed on from his recent Scottish Branch Championships successes where he entered three classes
and won all three! Jim’s exhibits were Large Exhibition Shallots, the 250g Onions (Toughball) and a stonking set of Show Perfection peas. Jim has now won the peas on seven occasions. Jim’s three winning exhibits were staged by his friend, Colin Stockman who had travelled down to enter his first National
Championships,
thanks for that
Colin, and we
are glad you
Frank Taylor - Gold Medal
42 Simply Vegetables
Class 11 - Onions 1kg to 1.5Kg - 1st Niall Currie - Kelsae
Ian Archibald - Fellowship Certificate