Page 56 - ALG Issue 2 2015

Eastern
Allotment Competitions... ...and how to learn to love them
“There are no runner beans!”
“I don’t believe it!”
“Well that’s twelve points off then.’
An apocryphal conversation no doubt and one that has been deliberately contrived to show the rigidity of a probably outmoded style of allotment judging.
The range of crops limited, listed and defined; fruit only where permitted and again within a defined range. All of this
is probably long gone, but with farewell salutes to the proper way of doing things. And proper it was with the crops more difficult to grow scoring more points with the judges; good cauliflowers would help any plot more than good pumpkins, let alone well-grown radishes.
Drawing back a bit, that way of scoring
a plot still has application with the quality of crops in all their variety on a site still having pride of place in the definition of a good plot. The quality of workmanship remains
a key element too, although the criteria by which it is assessed will start lively debate. That of course brings us to the judges.
To a man and woman, they were and are always knowledgeable and helpful. What regard an individual plotholder may or may not have for their views, is, however, another matter, especially when the plot on which they have lavished such effort is overlooked by the judges. That plural is deliberate, for at all levels a number of judges are needed – and preferably an odd number too. At the highest levels, judges will confer thoughtfully and considerately for some time short of
an eternity. Even at the simple single site level, a small group of judges is preferable and they can even be drawn from the plotholders. Agreeing the criteria and then the weights to be given to them can make novice judges look much more carefully at plot condition, plot workmanship, range
and quality of vegetables, fruit and flowers, good husbandry and visual impact than they might otherwise have done. They
will then see their own plots in a different light too. We all are deeply and inevitably judgemental and judging plots does focus the mind and eye on what is important and how it can be graded. Judging across a site and trying honourably to do the right thing does change perceptions of what is, or could be, good practice for the whole site. It also highlights what is incorrect and should be eased out of the site. Practicalities have to obtrude; a larger site will probably need
a selection from the total number of plots
to be more effectively assessed. Any judge would have to withdraw when assessing his or her own plot and each year there should be a shift round of judges to stop any rigidity developing.
The site will have its ‘best’ plot, of course, but beyond that most obvious of categories the next most common one is the best plot of a newcomer to the site: define that as you wish. The best plot of someone with a disability is another type
of ‘best plot’ that is quite widely applied in recognition of the particular efforts needed. The list can be extended into areas like the most improved plot, the best family plot and then the plot with the best selection of well grown salad crops, oriental
vegetables or soft fruit or
any other group of crops you wish to select. It will be difficult to avoid having the best plot, but just to keep things moving, don’t use the same classes for awards each year. It is entirely likely that one plotholder with time and energy to spare will win regularly and then the poacher can turn gamekeeper and the winner can become a judge for the following year, but not enter his or her own plot in the competition. As a sign of tough love some sites bar repeat winners from competing for a few years.
Beyond all this, there is something else altogether. Some plots have formal rows
of crops but others are pure visual delights with relatively little fruit and vegetables grown. This leads us to question where studied informality ends and uncultivated disorder begins. Disorder can be pursued by the rampant chaos of the natural vegetation succession, which although this is intriguing in its own right, is a distance away from the cultivation of vegetables, fruit and flowers for personal use and enjoyment. Questions of personal taste come flooding in to affect this aspect of leisure as it does all others: tiki-taka or route one, Mozart or Mingus, heavy metal or hip hop. The ways
You be the judge! Go to the Society’s Facebook page and vote A or B
of judging those different pairs vary just as much as the judging of the differing styles of allotment. The older systems of plot assessment parodied at the start of this piece did at least attempt to provide a clear framework.
It is not only the visual distinctiveness of particular plots that make allotment
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sites and allotment styles so engrossing. It is the variation of the genius of the people making each of those plots so distinctive. So how about awards for the plot providing the best cup of tea? Or the plot with the best sitting-out area? Let alone the plot with the best intentions? And leading into the shadows what award for the plot with the longest whinge across the site? We’re five years in and counting on that one.
Jeff Barber
Plot B
Plot A