Page 62 - Simply Vegetables Summer 2023

Hants District Association
Excitement is building. We are gearing up for the Southern Championships
at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show 25-27 July. Come along and visit us, the Vegetable section is located in the Flower Show marquee. As well as the NVS Southern Branch Championships, there is the New Forest Open Show so members of the public can enter their produce too.
The Vegetable Show is one of the most popular sections of the show. The public are always so impressed by the quality of the vegetables, and it is great fun talking
to them about how the exhibitors achieve their spectacular results and how they can get the best out of their vegetable plots too.
This year the NF Show Society is encouraging all the sections of the show to enter a Scarecrow competition. Of course, we do not want to miss out on the fun, so the veg section with have a scarecrow. The theme is to reflect our own section
of the show with extra points for being weatherproof and durable. So, making a scarecrow out of cabbages and carrots is not an option!
In February, the Potato talk by Alan Wilson from Wilson Wonders was really enjoyable. Alan has a real passion for championing potatoes which pass his taste criteria and specifically heirloom varieties. Afterwards we were able to buy Alan’s seed potatoes and it was good to get hold of more unusual varieties than those stocked at garden centres.
A stone’s throw from Sherfield English village hall, where we have Hants DA member meetings,
is Gilberts Dahlia nursery. We were
delighted that Nick Gilbert accepted our invitation to
Erica’s vegetable collection
give us a talk in March on “The Gilberts Dahlia Year.” Nick gave us a fabulous
talk and went at such pace; I took seven pages of notes. We enjoyed every minute of his talk. Nick brought along a fantastic selection of tubers for us to buy too. He mentioned that some top London chefs have dahlia tubers on the menu, but he said protectively “Don’t eat MY tubers.” It does seem a pity to eat them rather than enjoy their delightful flowers; let’s stick to potatoes.
Chris Bird from Sparsholt College was back in April to give us another enjoyable talk, this time on the Development
of Brassicas. Chris has a very
personable style, and likes audience participation, so we
always have fun when Chris is in the house.
We are about to spend four days at BBC Gardeners’
World Spring Fair Live at Beaulieu. See the separate
article to see how we got on.
Alison Clarke Hants DA Secretary
Delightful dahlias
MEETINGS
Venue: Sherfield English Village Hall, Salisbury Road, Sherfield English, Romsey SO51 6FL, unless otherwise stated.
• 25-27 July – Southern Championships @ The New Forest & Hampshire County Show
• 10 Sept – Hants DA Annual Show @ Wellow Village Hall SO51 6BR
• 10 Oct – Peat Free Growing, a Manufacturer’s Perspective – Catherine Dawson, Melcourt Composts
62 Simply Vegetables
Erica and Evanna Tully with more prize winning veg