Page 61 - Simply Veg 3.21

Gardening in a War Zone
Midlands
Branch
Championships
24th-26th September 2021 Three Counties Show Ground, Malvern
We are pleased to announce that the Malvern Show Committee has decided to stage the Autumn Show again this year, which means the Midlands Branch
will be able to stage their Championships.
Please note this will be a 3-day show, so exhibits will need to be staged on the Thursday afternoon/Friday early hours, in order for judging to take place on the Friday morning.
Sadly the Committee has decided there will be no Presentation Evening this year. Instead trophies will be presented in the marquee on the Show Ground during the afternoon of Friday, 24th September, at a time to be arranged.
We look forward to welcoming friends old and new.
I read in the newspaper this week that gardening is being recommended as an aid to relaxation and a therapy to alleviate stress. In my experience gardening can be rewarding, but is hardly stress-free, in reality sometimes I feel that I am fighting a protracted war.
For example, since last autumn we have continued fighting intermittent skirmishes amongst the indoor overwintering tender plants against guerrilla attacks, greenfly among the Cannas and scale insect and vine weevil among the lemons and olives.
I admit I was ill-prepared for the first onslaught in the greenhouse, I was so concerned with defending against the greatest winter foe, Jack Frost, who threatened the new shoots on the grapevine, that a mouse managed to sneak in under cover of darkness to eat the first tomato seedlings. However, I swiftly rearmed with mousetraps, and with the aid of a local cat, regained the upper hand.
With the arrival of spring new foes attacked and we were soon outflanked, first by the muntjac, who will eat almost anything, and the pheasants, who enjoy a dustbath
in the herb bed, then enemies in greater number. Pigeons and jackdaws will uproot any young plants left outside to harden off, then the slugs and cabbage whites wake
up in even greater numbers to start their attack. Previous experience has taught us to be ready for these onslaughts with nets and
slug traps.
As spring gives way to summer and we
transfer our young crops from the garden to the allotment across the road, we must raise our alert status to ‘heightened’, as all the aforementioned foes lurk there, reinforced
by allium leaf miner, carrot root fly, blackfly and whitefly. So, we put out more nets, in white, black and shades of green, until the allotment resembles a camp site at a rock concert.
We do have some allies here though, the robins, blackbirds, thrushes and ladybirds join the fight and we leave a strip of nettles on the headland for the wasps that we hope will prey on the aphids. Our local fox, who strolls through our garden, sometimes in broad daylight, keeps us free of rabbits, he checks every night to see if my neighbours have locked up their hens!
But having fought off all these threats and battled any episodes of drought or strong wind, our largest foe attacks in late summer just as the sweetcorn is about to ripen. I’ve known a badger strip an entire crop of fifty plants in one night!
Of course I haven’t mentioned the strenuous exercise, the backache and the split thumbs.....
So, relaxation? Freedom from stress? I think not!
Angela Fielder Bucks DA
Southern Branch
MEMBERS 50000 TO 59999
Chairman’s Report
In my last report for the Spring edition I mentioned that Spring was in touching distance for some of us, and whilst meteorological Spring is with us, at the time of writing this report for the Summer edition, it most certainly does not feel
like Spring, with temperatures well below average, after what was a very promising start. At least sowings and plants in the greenhouse and polytunnel are doing well. I decided this year that I would fill a couple of troughs with strawberries and keep them in the polytunnel in order to get an early crop. I have included a photograph of them for this report taken on 28th April and they are flowering their socks off so I am looking forward to some early strawberries this year.
As at the time of penning this article, a number of local shows have either been cancelled or have a reduced schedule as a result of the Covid pandemic. For us here in the Southern Branch the effect has been that the organising committee of the New Forest and Hampshire have taken the
decision to cancel the 2021 Show, so our 2021 Southern Branch Championships will now be held virtually and Ali Clarke, our Show Secretary will provide further details
in her report. There are still a couple of fairly major shows still likely to go ahead, including the NVS National Championship on 11th and 12th September 2021 at the Atcham Memorial Hall, so hope to see some of
you there. Again, at the time of writing, the Edenbridge & Oxted Show is still scheduled to go ahead on 29th and 30th August 2021, more details are available at www.edenbridge-show.co.uk.
As some of you may be aware, Neil Hope, our long-standing Membership Secretary has finally stood down. I do not know if it
is a sign of our times, but people are rather reluctant to step-up and offer their services. This may be as a result of many people whose lives are extremely busy and just do not have the time to help, or it may be that many believe that they just do not have the necessary skills. For whatever the reasons, we have had no offers from our Southern Branch members to take on this important role so I have decided that I will take on the
role, at least for the next 12 months. Should any Southern Branch member have any queries about their membership then please contact me at memsec.nvs-sb@outlook. com or by calling me on my mobile, 07792 296422. Full details will be at the front this edition of SV and are also on our website. Finally, I wish to thank Neil for all of the hard work that he has done during his tenure as Membership Secretary over many years, it is very much appreciated.
Stay safe, enjoy your gardening and I hope to see some of you in the not too distant future.
Norman Dickinson Southern Branch Chairman
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