Page 63 - Simply Veg 3.21

Nigel and Barbara’s dry run for the plant sale
Hants DA
I am very much hoping by the time you read this issue of SV, the weather has significantly warmed up and our veg patches are flourishing.
We are hoping for an abundance of quality veg from our members to be entered in the Southern Branch Championships Virtual Show in July.
Check out the separate bulletin for more information on the virtual show; how to enter and when to send your photos. The first important deadline is 17 July to send your entry forms.
It has been such a cold start to the year; most growers have been reporting that
their veg is far behind where it should be. The plants I am growing are certainly very small compared to normal, maybe because they are not being cossetted in my sitting room like last year. As Lockdown delayed getting new carpet fitted, I was able to commandeer a large part of the sitting room floor for propagators and plant trays! Having seen my veg struggle this year, I wish I had cancelled the carpet and kept the room as a permanent greenhouse.
At the time of writing, we have today held the first Hants DA event since the start of Covid-19; our annual Plant Sale. We could not use Wellow Village Hall with restrictions still in place, so we moved instead to the
The Brown family
Corn Market in Romsey, an outdoor venue. We did miss the cosy and convenient setting of the hall as the weather was terrible – high winds and heavy rain had been forecast for most of the day.
The advance party, Nigel, Barbara, Ted, and David Shergold set up around 7am in torrential rain. Thankfully the rain began to ease although the wind continued. When Ann and her family, Nicky, Kelly Millie and Mia arrived, having made several trips with a trolley to bring a large quantity of plants, they then set about stopping
the gazebo from blowing
away, stoically clinging on
to it for much of the day.
We all looked like we were
set for a day in the hills with
the number of waterproofs
we were all wearing, thank
goodness for wet weather
gear.
very kindly dropped off his usual array of goodies.
I did wonder if anyone would brave the weather to come and purchase our wares. Thankfully they did and we only had a small amount of plants to take home again. Those plants will be grown on to sell at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair in Beaulieu at the end of May. This new opportunity fell into our laps when the organisers contacted us at the end of April and offered us a stand at their new venue.
Nigel and Barbara had
brought an abundance of
plants to sell, they could
have put on the plant sale
single handed. In fact, before
the event, they had a dry run in their garden, setting up the entire stand complete with plants to see how it would look.
As well as the Goulds’ and Browns’ produce and a few meagre offerings from myself, Ted had supplied a profusion of fuchsias and pelargoniums, always a popular addition to our plant sales. John Trim also
Ted had supplied a profusion of fuchsias and pelargoniums, always a popular addition to our plant sales
With only a month until the event, it would have been easy to say “No!”. However, “Keep Calm and Carry On” as they say. Then pledges of help started coming in and everything suddenly seemed workable!
I look forward to reporting on the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair in the next issue of SV, but in the meantime, many thanks to the volunteers from Hants DA and beyond who have
responded to the call to action to help at the event.
In addition, my thanks to everyone who contributed to running the plant sale on 8th May and to the members old and new who came to say ‘hello’ and to buy plants.
Alison Clarke
Hants DA Secretary
Nigel and Ann clinging on as Barbara sells
Ted helping Harry stock up for the allotment
Simply Vegetables 63