Page 44 - Simply Veg Issue 1 2016

I will move on to
the Allium family in this article, this includes onions, leeks,
shallots and garlic that are commonly seen on the show bench. In fact onion growing is one of the major competitions. There are other crops in the Allium family but they are not often seen as exhibits at shows, the possible exception being chives in the herb classes.
Starting with the onions which can be split into two main types, the large exhibition and the under 250 gms in weight classes. Occasionally you see classes for spring onions or salad onions and onions grown from sets, which are increasingly dif cult to tell from seed onions these days.
The onion classes, especially the large types are the main stay of many shows and have a devoted following as can be seen with the winners in the many branch and national
championship results in the pages of Simply Vegetables.
Large Exhibition Onions
The football sized large exhibition onions are written in the folklore of vegetable exhibition. In this class size does matter, but the onion should still be of good quality. It also helps if the bulbs are presented on rings so that it is easier for the judge to check the shape and uniformity and they also look better then on the bench.
So what is the judge looking for in this class? All the bulbs should be large and of a similar size. They should be rm especially at the neck end with no sign of rots, often seen as a toffee brown colour just under the skin. The necks should be thin for the size of the bulb and tied with raf a or cotton. Depending on the time of the year will affect whether
the skin is green or brown, in July through to
early August they can often be green unless lifted early and ripened. If they are of the autumn sown type they should be brown but these do not normally grow to such a large size as the specialist exhibition onions. From mid-August onwards the bulb skin should be well ripened and straw / brown colour with
a dry feel. For the August shows the keen exhibitor will have put a fork under the bulb and lifted it slightly to break the roots which encourages ripening.
When judging at early shows it is important to allow for the bulbs being green; but they should not be over skinned (removing the outer ripe skins) which results in them being nearly a white colour. In some of the early shows the schedule may ask for the bulbs to be shown as grown which means showing the bulbs with the leaves and roots still intact but cleaned up.
In the later shows the skins should be a nice brown colour and still fully intact with no broken ones. The root plate should be intact with the roots trimmed off cleanly and the necks rm and tied with raf a or twine.
Going back to the size this is not only the volume or physical size but the weight which should be over 250gms, which in most cases they usually are.
Again check for uniformity across the exhibit as all bulbs should be of the same size, colour, shape and condition. The shape varies with the cultivar and this needs to be allowed for when judging, although the true onion shape is the aim.
Handle each bulb carefully but feel to check each bulb is rm and there are no soft spots, look for any blemishes and that it is tied and trimmed correctly.
Onions under 250gms
As a judge you will need a set of scales for this class or ensure that the society has some available to weigh the onions in this class. It is surprising how often bulbs are put into a under 250gms class that are overweight, in fact I have written more “Not according to schedule” (NAS) notes for this
Judging Alliums
by Kelvin Mason
44 simplyvegetables