Jersey to Chelsea - The National Vegetable Society
Transcription
Jersey to Chelsea - The National Vegetable Society
Volume 18 Part 1 N £3.99 50 Years and Still Growing the quarterly magazine of the National Vegetable Society WINTER 2012 Cracking carrots PAGE 20 Restoration PAGE 28 Peaches PAGE 30 The Vegetable and Fruit Company NVS 0 Prize Sponsors 2 11 Jersey to Chelsea PAGE 24 simply vegetables …52 years and still growing The Quarterly Magazine of the National Vegetable Society Volume 18 Part 1 January 2012 Charity registered 1088979 National President Medwyn Williams MBE AHRHS FNVS 01248 714851 e-mail: [email protected] or medwynsofanglesey.co.uk National Chairman Barry Newman FNVS 01403 711598 e-mail: [email protected] the team For Your Horticultural, Landscaping & Irrigation Supplies... National Vice Chairman Malcolm Evans FNVS 01924 271869 e-mail: [email protected] Chairman of Strategic Policy Working Group, & Chairman Northern Branch General Secretary David Thornton Msc FNVS 07778 622628 e-mail: [email protected] Assistant Secretary Mark Hall FNVS 07768 290122 email: [email protected] Treasurer Denis Barry Bsc (ED) FNVS 01633 440876 e-mail; [email protected] Web Manager John Harrison 01286 880847 e-mail; [email protected] ...all in one concise buyers guide Request a copy today, call 01282 873333 Go Online.. www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk Head Office: Standroyd Mill, Cottontree, Colne, Lancashire BB8 7BW Over 400 pages with new products for 2012 DVD Distribution Executive Gordon Francis FNVS 01622 710486 e-mail; [email protected] Chairman of the Judges Examination Board Jim Williams FNVS 01875 320644 e-mail; [email protected] Also Chairman and Newsletter editor of the Scottish Branch Articles, notices, meetings etc relative to your Branch and DA should be sent to the sub-editors below. Scottish Branch Sub-Editor: Jim Williams 01875 320644 e-mail: [email protected] Northern Branch Membership Registrar for Scottish, Northern and Welsh Branches Grant Cathro FNVS 01382 580394 e-mail; [email protected] Also Trophy Secretary Ian Stocks FNVS Scottish Branch Treasurer 01324 821274 [email protected] Bob Herbert FNVS Vice Chairman, Northern Branch 0114 2484004 [email protected] John Croot FNVS Secretary Northern Branch 01773 834213 [email protected] Don Owens FNVS Chairman Welsh Branch 01978 852453 [email protected] Mary Thomas FNVS Temporary member representing the Welsh Branch 01691 780420 [email protected] Membership Registrar for Midland & Southern Branches Neil Hope FNVS 01932 844183 [email protected] John Branham, FNVS Chairman Midland Branch 01296 681307 [email protected] Sub-Editor: Tony Featherstone 01482 631110 e-mail: [email protected] Midland Branch Sub-Editor: Mrs June Davies FNVS 01531 822750 e-mail: [email protected] Southern Branch Sub-Editor: David Wall 01747 85410 e-mail: [email protected] Welsh Branch Sub-Editor: Mrs Ann Griffiths FNVS 01678 520391 e-mail: [email protected] and finally, myself… National Magazine Editor David Allison FNVS 18 Sandholme Drive, Burley-In-Wharfedale, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 7RQ 01943 862106 e-mail; [email protected] …to whom all articles for inclusion in the magazine should be sent. simplyvegetables 3 contents Kitchen Garden and the National Vegetable Society – together helping the nation to grow better vegetables The Team Movers and Shakers in the NVS............................................................................................................... 3 Chairman’s Thoughts.............................................................................................................................................. 5 Editor’s Ramblings A bit of everything...................................................................................................................... 6 DVD Library............................................................................................................................................................ 9 Recipe page......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Editor’s Postbag Your chance to have your say on any matters horticultural............................................................. 12 News from Preston............................................................................................................................................... 14 Membership Applications and Renewals.............................................................................................................. 15 Welcome to the world of trace elements – 4th and final part.................................................................................. 16 The Edible Garden Show 2012 – a must-see show............................................................................................... 19 Readers’ Advice................................................................................................................................................... 20 Confessions of a stingy gardener.......................................................................................................................... 22 Jersey to enter Chelsea next year......................................................................................................................... 24 The Gardens of Chateau de Villandry.................................................................................................................... 26 Allotments for the disabled................................................................................................................................... 27 Restoring an Old Walled Kitchen Garden.............................................................................................................. 28 Peaches and Nectarines....................................................................................................................................... 30 Herbs – to flower or not to flower............................................................................................................................ 33 Jobs in the kitchen gardening for the coming months........................................................................................... 34 Reflections of a growing year................................................................................................................................ 38 The Birth of a new District Association.................................................................................................................. 40 The Great Peat Debate......................................................................................................................................... 42 ”The Scots Abroad”.............................................................................................................................................. 44 Branch Newsletters Scottish Branch......................................................................................................... 48 Northern Branch....................................................................................................... 50 Midland Branch.......................................................................................................... 54 Welsh Branch............................................................................................................. 59 Southern Branch........................................................................................................ 60 Fidello Press Book Competition. Issue 4.2011. Each winner received a copy of ‘What Will I Do With All Those Green Vegetables’ by Elaine Borish. Dorothy Ambridge, Leeds • Jan Lovell, Suffolk • Peter Cross, Essex Mark Taylor, Lancs • Mick Poutney, West Midlands • R Geldard, Skipton • Mrs L Barrett, Cheltenham Mr J Procter, Lancs • Mr E Short, Co. Durham • Brian Parrott, Surrey Competition terms and conditions Competitions are open to all UK residents aged 18 or over, excluding employees or agents of the associated publishing company and their families. One entry per person. The prizes and giveaways are as specified on the relevant pages. No cash alternatives. Entries must be via post or email as stated (no purchase necessary). Illegible entries and those that do not abide by these terms and conditions will be disqualified. No responsibility is held for entries lost, delayed or damaged in the post, proof of posting is not proof of delivery. Your details will be processed by Crest Publications Ltd (publishers of Simply Vegetables magazine on behalf of the NVS) in full accordance with data protection. Crest Publictions Ltd may wish to contact you with information of other services we provide which maybe of interest. Please indicate on your entry if you DO NOT wish to receive such information by post, phone or email. The decision of the judge is final and no corresponance will be entered into. Winners will be notified by phone, email or post, a list of winners is available on request from Crest Publications Ltd, 20 Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton NN3 6AP. Barry Newman FNVS 19 20 24 29 www.nvsuk.org.uk Website username: nvsmember • Website password: grower Published by Crest Publications, 20 Moulton Park Office Village Scirocco Close, Northampton, NN3 6AP 38 The views expressed by the authors/contributors are not necessarily those of the editor, the Society, or its officers. grow2eat.com savings, benefits and discounts 52 4 simplyvegetables Untitled-1 1 25/6/10 15:02:29 chairman’s thoughts Firstly may I wish you all a Happy New Year! What for most gardeners is a reasonably quiet time has not proved the case for me over the last quarter. Whilst there has not been much growing it has certainly been a busy period in the running of the Society. Back in October I chaired my first meeting of the National Executive, which was a heavy agenda with many decisions being taken and policy being shaped for the future. It was good to see those ideas that I had asked for starting to materialise and influence our future thinking. I was particularly pleased that following a discussion on the National Championship schedule, we decided to add a class for fifteen point and less vegetables, prompted by a request to make the show more accessible. After much deliberation we have also agreed to engage the help of a public relations consultant to raise the profile of the Society and address the attraction and retention of new members. Add to that the start of a process to redraft the rules of the Society to more properly reflect our charitable status and I hope you will appreciate your executive has been working hard on your behalf. We have even ordered 10,000 plastic bags with the NVS logo for you to sell off this year’s excess show vegetables!! In November I had the privilege of chairing the inaugural meeting of the Jersey Association of the NVS in St. Hellier. This has been a real success story, due in no small part to the perseverance of Graeme le Marquand who has worked hard with the Jersey Farmers Union and the islands administration to form and promote this latest addition to our Society. My visit was interesting on several levels, and this small paragraph would not do credit to the hospitality of the island, so I have lodged a fuller report elsewhere in the magazine Meanwhile, here at home, I am busy with talks to garden groups and affiliated societies anxious to learn about vegetable growing. This is a particular part of our hobby that I enjoy; it really is good to exchange views with like-minded people, even better if you can join them up to the cause. With that in mind, I was recently talking to John Branham and David Thornton, who like other executive committee members do a lot of talks throughout the year. John was saying that instead of taking his fee in full, he now reduces it on the understanding that the group he is talking to become affiliate members.... what a brilliant idea. Something I will definitely be doing in the future. With January now upon us it‘s the start of the AGM season. A time when a lot of District Associations will be looking for volunteers to fill committee posts and members to take a more active role in the work of the Society. Please think seriously about taking that more active role. It really is true that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it and it really is unfair to leave it to the same old faces year in year out, however willing. ‘It’s always good to have some new blood’...... something I remember Medwyn saying to me this time last year!!! Looking forward.... I have been pleased to accept an invitation from Buckinghamshire DA to attend a meeting of their committee next month, to talk about the future of the Society and field a few questions about the way we work. This really is the type of democracy in action that I want to encourage and I sincerely hope it will be the start of many such exchanges around the country between National Executive members and District Association’s. It is only with this type of contact and information that we can properly reflect your views in the running of the Society. I’m sorry if this month’s ‘Thoughts’ is a bit heavy on process, but as a new Chairman I am anxious that we get these things right and that you are kept well informed. Meanwhile back on the plot, I’m pleased that I converted to raised beds with wood chip paths some years ago. I feel really pleased with myself when I see fellow gardeners, at this time of year with their boots caked with mud, compacting wet ground and struggling to get the spade in. Whilst at the same time, I’m just removing the lightweight winter cover which has been allowing the layer of manure I put on last November to work in, ready for me to lightly fork it over while I’m walking on a perfectly clean, dry and weed free surface! Regardless of the way you garden, I hope you get the weather you want, the luck you need and the results you deserve. Barry “ I was particularly pleased that following a discussion on the National Championship schedule, we decided to add a class for fifteen point and less vegetables, prompted by a request to make the show more accessible.” simplyvegetables 5 editor’s ramblings Welcome to the Winter edition of our quarterly magazine, and the start of another gardening year. I should start with an apology, a number of you contacted me after receipt of your Autumn issue to say that you had difficulty in reading some of the text, particularly the National Championship results on page 46, where every other line was dark green background making the black print almost impossible to read easily, particularly those of you with less than perfect eyesight. This was purely a glitz by our professional page designer, who recognised the problem, had intended to change the print colour, but forgot. I can’t promise it won’t happen again, simply human error, but now we know we’ll keep a closer eye on the proof copy before it’s signed off. I’m not on commission with specsavers – honest! Our new Chairman Barry is starting as he means to go on as they say, and has a number of new initiatives up his sleeve to ensure our beloved society is “fit for purpose” for the 21st century. One of his first major duties in his new role was to preside over the inaugural meeting of a new DA in Jersey, the lifeblood of the Society, and his report of the very pleasant few days he spent on the island appear elsewhere in this issue. The new DA with help from the members of the Jersey Farmers Union, are planning a display at Chelsea Flower Show next May, not bad for a new DA! Again please see elsewhere in this issue the plans they have made for this major undertaking. In our continuing effort to provide value for money for our members, each member should receive with this issue, two free gifts, a packet of vegetable seed, Pak Choi, variety Glacier, and a free wall chart, as I know that gardeners generally and NVS members in particular like to plan ahead. The packet of Pak Choi seeds has been very kindly provided by Marshall’s seeds, to whom we are indebted. Marin Harvey, Managing Director of Marshalls advises on its cultural requirements as follows; Your FREE Pak Choi ‘Glacier’ Seed Sample Marshalls Seeds, who supplied our members with a trial pack of the Chinese Kale / broccoli cross, Brokali Apollo last year, have selected another oriental vegetable variety for us this year, Pak Choi Glacier. So many of the vegetables used in oriental cooking White Pak Choi 4 JC Glacier are really easy to grow and Pak Choi is no Membership Renewals for 2012 exception. It’s one of Members and Societies are reminded that renewal those vegetable that forms for 2012 were distributed with the Autumn just keeps on giving. Magazine. So many gardeners Subscriptions were due on January 1st, and if reject these wonderful renewals are not received by the time the Spring Issue varieties, simply because of this magazine is distributed, then they will reluctantly they assume that be removed from the mailing list. If in doubt please because they are not contact the relevant Membership Secretary for your native, they need special Branch, as per the information on page 3 growing conditions. If necessary, please use the application/renewal form Nothing could be further on page 15,or for individual/joint members renewals from the truth. can now be made on-line via the NVS Web site at One of the best www.nvsuk.org.uk things about this oriental “ Our new Chairman Barry is starting as he means to go on as they say, and has a number of new initiatives up his sleeve” 6 simplyvegetables vegetable is its surprising hardiness and ability to grow throughout the winter, providing you with almost a year-round crop that can be used fresh or cooked in number of different ways. Pak Choi, variety Glacier is a new variety with fresh green leaves and wonderfully crispy, fleshy stems that taste great eaten raw in salads and sandwiches, or steamed, braised or stir-fried. It’s fully winter-hardy and, being British-bred, is ideally suited to the UK climate, meaning it can be sown directly outside and will do well in virtually any garden. Sow between March and September for a harvest of young leaves you can start enjoying in just 3–4 weeks. Whole heads take just 6 weeks to form, but it’s recommended that Pak Choi sown between late April and July are harvested at ‘young leaf’ stage (at around 4cm tall) to avoid bolting. Start harvesting whole heads of Pak Choi from July through to February. Pak Choi is a cut ’n’ come again vegetable, so whether you harvest them as young leaves or as mature or semi-mature heads, once they’re cut they’ll re-sprout over and over again! Sow a new row every couple of months or so to maintain a continuous harvest. Difficulty: Easy – suitable for beginners When to sow: Outdoors in Late March – September (sow a new row when more is desired) When to harvest:Late April – February (harvest as young leaves until July) Soil: Grow in well-dug soil or good quality compost. Site: Full sun/partial shade. Growing info: Keep well watered throughout the summer season. I am pleased that in this edition that we have a further three questions from our members as part of our reader’s advice page. This not only hopefully answers the questions raised, but provides information to all on what can go wrong and how to correct/ prevent it from happening in the first place, at any level. From three articles in October on veg growing by schoolchildren, we have none this time, so if any member has any involvement with either school or community gardens I would love to hear from you. As advised in my last ramblings we were invited to attend a debate on the Government’s plans to ban the use of peat in composts, by 2020 for amateur use, and by 2030 by the trade/professional use. A report of the seminar is to be found elsewhere in this issue. I am told by the members who attended on our behalf that it was a very useful meeting, so much so that a follow up meeting is planned for the New Year. I am delighted that Rob Foster, the “Lazy Gardener” has, after a long break, agreed to re-commence his articles on jobs for the Kitchen Garden for the coming months, and long may this continue as I know that readers welcomed his advice on growing for the dinner plate not just the show plate. Examination successes I am delighted to advise that the following candidates have recently passed their judges exam. Wales: U Owens, C Jones new judges. Midlands: S Smith new judge Southern: D Pride, M and D Miles, G Baker new judges. Scotland: A Cruikshank new judge. Commiserations to those who just missed reaching the pass marks required, good luck next time. Congratulations to all the above, if you wish to avail yourselves of their services and put their new found skills to the test, please contact your Branch Secretary for their details. What happened to the Northern Branch?, according to the Branch Chairman the Northern Branch is the power house of the NVS, not on this occasion. My growing season has already started for 2012, Pendle Improved leek seedlings from David Metcalfe I’ve taken delivery of some Pendle Improved leek seedlings from David Metcalfe, the raiser, to ensure my own stock remain disease free and healthy, collected from him mid November, and Onions for overwintering were sown in September and are now ready for pricking out into 4" pots to grow on over winter in a cold frame ready for planting out next spring. Finally, as I pen these notes early November, we are enjoying a mild open autumn, with many tender crops still flourishing in my garden here in Yorkshire. Shown on the right are a few examples. All were late sown, to follow early crops, and were shown in Leeds on Sat 26th November, my last show of the year. I have been asked by one or two members that when we publish show results and pictures that we include the variety names of the winning dishes, so could I please ask all contributors that when you send in the results, you also include, if possible the variety names. We are delighted that Steve Ott editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and an NVS member, has agreed to continue the arrangement with us for a further year in that all new members of the NVS who join during 2012 will receive a back copy of Kitchen Garden magazine, compliments of Steve. Thanks Steve this is really appreciated, and thanks to Neil Hope one of our membership registrars who sorts out the admin. I received my Jan copy of KG magazine recently, and its still only November as I write these notes !, and had to smile as I read a piece on page 7 in their “News” section on how you can save an estimated £1,300 on your grocery bills by growing your own, according to NSALG. However the photo of a basket of veg included a pineapple, orange, lemon, dessert grapes, and what look like bananas in the bottom of the basket. How often do you see these growing on a UK allotment Steve !! Apart from a couple of salad onions and an apple, nothing in the basket would be grown outside on an allotment or kitchen garden in the UK, especially up here in Yorkshire. We can all dream. I am delighted that the National Exec have agreed to the NVS taking space at The Edible Garden Show again this year, the UK’s first national grow-your-own event, following our success at attending the first event last year. Our stand will be twice as big as last year, with loads of information, leaflets, DVD’s, mags, books etc, and of course free advice on growing good quality veg. March 16th to 18th at Stoneleigh, see you there. Please see advert elsewhere in this issue for full details, and our competition for free tickets. I trust you are all planning for the growing year ahead, full of anticipation, ready to celebrate your successes, and learn from your failures, but from me for now I hope you all had a very pleasant Christmas and New Year. David. Editor Onions for overwintering were sown in September – Variety Toughball From the allotment… …to the Show plate or dinner plate Brussels Sprouts, variety Brilliant F1 Celery, variety Morning Star F1 Parsnip, variety Pinnacle Beetroot, variety Pablo F1 simplyvegetables 7 “We’re growing with you” libraries National Vegetable Society DVD Order Form PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY USING CAPITALS AND BLACK INK. THANK YOU Your Name:.............................................................................................. For almost 50 years we have been involved in the horticultural supplies trade and we offer four generations of experience, service and choice Your Address:......................................................................................... Growing Exhibition Potatoes With Sherie Plumb FNVS ....................................................................................................................... Growing Exhibition Tomatoes With Charles Maisey FNVS Telephone No:........................................................................................ We offer one of the most versatile and comprehensive ranges of horticultural products available in the UK with 1000’s of products available Dedicated & secure detailed website Online ordering with credit account facilities Online Weed, Disease & Pest Identification Experienced telephone sales team UPS parcel delivery service with tracking Next Day pallet deliveries up to 24 pallets Growing Exhibition Shallots With Graeme Watson FNVS Growing Potatoes With Alistair Grey FNVS Growing Exhibition Carrots With Graeme Watson FNVS Membership No:................................................................................... Growing Exhibition Onions With Jim Williams FNVS Date:............................................................................................................ Post Completed Order to: Mr G J Francis FNVS 147 Bull Lane, Eccles, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7HW Tel: 01622 710486 Email: [email protected] Cost of DVDs = £5.99 each including postage and packing 1 DVD = £5.99 2 DVD’s = £11.98 3 DVD’s = £17.98 4 DVD’s = £23.98 Buy 5 DVDs get 6th one free = £29.95 Via our network of leading logistic companies bringing your goods fast and efficiently throughout the UK with most orders delivered next day On the Allotment With Stella & Peter ....................................................................................................................... Postcode:................................................................................................. We are Horticultural suppliers to Allotment & Horticultural Societies, National Trusts, Market Gardeners, Nursery Growers and much more Growing Exhibition Celery With Trevor Last FNVS Growing Exhibition Blanch Leeks With John Soulsby Growing Exhibition Pot Leeks With John Soulsby An Insight into Vegetable Showing With Trevor Last FNVS Growing for Showing 2006 With T Last, John Branham & Gareth Cameron NVS National Show 2007 Malvern National Championships Dundee 2005 National Championships Pembroke 2006 Trio of Shows 2005 TOTAL NUMBER OF DVDs Ordered Cheque Payable National Vegetable Society Enclosed for AMOUNT ROBINSON’S VEGETABLE SEEDS AND PLANTS TOP QUALITY NATURALLY GROWN SEEDS MASSIVE CHOICE 0 over 1,30s varietie Write, phone or email for your free 2012 catalogue: W Robinson & Son (Seeds & Plants) Ltd, FREEPOST NNW2347A Preston. PR3 0BR. Tel: 01524 791210 Email: [email protected] www.mammothonion.co.uk e. [email protected] - www.interhort.com Untitled-1 1 NEW CATALOGUES OUT NOW! To request your FREE copy call 0845 371 0518 visit www.mr-fothergills.co.uk Please quote: F12CNVS3 Established and family owned since 1860 t. 01270 25-25-30 - f. 01270 21-10-65 - £ New 2012 catalogues out now, packed with great ideas to grow your own, from mouth watering fruit and vegetable seed and plants to beautiful flowers that will add colour and fragrance to your garden Tomatoes, Beans, Artichokes, Asparagus, Rhubarb, range of Chillies and much more. Not to forget our famous MAMMOTH ONIONS AND LEEKS. Despatch notification via email and text Bespoke delivery service options Collection service available 6 days a week 50 years horticultural experience Friendly, adaptable and personal service Over 2000 horticultural product lines Head Office & Distribution Centre - Gresty Lane, Crewe, Cheshire CW2 5DD 8 simplyvegetables Quantity Required DVD TITLE MRF11 68x94 F12CNVS3 NVS Classified.indd 1 21/9/11 11:19:35 simplyvegetables 9 14:06 29/11/2011 From the Kitchen By Mary Thomas and Linda Hargrave Winter comforts Mary Thomas Oven-baked Squash. Mary Thomas 1 squash or pumpkin of your choice 1 tbs. olive oil 2 cloves garlic Sprig of Rosemary Salt and pepper to taste Grated Parmesan cheese to serve Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds, then cut into wedges. Place on a baking tray and cook at 200°C/Gas 6 for about 45–55mins until soft and lightly browned. Meanwhile rinse and pat dry the rosemary, remove from stalk and chop. Peel and chop the garlic. Heat the oil (not too high) and lightly fry the chopped garlic and rosemary. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pumpkin/squash from the oven, put on warmed serving plates and drizzle the oil over them. Grate some Parmesan over them and serve with the Black and White cabbage. Tenderstem Brokali While on the subject of Brassicas, like many of you, we liked the Tenderstem Brokali. We kept cutting and eating for weeks on end. The very short cooking time was an added bonus. I have no nutritional information, but I’m quite confident that it should be very good. We know that Broccoli is very nutritious and Kale as above is also very beneficial, I have therefore every reason to believe that that Brokali is also very nutritious. Some picture in a magazine inspired me to try something different with these stems and I tried the following idea. (I don’t know what to call it!!) Preheat oven to 200°C. Trim the Brokali and rinse. Plunge into boiling lightly salted water for two minutes only. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper. Roll out some puff pastry according to quantity required (mine was about the size ofA4).Put on a baking tray. Mark a slit border, not right through, all round the pastry about 2cm. from the edge. Slice some tomatoes and arrange over the middle, season with a little salt and pepper and a scattering of basil. Arrange the stems, head one way, tail the other, every other all the way down the pastry. Tear up the Mozzarella and scatter over the top. Brush the border with egg & milk and bake for about 20minutes, until the pastry edge is raised and nicely browned and the liquid evaporated from around the tomatoes. It made a lovely snack that had thumbs up from Emlyn. 10 simplyvegetables It’s that time of the year when we have a bit of time for armchair gardening. New seed catalogues will have now been delivered and it is a good time to plan ahead for the coming season. I often have chats with members at our shows and this year Richard Curtis shared two of his favourite recipes, using kale and squash. Kale is a sturdy winter brassica with a good earthy flavour. Their leaves are frilly, a bit like savoy cabbage, but have long narrow leaves growing from the central stalk. It only needs light steaming or boiling and it remains a very dark green/purple colour depending on the variety. It is a very nutritious vegetable and highly welcomed in the cold drab winter months when other sources of vitamins and minerals are in short supply. We know that the deeper the colour, the higher the antioxidants and beta carotenes. It is also rich in foliate and Vitamin C, richest vegetable source of calcium as well as iron, magnesium and potassium. The cabbage recipe, from Richard, can be made with any of the dark varieties e.g. Cavolo Nero or Black Tuscany. Marshalls and Medwyn’s both have seeds. Braised Black and White Cabbage Mary Thomas 250g/8ozs dark kale 375g/12ozs white cabbage 1 large or two small cloves of garlic 300g/10ozs approx. smoked gammon steak 1fresh chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 3–4 peppercorns 3–5 cumin seeds 500ml/1pt water Stuffed Pancakes Linda Hargrave 4 Pancakes preferably made with buckwheat flour. 1 Onion finely chopped 4 cloves Garlic chopped 2 sticks celery chopped 8 medium mushrooms cut into quarters 8 Chard leaves and stalks chopped, or equivalent amount of spinach, ½ pack of Boursin cheese. 1 cupful of puree from slow roasted tomatoes, if you don’t have this any other well flavoured tomato sauce would do. 50 gms grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste Fry onion slowly until turning brown. Add garlic and celery to the pan fry for 2-3 minutes Add mushrooms and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add chard, fry until wilted. Add Boursin cheese and seasoning stir until well combined. Divide the mixture between the pancakes, fold the pancakes, and tuck into a lasagne dish. Pour the tomato sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes until warmed through. Serve with green vegetables. Slow roasted tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes roast whole, larger ones cut in half. Put tomatoes on to a baking tray and sprinkle with a pinch of brown sugar, a little salt and black pepper. Drizzle over a small amount of oil. Roast at 100°C for one and a half hours. Puree in food processor and push through a sieve to remove seeds. Freezes well and can be used for pasta, pizza etc. Spring Allium Collection for just £17.90 inc P&P (usually £33.60 inc P&P) Rinse the kale and cabbage, cut out any thick woody stems and shred into narrow strips. Cut the Gammon steak into short strips or small pieces. Put a glug of olive oil in a heavy based pan, add the gammon and fry for a few minutes to soften but not coloured, add the crushed garlic and cook a little bit longer taking care that the garlic does not burn. Add the water and all the other ingredients to the pan, bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for about 15 minutes, then remove the lid and continue cooking until cooked but not too soft and most of the liquid evaporated. Tip: It also works quite well with a mixture of Savoy and white cabbage, but nothing beats the contrast of textures and colours of the Kale and Cabbage. Any gammon ham can be used, but the smoked flavour works well with the Kale. To accompany this dish, Richard likes oven-baked squash (see left). He used Buttercup squash and Ann finds that this is quite substantial, but if you find that you need that little bit more, then a small baked potato or a chunk of bread would do. Garlic - Solent Wight – 6 bulbs A popular UK softneck variety giving a good crop with large, plump tasty cloves. Can be sown February-April. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Onion - Centurion - 400gms Borscht Linda Hargrave 1 onion, finely chopped 500 Gms beetroot peeled and chopped 2 celery sticks chopped 1 small red pepper chopped 4 ozs mushrooms chopped 1 large cooking apple chopped 1 teaspoon cumin seeds Few sprigs of thyme 2 bay leaves Juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon 2.5 pints of vegetable stock. Salt and black pepper A little oil and butter for frying Heat the oil and butter in a large pan on a low heat. Fry the onion slowly until it turns light brown. Add the celery and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin seeds stir and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and apple, stir and cook gently with the lid on for 5 minutes. Add thyme, bay leaves, lemon juice and stock season to taste. Simmer gently for 30 minutes until the beetroot is tender. Strain the vegetables reserving the liquid. Remove the bay leaves. Puree the vegetables in a liquidizer with enough of the stock to make it run well. Return to the pan, add the reserved stock and re-heat. Serve garnished with a swirl of soured cream. Large onion that crops heavily. An impressive, large, hybrid variety producing a heavy early maturing crop, so valuable in our indifferent British summers. Uniformly globe-shaped bulbs with even skin colour - excellent for eating or the show bench. RHS award of Garden Merit winner. Shallot - Yellow Moon - 800gms An attractive and tasty, round, yellow shallot, with excellent skin quality and a low sensitivity to bolting, enabling early planting. Produces a good crop of healthy shallots. Delivery - January/February/March 2012. Telephone 0844 701 7625 quoting DA112 or contact www.dobies.co.uk/DA112 Alternatively write to Dobies (DA112), Long Road Paignton TQ4 7SX www.dobies.co.uk simplyvegetables 11 editor’s postbag The NVS Members Website – Good, Bad or Indifferent? As a regular user of the Members’ Section of the website, and recognising the benefits it can bring, I thought I would put pen to paper – makes a change (or a challenge!) to write about other things rather than growing vegetables for show – and give you my view. The Members’ Section currently gives you access to 3 sections – Welcome, Help and Announcements, Growing, and Showing. It also gives members access to send Private Messages to each other and also has an Album section that allows photographs to be placed into it. So all in all a very powerful tool to allow members to provide advice to each other on all aspects of growing, place details of meetings and talks for members benefit, etc etc. – oh and one other subject – perhaps the most controversial – actually communicate with each other re ordinary every day matters, including some that can be construed as “banter”. Accessing the members’ only section is easy and pain free – just use the user name and password that you will find in Simply Veg and that will take you into the section. After that you can create your own login details that lets you create a user name and some details on your profile (the profile can be as little or as much as you want). What this does is allow your user name to be displayed when you are on the site. Once you have done all this you are up and running – allowing you to post messages. As with any forum on the internet there are various views held by people as to their suitability and whether they bring any benefits. Think of how you communicate within the Society if you don’t use the Internet. What do you do?? Well you might speak to each other on the phone, you might attend a DA or Committee meeting and speak face to face, and you probably go to a show and meet fellow exhibitors. What do you talk about? I can guarantee that you will not always be straight-faced and straight-laced. You will talk about vegetables, the weather, the family, and probably engage in a bit of leg pulling and banter. Well in this technological age what the members do on the website is exactly what I have described above. Yes maybe sometimes the “trivia” overtakes the vegetable stuff, but it soon gets back to vegetables! All that happens on the website with the postings members put on is exactly what you are doing face to face – communicating with each other!! Like any website forum a lot of people might be put off participating by seeing a group of members who seem to be regularly posting topics and replies (as someone said to me “hogging it”). Well again this is no different to DA, Committee, or indeed NEC meetings. All these meetings have the people who are more vocal than the rest, the ones who contribute a little less but when they do it makes sound sense, and the remainder – those who are happy to sit back, say nothing, and watch what is going on – so the forum is in effect a mirror reflection. As an example there are currently some 226 registered users, of which some 60 members have made posts of double figures or more – on the converse there are some 110 members who registered and have made no posts (some 55 of those are before May 2009 when the forum really took off). So all in all a fair representation of what happens in communication outwith the Internet. Part of the Society constitution is “To advance the culture, study and improvement of vegetables”. Well in my opinion the members’ section certainly meets that objective. Advice is readily given on all aspects of vegetable growing, but is I accept, more predominant towards exhibition. So what’s the benefit to an exhibitor? Well think back to when you started growing to exhibit. If it was anything like my experience you had limited access to advice, plants, seed etc unless you had some mentors around you. It could also be quite daunting asking the top growers for advice and help (though totally unfounded I subsequently found). The member’s site has provided a large number of people with an information bank that you will struggle to find anyplace else within the society (and potentially any place else). There are quite a few members who have won at National and Branch Championship level who are only too willing to impart any advice that is required on the site, and indeed have been given advice back that has been beneficial to them!! One thing that always amazes me is the speed that most of the queries etc are answered – in fact one member posted a question seeking advice and had the answers he was looking for in 30 seconds. Apart from the advice given (that has resulted in a number of users winning at shows due to that advice) my own very strong view is that the website has the power and ability to bring members together, and to create camaraderie and friendship that would never have been possible without it. A prime example is the recent Scottish Branch seminar where there were some 20 regular website members who attended from all parts of Britain, with a lot meeting for the first time. Seeing them all talking together, and being introduced to various other members of the Scottish Branch just reinforced to me that this is what our Society is all about. So it’s all rosy on the forum and it’s a place where Nirvana seems to be breaking out! Well not quite – yes there are disagreements at times, yes there will always be people who are afraid of the technology and don’t think it`s the way to go, yes there are people who think that the website is a dangerous place, particularly for the NEC because members dare to criticise, and yes people think that it is an unregulated free for all because the members don’t just stick to vegetables and discuss nothing else. Maybe some of these issues are perception in my view but they are not insurmountable if they do exist, however the website overall brings tremendous benefits to those that choose to use it – after all it’s not mandatory to use it!! As a long standing member of the Society, and having watched it struggle at times with providing exactly what the members want,my own view is that the members only section is one of the biggest steps forward by the society (together with Simply Veg) that has happened in recent years. I can fully appreciate all the views that people hold, whether for or against the members section, however it has to be said that in the last 5–10 years or so the use of technology to communicate with each other has just gone ballistic. Twitter, Facebook, Internet Forums – the list could go on but the one escapable fact is that a large number of members use technology to communicate in their everyday lives, and more importantly the current generation that we have to try and bring into our Society to keep it viable are almost totally technology dependent – so it’s not going to go away. So in summary the members’ section is a great source of advice, help and friendship. It is only another method of communication within the Society, including the positive and negative views that members proffer (which we at Committee and NEC level should recognise for such and take into consideration – but not beat ourselves up about because it is on a website). So for those of you who have registered and not posted anything, and for any member considering using the site – the advice and friendship is there – give it a go – it’s not difficult, it’s not daunting and it’s well worthwhile. Ian Stocks, Scottish Branch. Is the NVS a show society? Well a lot of members apparently think so, (Paul French editor’s postbag 2011 autumn edition). It is a perennial question that has been asked by so many new members to the society over the years. With the recent surge in allotment gardening many gardening societies have record numbers of members. The NVS has probably missed a golden opportunity to attract, and keep, new members some who would have progressed into the world of The Vegetable and Fruit Company 12 simplyvegetables showing. There is room in the NVS journal to cater for the ordinary kitchen gardener that would like a bit of guidance. I wrote basic gardening articles for the NVS Journal for a number of years that did help to redress the balance. These were very well received so I have started submitting articles for inclusion again if the editor thinks they are suitable. Rob Foster FNVS [email protected] www.thelazygardener.org Membership No. 126 NVS PRIZE SPONSORS 2011 simplyvegetables 13 News from Preston THE NATIONAL VEGETABLE SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION/RENEWAL FORM Mark Hall FNVS – National Assistant Secretary Mr, Mrs Ms, Miss ..............................................................................................(name) Barry Newman our new National Chairman opened the meeting on the 15th October 2011 at the Ashwood Hotel Preston, and welcomed the members present. He said it is an honour to be sitting here leading our Society. Barry reflected on the work that his predecessor Medwyn had done over his twelve years in office. Barry felt that Medwyn had left the Society in a healthy state which he hoped to build on. In recent years there has been a great upsurge in the growing of vegetables and we need to capitalize on this to build the NVS further. David Thornton our National Secretary has been part of the team building some strong business links with Marshalls Seeds and was able to confirm that in the vegetable section of their seed catalogue due to go out in January 2012, there would be a section on Exhibition Varieties as endorsed by the NVS. 400,000 copies are to be sent out. It is hoped that this will increase the profile of the Society. Marshalls were the main sponsors for the 2011 championships in Wales; they have already agreed to sponsor the 2012 championships at Malvern. Our relationship with Marshalls is good. John Harrison tabled his 5 page Web manager’s report prior to the meeting. Due to a potential conflict of interest, John has agreed to stand down as a trustee and NEC member, but will continue to run the NVS web site and report to the NEC. Denis Barry our National Treasurer, had circulated figures relating to the National Executive committee prior to the meeting. Members of the NEC accepted the figures for the NEC accounts, but noted that there was no access to the full accounts of each Branch on an annual basis, members of the NEC requested that as Trustees for the Society they should have updates on Branch accounts, Denis Barry agreed to look into a way forward for presenting financial figures from the Branches to all Trustees. Grant Cathro had circulated a Membership report prior to the meeting. He emphasised the need for Branches to pass newly signed up members onto himself or Neil Hope as soon as possible for a speedy return, comments were made on the amount of members that are being signed up from the website. Following on from the July meeting David Thornton was asked to find out what areas Claire Hart could help the NVS and what the cost is likely to be. David Thornton read out a reply letter from Claire Hart, listing nine points and the various ways in which the Society could improve its public relations and marketing, along with some proposed timings and costings. Members of the NEC discussed this matter raising many points “ Marshalls were the main sponsors for the 2011 championships in Wales; they have already agreed to sponsor the 2012 championships at Malvern. Our relationship with Marshalls is good.” 14 simplyvegetables of interest, from the type of modern technology we could be using to promote the Society further, to work that we had done in the past, it became clear that we need new blood within the NEC to steer the Society on. It was resolved that we use some of the suggestions on Claire Hart’s list which could raise the profile of the Society and increase membership, it was agreed that the Branches would help the NEC with the cost of offering Claire a contract that would have a fixed cost. This would start in the spring 2012. Barry Newman talked about the constitution review and gave some background history to the matter. It seems that the Society’s constitution and its rules are mixed together within the present governance document; The NEC would like to separate the Constitution from the Rules, and put a new constitution forward for approval at next year’s AGM in Malvern, having sought the Charities commission approval first. To achieve this Barry Newman will gather information from members of the Strategy Group, with a view to circulating a paper which highlights the changes required to our rules and regulations prior to the January NEC meeting; this would then become a single item on the agenda for January. Mary Thomas gave a report on the National championships at Llangollen, from a financial point of view the Welsh Branch hopes to break even thanks to our main sponsor Marshalls It was a fantastic show, set in an excellent venue, but it was disappointing from the point of view of the numbers of general public attending. The NEC noted the hard work that was done by the Welsh Branch and asked that thanks be passed onto members of the Welsh Branch that made the 2011 championships possible. John Branham gave details of the planning for the 2012 championships which will be held on 29th & 30th September 2012 at the Malvern Show ground, he recommended that anyone seeking accommodation at Malvern should book early. A Space of 6'x4' for each of the five inter – branch displays has been allowed. This will follow the same lines as Dundee where Branches will be able to make up a display from vegetables and herbs of their choice, A letter from a member in Scotland has been received by our secretary David Thornton; it requests that the numbers of vegetables that make up classes in the National championships be reduced. The chairman asked the views of all NEC members present. There was a difference of opinion with some members agreeing that numbers should be reduced and others stating that the numbers should be greater than Branch shows, because it is the National championships After much debate a vote was taken and numbers will remain as they are. The committee did agree on introducing a new class for a vegetable of fifteen points or less, this was to be chosen by the hosting branch each year, the idea is to encourage new up and coming growers to exhibit at the National championships, the class for this coming year at Malvern is three table Marrows. N GIFT AID DECLARATION Address ...................................................................................................................... Name of Charity: ................................................................................................................................... THE NATIONAL VEGETABLE SOCIETY REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1088979 ....................................................................................Postcode................................ Details of donor: Telephone:.....................................email:.................................................................... Please accept my application for membership of the National Vegetable Society for Surname: ................................................................ Address: ................................................................. ................................................................................ the period ending 31st December 2012…………….. . ................................................................................ I enclose a cheque/postal order/standing order for £ …………….. Payable to The National Vegetable Society Branches: Scotland/ Northern/Welsh please complete and return to: Mr J Grant Cathro FNVS, Bracklinn, 14 Dronley Road, Birkhill, Dundee, DD2 5QD Tel: 01382 580394 Email: [email protected] Branches: Midlands & Southern please complete and return to: Mr Neil Hope FNVS, 82 Hare Hill, Addlestone, Surrey. KT15 1DN Tel: 01932 844183 Email: [email protected] MEMBERSHIP FEES Juniors (up to 16yrs).....£5.00 Individuals ..................£17.00 Couples .....................£19.00 Title: ………. Forename(s):………………………….. Affiliated Society...........................................£19.00 Educational establishments..........................£15.00 Society Medal & Card ....................................£7.60 Payment can be made via the NVS website www.nvsuk.org.uk under the “join the NVS” section, where there is a renewal form for existing members as well. Postcode:................................................................ Telephone:............................................................... Email: ...................................................................... I want the charity to treat (delete as appropriate) • my annual subscription • the enclosed donation of £ ……………… • all donations I have made since 22nd October 2001, and all donations I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you otherwise. as Gift Aid donations. Signed: ................................................................... Date: ………………………………………………… Diary dates for 2012. 14th – 15th February RHS London Plant and Design ShowContact 0845 612 1253 RHS London Orchid and Botanical Art Show. 16th – 17th March 16th – 18th March The Edible Garden Show, Stoneleigh, Warwicks Contact 0844 338 8001 RHS Great London Plant Fair. 10th – 11th April RHS Show Cardiff 20th – 22nd April th th Harrogate Spring Flower Show 26 – 29 April Contact 01423 546158 Malvern Spring Gardening Show 10th – 13th May Contact 01684 584 924 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. 22nd – 26th May Gardening Scotland, Ingliston 1st – 3rd June 13th – 17th June BBC Gardeners World Live Contact 0844 338 0338 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. 3rd – 8th July The Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate 10th – 12th July Contact 01423 541000 Lakeland Rose Show 14th – 15th July Contact 01524 720706 RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 18th – 22nd – July Royal Welsh Show, Builth Wells 23rd – 26th July NVS Southern Branch Championships 24th – 26th July As part of New Forest Show, Brockenhurst, Hampshire Contact Chris Neel 01425 629694 Bakewell Show, Derbyshire 1st – 2nd August Contact Mrs L Baines 01629 812736 Ayr Flower Show 3rd – 5th August 3rd – 5th – August 10th – 11th August RHS Garden Hyde Hall Flower Show Shrewsbury Flower Show. Contact 01743 234050 Includes NVS Midland Branch Championships Contact Mrs Pat Brown 01782 566395 Southport Flower Show 16th – 19th August Contact 0844 847 1555 NVS Scottish Branch Championships 26th August Contact Grant Cathro 01382 580394 Dundee Show. 31st Aug – 2nd September NVS Welsh Branch Championships 1st – 2nd September Contact Mary Thomas Bryngarw Country Park 01691 780420 RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show. 6th – 9th September Harrogate Autumn Flower Show 14th – 16th September Contact 01423 546158 Includes NVS Northern Branch Championships Contact John Croot 01773 834213 Malvern Autumn Show 29th – 30th September Includes NVS National Championships Contact Mrs Pat Brown 01782 566395. RHS London Autumn Fruit and Veg. 9th – 10th October Harvest Show. Scottish Branch Seminar, Penicuik 17th November Contact Jim Williams 01875 320644 For further information on all RHS events/shows, tel 0844 338 7526, or go online at www.rhs.org.uk/shows The above details are believed to be correct at the time of going to press, but the NVS accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions, and visitors are advised to contact the organisers before travelling. simplyvegetables 15 Welcome to my World of Trace Elements – 4th and final part By W John Davies, Welsh Branch Writing this article on the 8th November, I must say our autumn has been much warmer than usual. My Cos lettuce is still growing. The lawn needs cutting again although last night we had our first slight frost. Mid-august we Westwalians enjoyed the N.V.S welsh championships show held at Pembroke. The standards were high throughout. Congratulations to our local competitors, Mal Jones, Ron Mcfarlane and Arwyn Edwards for doing exceptionally well. I was extremely pleased to be told by a group of visitors that Mr Malcom Evans F.N.V.S had spent up to an hour explaining the ins and outs of various exhibits. This friendly and helpful approach did a power of good to the N.V.S. They were so impressed and thankful. This is now the 4th article to be written on the benefits of adequate trace elements in our garden soils. I will now merely touch on the last 4 main ones. grow older. Manganese Availability of this is also affected by high PH in our soil. Especially where organic matter is very high. Onions, apples, peas and French beans are mostly affected. If these are deficient, the leaves will be yellow, with the veins remaining green. Then brown spots will appear, before eventual withering away. This indicates it is essential to the process of photosynthesis in plants. That is the formation of green pigment into leaves. “ If these are deficient, the leaves will be yellow, with the veins remaining green. Then brown spots will appear, before eventual withering away.” Molybdenum Molybdenum is essential for many plant functions such as converting Nitrogen to Amino-Acids. This reduces the nitrates in the plants/veg we eat. It is an important element for the Brassica family, lettuce, peas, tomatoes and beans. Indications of deficiency are yellowing of leaf margins and poor setting of fruit. This is due to weak pollen. Shortage can also cause whiptail of leaves and distortion of cauliflower heads. Shortage is induced below 6.0 ph. Selenium This is the most important trace element of all and deficiency is prevalent in most soils, especially if heavily fertilized. A shortage of Selenium affects our thyroid systems. It is essential as it interacts with copper and cobalt. It also plays an important role in the reproduction of all mammals. Supplimations in our diet keeps our joints supple and helps with greatly with our eyesight, as we Iron Iron is essential for chlorophyll formation. Not being very mobile in plants, the leaves will become yellow usually from the ground level upwards. But in stronger plants, it can happen from the top down. In severe cases the yellowing can turn even to white. Soils are usually well supplied with Iron but lime can affect its availability to the plants. A dressing of Ammonium Nitrogen will help to release it. Clearly the biggest culprit is too much Lime. We use Lime without realizing it. Artificial fertilizers used today are 75% cheap limestone, used as fillers to bulk it up, thus making it easier for us to spread. This is also the main cause of flash floods, which are becoming more prevalent because this soapy Lime clogs up the topsoil. Therefore it cannot soak up the rainwater, as it should. I would be pleased to answer any questions in regards to what I’ve written in these four articles. The cost of rectifying these deficiencies should only be a few pence per square yard. Availability of trace elements can be rather difficult but I will assist and supply you with whatever you need. Properly treated ground will amaze you even in the first season. Contact me if necessary on 01994 240059 – evenings preferably. W John Davies savings, benefits and discounts from your favourite horticultural retailers t:01604 495495 e:[email protected] www.grow2eat.com 1 16g2e.indd simplyvegetables The NSALG’s origins date from 1901 as a members co-operative; we are the recognised national representative of the allotment movement and have over 122,000 members in the UK. The Society employs an ‘in house’ Legal Advisor and retains one of the top 1000 law firms in the country to provide us with the most effective legal advice; we also have many years experience ourselves of allotment issues. The Society is owned, managed and funded by it’s members to PROTECT, PROMOTE & PRESERVE allotments for future generations to enjoy. Visit our website: www.nsalg.org.uk for lots more information Quarterly magazine Allotment and Leisure Gardener magazine is a quarterly, members only publication packed with allotment news from around the UK; member’s letters and a wide variety of topical articles. We welcome reader’s articles and letters for publication Published end of January, April, July and October Insurance Specific allotment insurance cover is available through our brokers, Bluefin Group Ltd, to affiliated members under the Society's Insurance Scheme, with Hiscox Insurance. Contact Bluefin on 01604 258915 or e-mail [email protected]. Specialist insurance includes cover for: building and contents; plotholders sheds and greenhouses, public and products liability insurance Seed scheme from £5 off your first order Quality vegetable seeds and fruit plants between a third and a half of high street prices Further discounts of up to 22.5% for association buyers Wide range of choice of over 500 flowers and collections—traditional favourites as well as modern F1 varieties Annual Membership Fees (per annum) Individual membership@£20. Life membership@£300. Society membership@£2 per member (minimum payment £20) Local authority@£55+VAT , Schools @ £10. If you would like an application form sent to you, please complete the slip below: Name................................................................................................................................................................. Address.............................................................................................................................................................. ......................................................................................Postcode...................................................................... Telephone.................................................................... E-mail........................................................................... Absolutely free to join. You will make savings! What are you waiting for? who are we? grow2eat .com Please send this slip back to Head Office: O’Dell House, Hunters Road, Corby, Northamptonshire, NN17 5JE. Or visit our website and download details - www.nsalg.org.uk 22/9/11 11:00:32 simplyvegetables 17 IVE OFFERN! VSTEGS S U uote KET XCL E The Edible Garden Show 2012 – a must-see show! q C S TI rate. Just R E MB bird ME arly NVS % off e ther A fur 10 rk Pa h g i e l e Ston 18th 16th2012 h c r Ma o.uk c . w sho n e d gar e l b i more d r o e 0 e f1 w.th ups o w o r w g n 001 nts o 8 u o 8 c is 33 4 for d 4 8 5 8 0 358 0 line 0 t 0 o 0 8 H 0 t otline h Ticke g n i ook up b o r g he Call t 18 simplyvegetables *No limit to tickets bought per person through this offer. Adult ticket price using offer £10.80 Offer runs from January 1st to February 29th 2012 It’s the show that has taken the gardening world by storm! The Edible Garden Show is the only national event dedicated exclusively to ‘Grow Your Own’ and home produce. Uniquely bringing together key experts and innovative exhibitors from the worlds of gardening, home produce and food, The Edible Garden Show is a one-stop shop for those wanting a slice of the ‘Good Life’. The 2011 launch event was an astounding success and The Edible Garden Show is back again at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, from March 16–March 18, 2012 and promises to be bigger and even better. If you are not lucky enough to win our free tickets competition, don’t worry! National Vegetable Society members can buy specially discounted tickets to the show giving you 10 per cent off the advanced adult ticket price. It means you can attend the show for just £10.80 and there is no limit per person. However, tickets must be booked by February 29, 2012, quoting the code NVSTEGS. You can book online at www.theediblegardenshow. co.uk or on the telephone ticket hotline 0844 338 8001. But don’t forget to give your special code! The 2011 show – officially opened by Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Jim Paice MP, and TV gardening expert Diarmuid Gavin – attracted gardening and food lovers in their thousands. Diarmuid Gavin described the inaugural event as “fabulous” and added: “The show was thronged with visitors and it was brilliant browsing around the stands at everything the budding fruit and vegetable gardener could possibly require. The Edible Garden Show is a brilliant concept. It’s a fantastic new addition to the gardening world. At last we have a show totally dedicated to grow your own. The crowds were just incredible and I think this show has a great future.” Now organisers are building on that success to ensure the 2012 event will be packed with even more exhibitors, more exciting features and crammed with innovative ideas and fantastic products to get the very best out of your garden. BBC TV’s award-winning presenter James Wong is on a mission to tempt gardeners into becoming more adventurous by growing ‘exotic edibles’. The renowned gardener and botanist, who will be giving daily talks says grow-your-own doesn’t have to be all about cabbages and cauliflowers. Broadcaster and writer Pippa Greenwood, celebrity chef Rachel Green and The Edible Garden Show’s own ‘Grow Your Own’ guru will all be on hand to give invaluable tips and advice. If you are not lucky enough to win our free tickets Competition on Page 39, don’t worry! National Vegetable Society members can buy specially discounted tickets to the show giving you 10 per cent off the advanced adult ticket price. It means you can attend the show for just £10.80 and there is no limit per person. Howeve r, tickets must be booked by February 29, 2012, quoting the code NVSTEGS simplyvegetables 19 Protect Finally, problems with cracking carrots. A member had grown some superb short carrots, variety, sweet candle. In a raised bed filled with washed river sand, and bore holes of compost. Looked to be growing well during the summer, regular watering, no disease or pest problems. When lifting the carrots for a show, after a couple of minutes he could hear a cracking noise, and a couple of carrots, (had to be the best two didn’t it), split almost from top to bottom. What caused it. Guy Barter, Chief Horticultural Officer at RHS Wisley suggests: The cracking looks like that associated with apple scab disease, a fungal disease that afflicts foliage and fruits. The russeting is less clear cut, but the usual cause that we encounter is apple capsid. In both cases comprehensive control information is published on the RHS website. Suggested Answer Most cracks in carrots are usually caused by irregular watering, i.e. the compost/soil is allowed to become dry, followed by a good soaking by rain or the watering can. This causes the cells to take up more water than they can absorb, causing the cells to burst, and the carrot to split open. If not too bad the split can heal, the carrot continues to grow, and matures as an edible but not showable carrot. However in this case, it is the pulling of the carrot from the bed, which were perfect when pulled, which releases the external pressure on the carrot, and with no soil/compost to contain it literally bursts open. Still edible if eaten straight away, will not usually store, as bacteria enter the split and can cause the carrot to rot. with our wide range of top quality garden netting & Hoops Cucumber A member who wishes to remain anonymous, (not surprised looking at the pic of your cucs ***y) has sent me a couple of photos of a sorry looking cucumber plant. The leaves are mottled, veined, and look to have been attacked by something, could be red spider mite. Guy Suggests: The leaf damage is certainly highly consistent with red spider mite, but I would have expected the mites to be all too visible beneath the leaves, not to mention their webbing. We noticed an upsurge of similar damage in summer 2011 and this corresponded closely to a period when nights were on the cold side but the days warm and sunny. This suggested to us that the plants resented the alternation of heat and cold and that investment in a min-max thermometer would be wise so that the ventilation and heating could be manipulated to avoid this fluctuation. There seems to be no spotting of the leaves that would indicate fungal disease of the foliage. Provide safe, healthy vegetables for all the family. Bird Netting Stop the birds damaging your fruit and vegetables. Cover fruit and vegetables with Veggiemesh and effortlessly grow top quality crops without pesticides. Veggiemesh will stop insects eating or damaging crops! Easily water and feed your crops through the insect netting. Veggiemesh will last for years, giving you bumper pest free crops for many seasons. Protect your crops from cabbage root fly, carrot fly, cabbage white butterfly, pea moth, leek moth, cutworm, onion fly, leaf miners & many other pests. Mesh size: 1.35mm. Widths range from 1.8m to 5.6m in any length you need. New fo 2012 r Gardening Naturally 8 Wilkinson Road, Love Lane Industrial Estate Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1YT Tel: 0845 680 0296 / 01285 654 241 Email: [email protected] F Cata ree Avai logue lable Butterfly Netting Stop the birds and the cabbage white butterfly from ruining your crops. This heavy duty soft netting will protect your crops from birds & butterflies. Save hours picking off caterpillars. Lay directly over crops, hoops or frames. With 7mm holes this netting is also great as a pond cover, stopping leaves and herons entering your pond. Available in 2, 4, 6 & 8m widths, any length. Green Garden Hoops Designed by Gardening Naturally to easily secure & peg down garden netting & fleece without damage. Suitable for most crop covers. Reuse over & over again. Available in packs of 10, 20, 50 & 100. Create your own garden tunnels with these green 1.8m long flexible hoops. When erected at 1.2m wide they will stand approximately 600mm high. Come complete with anchors for extra stability. A flexible way to create any length tunnel that will last for years. Available in packs of 5 & packs of 10. New fo 2012 r 20 simplyvegetables g! Veggiemesh® Crop Cover Clips The not so good side!! vin 10% off these items Use coupon code: 2012 This is a lovely quality, double stitch knitted netting (which feels like a soft fabric to touch). With a mesh size of 17mm this netting will protect your fruit and vegetables from birds & still allow bees through to pollinate. Extremely versatile and can be laid directly over the crop. Available in 2, 4, 6, 8 & 12m widths, any length. The good side r A ak edu ll p e a ce ric fu d fo es rth r 2 er 01 10 2 % sa m & grow with confidence Cracking carrots This time its my own problem! On one or two apples, variety not known, there are cracks appearing on one side of the apple and on the reverse side of the same apple “knobbly lumps” are the best I can describe them, Most of the flesh is Ok to use, but guess they would not store well. Fortunately, it’s only on one or two, and the tree is carrying a tremendous crop. us your Crops Readers’ Advice Problem with cooking apples. pl Order online at Please contact us for school & allotment simplyvegetables 21 society discounts Confessions of a stingy gardener John Murrell, Southern Branch. I am one of the 1940s generation and am careful with money; we had rather little in those times. So, although I am very friendly with the managers of my local Garden Centre, I am not a very good customer. I am not seen at weekends wheeling out an instant garden. But I am generous to members of my local horticultural society and other good causes in the village for which I am frequently asked to provide plants for local plant sales, and this has the potential of being an expensive activity. So what is the evidence for my stingyness? Most importantly it is the practice of knocking something up myself, rather than buying it off the shelf. For example, there are clearly many people buying an expensive ready-made raised bed for vegetables, rather than finding a few lengths of treated 6x1 timber (old units), and putting this together with the miscellaneous nails and screws that are found in most tool boxes. Likewise, those plastic cloches which are expensive and last only a few seasons; I find the embedded wire supports soon break away. Your local DIY or Garden Centre will have rolls of clear and bubble plastic about 5ft wide which can easily be spread over bent wire supports and held down by old bricks or lengths of timber. Glass cloches are very valuable for early season protection and I have used several types of cloche clip over the years. My first purchases, forty years ago, are still going strong. They are made of aluminium (and marked, ‘patent applied for’), and they have proved much better than later purchases made of rubber or green plastic (sadly only the latter seem to be commonly available now). What about my cold frames? Like most people I have had replacement windows over the years and the old windows had plenty of useful life in them for that purpose. Amusingly some of the structures of these frames are based on discarded edges to graves from the local church; they were keen to get rid of them to facilitate mowing. Of course all this DIY takes time and perhaps the result is less elegant than the ‘proper’ article. As my wife says “why did you not invest in a decent fruit DIY plant protection covers 22 simplyvegetables Home made fruit cages cage forty years ago rather than assemble that home made effort every year in May (removed in August) to keep the blackbirds and squirrels off your raspberries and strawberries”. My response is that our local squirrels could get into most fruit cages, but (with improvements every year) not into mine. Some things have to be bought, and one of my luxuries is to spend more than £50 a year on seeds, (using my local horticultural society to get a good discount). Nearly all seeds are viable for more than the year in which they are sold, and some, like tomatoes and brassicas (which if F1 are quite expensive), seem to go on for ever if you are careful to keep the packet dry after first use. The only seeds I regularly use that would fail after one year are parsnips, and there are a few others that do not last too long. Of course, if you use old seed you will get a few failures, so I do have to buy new and sow again occasionally. I am sometimes tempted by starter flower plants that appear in early Spring in my local Garden Centre, and if you only need a few plants they are a good alternative to sowing seeds. I get these early, pot them on, and usually take a few cuttings to increase their number. I have not yet done the same for vegetables, but if you forget to sow your leeks or brussels in March, they are probably a good option. I am an insatiable cutting taker, particularly in Spring of chrysanthemums and dahlias, and in autumn to overwinter pelargoniums and fuchsias, and the excess provides my main donations to plant sales. You should never need to buy pots. This year I became very short of small (first potting) pots but after explaining my need at the local garden club meeting I was overwhelmed with offers from people who were delighted to clear out their sheds. I also find yoghurt pots very useful for large seeds that I want to sow individually, such as the marrow family. However, I do buy a few plastic modules as they rarely last more than a few uses, and they are such a space saver in the greenhouse for early seedlings. It is very easy to spend a lot of money on compost. I have to buy a few bags because my home grown effort has too many weed seeds to make it useful Home made strawberry raised beds for most first sowings. I also need to lighten my own compost with peat (this now requires a special order at my Garden centre), perlite, and grit, and I use this for later pottings, particularly a very large amount for the last potting of fuschias and late chrysanthemums. But I also recycle old compost as long as it looks useful. Last years chrysanthemum compost with a little added John Innes base is used for the next year’s early potatoes and carrots in pots. All compost eventually ends up on the garden but it may have been used several times before that. Fertility in the garden is provided by a regular load of cow manure from a nearby farm (one of the many advantages of country life), and a large packet of Growmore. I am sometimes tempted by a packet of soluble fertiliser, but being deliquescent, if you only use a little at a time, by the end of the packet you are usually left with a soggy mess; this I find annoying. I admit to the occasional purchase of a small spray can of made up pesticide, which is so convenient for giving a short spurt when you first notice some Home made cold frames aphids on a plant in the greenhouse, but I know that this is much more expensive than buying a bottle of pesticide or fungicide, and making up the solution for a large sprayer. I am not a green gardener (that must be obvious by now), but I use these chemicals very sparingly, and only fungicides are used for prophylactic protection (particularly on outdoor tomatoes). Living in a very rural environment I have only a few yards to go to cut a few bean poles or pea sticks. Although I planted a fairly vigorous bamboo a few years ago to provide supports for my sweet peas, it can’t quite meet my needs so I usually have to buy a few of these each year. However, when an 8ft sweet pea support loses its bottom, it will find use as a 6ft chrysanthemum or dahlia support; and after continued use it may end up as a helpful three footer. So, even for a stingy person gardening can be an expensive hobby. But we are largely self sufficient in vegetables and fruit, and that more than compensates. John Murrell, Southern Branch Win 2 bags of Groworganic fertiliser (15 pairs to give away) Life began for Groworganic in 1974. Situated in the heart of Somerset, not far from Glastonbury Tor, our factory now produces 25 tons of composted, heattreated, concentrated natural fertiliser every day. The composting technique is to mountain the compost in a covered 1000 ton area and with regular turning, extract the ammonia. The composting of the deep poultry litter / wood shavings lasts for six weeks with regular wet back treatment to prevent the material from drying out. The next process is to mill the product before the oven heating. Finally the now composted product enters the oven and is heat treated at over 200°C. The product is now clean and stable and ready for bagging as all composting is now complete. Groworganic is a friable, fibrous and concentrated natural fertiliser resembling a product that looks like a coarse tea. This natural fertiliser is currently used by over 500 UK allotment and garden societies and is also shipped as far afield as the Orkneys Horticultural Society, The Port Stanley Garden Club in the Falklands and has even been used for vegetable and fruit growing in the Middle East! To enter this competition simply answer the following question: Q: Name the most southern based garden club that Groworganic is supplied to? Send your answer along with your name, address and contact number to: Groworganic Competition – NVS.1.12, Crest Publications Ltd, 20 Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton NN3 6AP or email: [email protected] (subject line Groworganic Competition – NVS.1.12). Closing date: 15.2.12 Competition T&C apply simplyvegetables 23 Jersey to enter Chelsea next year Collette Bisson, Jersey evening Post. Encouraged by success at Chelsea Flower Show in 2009, gaining a gold medal at the first time attempt, Jersey will be making a return visit to the show next year showcasing the Island’s high quality produce. This will be under the banner of the Jersey Farmers’ Union, which has been a member of the NVS for several years and will be with the support of the States of Jersey which will be providing sponsorship. The display will feature the pick of vegetables grown by leading commercial growers and amateur gardeners with one of the main features of the proposed design being geometric windows highlighted with peppers in a variety of colours. Jersey team co-ordinator, Graeme Le Marquand explained that seeds were being sourced from leading growers of exhibition produce. These include NVS member, Medwyn Williams, whom Mr Le Marquand described as the team’s guru on all vegetable matters and an invaluable source of advice on Chelsea, having won many gold medals for his displays there in the past. Medwyn’s contribution includes Kelsae onion seed and leek pips which arrived safely in the Island this month. These are the new Pendle improved variety bred by David Metcalf, named after the Pendle hills where David lives. Another NVS member and leading exhibitor, Charlie Maisey from Wales, is supplying Stenner runner bean seed. Commercial growers who have pledged support include Paul Blake and David Blake who run separate glasshouse holdings on the Island. Both have the benefit of hi-tech computer controlled environments and use environmentally friendly methods of pest “ The display will feature the pick of vegetables grown by leading commercial growers and amateur gardeners” David Blake’s varieties of sweet and chilli peppers, Bird’s Eye, Scotch Bonnet and Basque chillies Aubergine variety Taurus at Paul Blake’s horticultural unit San Manzo a new small plum variety David Blake’s tomato variety Romano, large plum Sweet peppers control as well as bees for pollination. Paul Blake, based at la Chasse Vineries, Maufant, will be producing peppers in a range of colours for the Jersey team. Although some will be from his normal cropping of green, orange, yellow and red, he will also be growing two extra colours – ivory and lilac, just for the show. He will also be able to supply aubergines, chilli peppers and tomatoes which include beef steak, vine, plum, baby plum and cherry. Supplying the Island’s Waitrose and Sandpiper stores, he has over one and a half acres of peppers and aubergines under glass, two and a half acres with tomatoes and three quarters of an acre with cucumbers. David Blake, whose nursery is at Sion, St John, supplies produce to the Channel Islands Co-operative outlets. Crops include sweet and chilli peppers including Bird’s Eye, Scotch Bonnets and Basque varieties. There are also many varieties of tomato including new variety San Manzo. The Island’s prison has also come on board offering the use of its heated greenhouse facilities for raising and growing on seedlings. This will be an essential requirement to ensure vegetables reach maturity within the time frame for Chelsea. Inmates will also be helping with care of plants. Plants raised will also include much of the parsley needed for Chelsea – an important component for filling in displays and Jersey tall jack cabbages, which Mr Le Marquand explained will reflect an aspect of Jersey’s culture. The prison, based in the west of the island, has an impressive horticultural unit headed by vocational training co-ordinator, Steve de Carteret. As far as produce is concerned, it’s the largest noncommercial holding of tunnels and glasshouses on the Island, providing inmates with a useful activity as well as an opportunity to learn new skills and gain qualifications which they can use after release. The Vegetable and Fruit Company Jersey Farmers’ Union’s first stand at Chelsea in 2009 24 simplyvegetables Outdoor lettuce The wide range of vegetables and fruit grown is all consumed by inmates and yields everything needed for the kitchens. ‘You couldn’t get a fresher diet,’ said Mr de Carteret. ‘We pick in the morning and it’s on the table at lunchtime.’ Excess produce, such as tomatoes, is made into sauces or put into the deep freeze for use in the winter.’ Everything is raised from seed assisted by use of a temperature controlled germination box. Cultivation is achieved without use of any sprays with this year’s cropping including everything from chillies, cucumbers, salads, beans, radishes and onions to tomatoes using marigolds as companion plants. Pak choi has also been in demand as stir fries are a popular dish on the menu. Although not all inmates are eligible to take part in gardening activities, around 25 are currently involved, although not all at the same time. ‘We have a very good bunch at the moment,’ said Mr de Carteret. ‘They are very hard working and very enthusiastic. They keep the houses spotless, You won’t see a weed anywhere.’ The unit also has a floral section which each year raises Spring bedding plants, creates hanging baskets and grows on pot plants such as poinsettia and geraniums. Both produce and plants from the prison have been successful at local shows winning many trophies and looking ahead, the prison plans to apply for membership of the NVS. Another section of the prison assisting with the journey to Chelsea will be the occupational workshops, supervised by Chris Wilson. Here inmates will be making special wooden boxes to transport the long carrots, long parsnips and long beetroots grown by Mr Le Marquand. Mr Le Marquand is also actively involved in the growth of the NVS membership in Jersey and says there are plans for the formation of a Jersey branch later this year. Among members recruited this year is the Jersey Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Association which set up its first allotments at Les Creux in the west of the island and has plans for more in other areas. Please also see the creation of a new DA in Jersey, page 40 – ed Collette Bisson Feature Writer “ Excess produce, such as tomatoes, is made into sauces or put into the deep freeze for use in the winter.” NVS PRIZE SPONSORS 2011 simplyvegetables 25 The Gardens of Chateau de Villandry Barry Newman, FNVS National Chairman. A Brief History Villandry was built in 1536 by Jean Le Breton, Minister of Finance for Francois 1st. Only the keep remains of a medieval castle that was razed in order to make way for the chateau. In 1754, the Marquis de Castellane purchased the chateau and had it redesigned to meet 18th century standards of comfort. The 19th century marked a turning point for the property; the traditional garden was destroyed to create an English-style park, around the chateau. In 1906, the chateau was bought by Joachim Carvallo, born in Spain in 1869 and the current owner’s grandfather. He gave up a brilliant scientific career to devote himself entirely to Villandry. He began by restoring the chateau and then the Renaissance gardens. The Vegetable Garden at Villandry Whilst a travelogue is not what you expect to see in the pages of Simply Vegetables, I was moved to write this article because this garden so impressed me that I wanted to share it with other members. To put what you are reading into context my visit to the garden was made in mid October last year. Villandry is on the banks of the Loire river near Tours and as you will see from the photographs I was lucky to have the sunshine and very few fellow visitors. The Chateau has six gardens, the Ornamental, the Water, the Sun, the Maze, the Herb and the Kitchen garden as well extensive woodland. All the gardens are themed and based on the squares, triangles and circles which make up the ‘parterre’ system of garden which also became popular here in England. Each garden is impressive and immaculately maintained. In the Kitchen garden, two plantings take place 26 simplyvegetables each year; one in the spring (remaining in place from March to June) the other in summer (remaining from June to November). About forty species belonging to eight botanical families are used each year. The garden is made up of nine squares of equal size but with different geometric patterns in each. These squares are planted with vegetables of alternating colours (the blue of the leeks, purple of the cabbage, gold of the celery) to create the illusion of a multi – coloured chessboard. The kitchen gardens date back To the Middle Ages. The monks in the abbeys liked to lay their vegetables out in geometric shapes, with a particular preference for the cross. The standard roses, planted in symmetry, symbolise the monks digging their squares. The second influence comes from Italy and gave this monastic kitchen garden its ornamental features, fountains, arbours and square flower beds. The French gardeners of the 16th century combined these two inspirations, monastic and Italian, to create the garden they needed for roses and vegetables newly arrived from the Americas. They called this garden a decorative kitchen garden. I hope you will agree that the gardens at Villandry are something quite special and well worth a visit at any time of the year. Barry. Allotments for the disabled Mick Poultney, Midland Branch. Having completed the allotment for the kids of, and at the grounds of Caslon Primary School (see summer edition – ed), and liking another challenge, I thought about doing allotments for the disabled, the idea came from Dave Goodwin (a good veg man) from Chesterfield, he works with people with learning difficulties, I go up to see them all in the spring and to check out their local beer! Dave had his own plot & asked if his group could have one, the best thing he ever did, the lads love it! I thought I could do that! So I got permission from our council to lease land next to our Abbey Road allotment site in Halesowen. This was then just an extension to our site, I wanted to do one allotment for wheelchair disabled and one for the walking disabled, I thought if I’m putting in for land anyway, I may as well ask for more than what I want then I can knock a few off our waiting list!! (I got enough land for 8 plots), funding was well under way, mainly lottery funded, if you look about there is loads of money out there (funders like community projects), 7 funders in the end giving me £30,000. The next job was to clear the ground then get it fenced off. Once fenced in, an entrance was made through our fence into the new site, 2 tunnels were erected, 1 for each plot. For the wheelchair disabled plot we had to have a tarmac pathway 4 ft wide from our old plot to the new one, also around the raised beds, plus each tunnel had a raised bed in the middle. Our toilet block doors were replaced to accommodate wheelchair access. The pathways for the walking disabled are covered with a weed suppressant then wood chippings, each plot has 6 raised beds, fruit trees around the edges, a water dip tank with tap, they come under the same rules as every one else on site, meaning £12 a year rent and if you don’t look after your plot you get thrown off ! The hardest jobs were the red tape & paperwork plus getting people to take them on, as the groups have to be looked after and not all carers were willing to put themselves out for their group! In the end the wheelchair plot went to the blind & partially sighted, the walking disabled plot went to Dudley Green Team This group works on the canal & gets no return, here they are their own bosses & they love it – that’s when you know it’s been worth the effort. Work is still on going and by the time you read this I should have finished it all, then it’s just helping out when they need me!. This project will have taken 4 years to complete – was it worth it?, yes. Would I do it again?, no. Mick. simplyvegetables 27 Restoring an Old Walled Kitchen Garden John Trim FNVS Southern Branch. In late September I had a call from a lady friend of mine who had booked me on several occasions to give talks to her society. As a keen gardener she had been recommended to a young couple who had recently bought a country hotel in the New Forest. They though that as a proficient gardener she may like a part time job of turning an old walled kitchen garden into a going concern once again. Intrigued she popped along to the hotel to view the garden. After one look she was filled with horror at the overgrown one acre site in which roamed a dozen chickens, two sheep and was festooned with more perennial weeds than you could shake a stick at. She turned to the owners and said, ‘This is beyond me, but I know a man who can”. Suzanna ‘the lady in question” rang me one evening. ‘It is just the sort of thing you do, you will love it”. And Michael & Richard hard at work. This is the proposed area for the polytunnel. The apple trees will come in for a bit of vigorous winter pruning. I have all ready identified two apple trees, a Blenheim Orange & a Charles Ross. The first crops are planted, or rather transplanted in the case of this row of winter leeks. Alongside them are two rows of ‘Avignon’ garlic. This is a soft neck variety & a good keeper. so with that sort of prompting I phoned the owners Robert & Imogene Anglaret & arranged a meeting. It was fortunate that they were such an engaging & enthusiastic couple because when I saw the garden I could see it was quite a daunting prospect. I gave Robert my rates & he didn’t blanch too much, so once again I was back working as a head gardener. The only problem was that I had a full work schedule into October, what with judging show’s & what have you. Finally the weekend arrived when with a team composed of two my old apprentices, the owner Robert & my new apprentice Michael we made a start on the garden. My first job was to draw up a plan of the bed structure. The chickens & the two sheep were still on site so we had to work around those. Fortunately the The old poly tunnel This was what we had to deal with. Rampant raspberries all suffering with cane blight & beneath that a carpet of couch grass. I set the owner Robert to work on this section with Diana one of my old pupils. It took them a whole day to clear this area. 28 simplyvegetables hotel grounds stretch over three acres so the sheep were confined to their own paddock. By the way they were called ‘Rambo & Minty”. The old poly tunnel was still producing a plentiful supply of ‘Moneymaker” tomatoes. But after tasting one I knew why I had stopped growing that variety. This part of the walled garden is facing west, so against the wall there will eventually be a pergola & a potting shed. The polytunnel will move to a sunnier part of the garden where with a new cover & improved ventilation it should be even more productive. My plan is to make the hotel self sufficient in fresh organically grown vegetables, all In season. On top of that it is a beautiful location with direct access onto the New Forest & is ideal to teach vegetable growing to new gardeners. We shall expand on this by also running courses on poultry & bee keeping. Ongoing jobs. In will come some rare breed chickens & quail. We have taken on an excellent tutor Jeannette Owens to teach poultry keeping. Chris Neel ‘NVS show secretary to Southern Branch’ is bringing in some of his bees & will be running the bee keeping courses & I shall run the vegetable courses. Check out the Woodlands Lodge Hotel website if you are interested. Or phone 02380 292257 for more details. Look out for the follow up to this article in the summer edition of Simply Veg. John Trim fnvs The strawberry plants were cleaned up & these found a new home in the soft fruit section of the garden Deep beds under construction. These are set up on pavers to keep the wood off the soil. Michael is painting on a wood preservative Even a head gardener can’t avoid all the hard work. Here I am skimming off the turf of just one of four new beds. This will be the basis of a crop rotation system, ideal as a teaching aid for all those prospective new vegetable gardeners. One of the beds will be capped with a deep layer of farmyard manure. This will be for the potatoes. Ph tests have been taken & most of the plot is very alkaline. The paddock tested at 6.75 on the Ph scale so the acidic manure on the potato bed should reduce that somewhat. simplyvegetables 29 Peaches and Nectarines Gerry Edwards, Southern Branch. I suppose that if asked what the most exotic fruit that we can grow in our gardens is the majority of gardeners would say the peach or nectarine due to their outstanding quality. Asking the same gardeners about how easy peaches and nectarines are to grow then the answer would probably be to not try growing them in the garden because they are so difficult to grow! Whilst I would agree that to call peaches and nectarines exotic is a very fitting accolade nothing could be more untrue in saying that they are hard to grow! Indeed the very opposite is true if attention is paid to planting and growing conditions. Before I start I want to nail down fallacies concerning nectarines. I have read that nectarines are the result of a cross between a peach and a plum, that they are unreliable sports or even that they resemble peaches but bear no real relation to them! None of these have any truth in them whatsoever – nectarines are simply smooth skinned peaches and botanically they are the same – they all originated from the same species prunus persica. Nevertheless it is usually found that nectarines do not grow as large as peaches. Incidentally is often said that nectarines are a little more tender than peaches and perhaps need a little more warmth but this is not something that I have ever found. Peaches and nectarines are natives of China despite their botanical name suggesting that they originated in Persia. Peaches, in particular, were recorded as being cultivated in China some 4000 years ago and have always been regarded with high regard both a symbol of long life and immortality and as a potent force against demons! So NVS members be aware! Although the Romans are reputed to have imported quantities of this fruit into England it is not until the early thirteenth century that they are recorded as being grown in England. However, once introduced they quickly became very popular and as early as 1676 John Rea listed 35 varieties of peach and the Horticultural Society’s list of fruits in their collection at Chiswick in 1826 listed “ Peaches and nectarines are natives of China despite their botanical name suggesting that they originated in Persia.” Peach blossom early March, under polytunnel cover. Leaves will follow later. Not snow on outside of cover! 30 simplyvegetables 224 peaches and 72 nectarines! Many of the peaches and nectarines that we know today were bred in the nineteenth century by famous nurserymen such as Thomas Rivers and Laxton’s and included varieties such as Early Rivers, Lord Napier, Sea Eagle, Duke of York, Humboldt and Peregrine. It was boasted by these nurserymen that the varying varieties of peaches and nectarines meant that they could have a season from the beginning of July until the end of October! Peaches and nectarines are constantly being bred and improved none more so than in Canada and the USA where they are very popular indeed. It is a shame that the majority of those grown in the UK today are those bred so many years ago and little experimentation has occurred since. Having told you that peaches and nectarines are easy to grow it is important nevertheless to recognise a number of ground rules. Perhaps the most important point to note about these fruits is that despite their exotic background the trees themselves are hardy and cold weather will not harm them. However, because peaches and nectarines flower early in the year – usually in March – the blossoms are very susceptible to fatal damage due to freezing caused by frosts or freezing winds. To be sure of a good crop and minimise damage during frosts and periods of cold winds I would always advocate growing peaches and nectarines outdoors fan trained against walls – south or west facing where they will receive plenty of sunshine during the day and retained heat at night. Grown in this way they are easy to cover when cold weather is forecast. Although peaches and nectarines can be grown as bushes in the warmer parts of the country – and indeed they have in the past been commercially cultivated in this way – it can be a risky business (it can particularly annoying to lose a crop when growing a single tree) and to my mind they are best managed when all of the fruits can be easily seen as on a fan trained tree which means easy thinning and good exposure to the sun for ripening. It is possible to grow bush trees in pots on patios and suitable varieties are becoming available – I will note a few of these later – but the pots must be taken under cover in times of frost and cold wind and taken out again in warmer weather to allow pollination unless this is done by hand. All of this, to my mind, is very fiddly and they don’t look very good in pots anyway! Nevertheless there are obviously some gardens, particularly patio gardens, where they can only be grown in this way. Incidentally peaches and nectarines are self-fertile so Fan trained False Peregrine Peach a single tree will suffice although as with the majority of other self-fertile fruits they will crop better if there is another variety of the same fruit nearby. Peaches and nectarines can also be grown as fan trees under glass which was very common in the past. Not only did this provide for good cropping in all parts of the country – depending on the heat available – but it also allowed for earlier cropping than could be achieved outdoors. Although this was ideal for the Victorian kitchen gardeners I would suggest that your greenhouses are best used for other crops unless you are in a cooler part of the country. The second ground rule is thinning the fruits. A well pollinated peach or nectarine will set a very large number of fruits and it is vital to thin these out if good size fruits are required – which, of course, they will be! The final spacing between fruits should be around 9 inches but I suggest that you achieve this in a couple of stages. Firstly the fruits should be thinned out in late May/early June when the fruits are about the size of a twenty pence piece. At this point all clusters should be thinned to single fruits about 4 inches apart. At the same time remove all fruits growing into the wall or where they are in positions unable to expand. The second thinning should take place around four to six weeks later when they are roughly the size of a fifty pence piece. At this stage peach fruits should be thinned to 9 inches apart and nectarines around 6 inches apart. The third ground rule is the avoidance of peach leaf curl which is that very nasty disease which causes blisters to form on the leaves of the tree which are first red but later swell up and turn white. Infected leaves usually fall early in the season. Not only is peach leaf curl unsightly but it has been known to spread to the fruits themselves. The constant early fall of the leaves as well as their inability to perform their necessary functions whilst infected can cause a weakening of the tree and poor cropping. The main reason for this disease spreading is dampness during the winter months caused by rain or condensation and this is easily prevented by covering the trees during the winter months. In the case of fan trees this is easily done by erecting a polythene cover over them from the end of November until the end of May remembering to lift it off during warm days when the trees are in flower. Remember what I said earlier about fan trees being easier to manage! In the case of trees grown in pots they should be moved under the cover of a greenhouse or conservatory during the same period or if they are grown as outdoor bushes a more ingenious arrangement will need to be devised! Having considered the above three ground rules what are the best varieties to grow? Let’s consider nectarines first. Early Rivers is one of the best early nectarines which ripens in early to mid-July depending upon the season. It is a roundish nectarine and is usually a large greenish yellow fruit covered almost all over with a scarlet flush. It has a pale yellow flesh which is very soft and it is juicy with an excellent flavour. Well worth growing! Lord Napier which is possibly the best known nectarine is another early nectarine which ripens in early August. It has oval fruits which are large in size and are pale yellow covered nearly all over with a crimson/brown flush. The flesh of the fruit is very pale green with a good flavour. The attractive fruits make it a most decorative tree to grow and it also has the benefit of being very hardy and ideal for cooler parts. Humboldt is one of the best orange fleshed nectarines which ripens in the middle of August. It produces round/oval fruits which are large in size which are orange with a deep red flush – very attractive for growing decoratively. The flesh is very soft and juicy and when fully ripe has a rich melting flavour. To produce its best this nectarine needs to be grown in the warmer parts of the country or in the greenhouse. Elruge is an outstanding nectarine of the highest quality ripening in mid to late August and as a result it is grown in many parts of the world. It has round often oval fruits which are medium in size and are a very light green with a dark purple/red flush. The flesh is greenish white which is very soft and juicy and has an outstanding aroma. Like Lord Napier it is very hardy and ideal for cooler parts of the country. My final nectarine is the exotic sounding Pineapple “ Having considered the above three ground rules what are the best varieties to grow?” simplyvegetables 31 flavour is not as outstanding as other peaches but this variety is very hardy and can produce a good crop outdoors even in cooler springs. Peregrine is probably still the best known garden peach but nevertheless it is well worth growing as it will grow well in all conditions – I have even had this variety fruiting after frost had damaged the blossom! It is still a popular commercial variety of peach as it is easy to grow and it has a good flavour. The fruits, which ripen in early August, are round, medium/large in size are crimson/red all over in anything other the most concealed conditions. The unusual thing about this peach is that the flesh is almost as smooth as a nectarine and I have heard it described as a nectarine on more than one occasion by a know-it-all! The flesh of the fruits is white, firm very juicy and with a very good flavour. Well recommended for the garden! Avalon Pride is highly resistant to peach leaf curl. It has round fruits which are medium in size and have a yellow flesh and have a dark red flush on the side exposed to the sun. The flowers are pink and the fruits, which are ripe in August, have a very juicy, delicious flavour. Rochester is another well-known peach and like Peregrine is well suited to the UK climate. This peach has the advantage of flowering quite late and is therefore more suitable for growing in frost pockets or colder areas. The fruits, which ripen in mid-August can grow quite large and the flesh is yellow and very juicy and in good years the flavour develops very well. Royal George is a very old variety having been known as long ago as the 18th Century. This peach, which ripens at the end of August is round, perhaps slightly flattened at its top is large, yellow with a deep red flush which is very decorative. The flesh is pale yellow and is very soft with an outstanding flavour as long as it is well ripened. Although it is very suitable for garden growing it is perhaps best grown in more southerly gardens as it has a longish growing season. My final peach selection is unusual! The variety is Saturne and it is a FLAT peach! Although it is unusual in shape it is very sweet and it is said by some to have a taste of honey in it although I have yet to notice this myself! It has a white flesh which is very juicy. Although a good talking point in the garden these peaches are very good croppers and are very popular with children. Go on – have a go at this one! Finally I would like to mention those peaches and nectarines that can be easily grown in pots. A number of dwarf peaches and nectarines have been developed and can be grown in pots on the patio where they will receive plenty of warmth. The following are worth considering for growing in this way – Nectarines – Bonanza, Nectarella and Rubis (all ripening mid-August) Peaches – Amber, Crimson Bonfire (red foliage) and Diamond (ripening August/September) “ The flesh is greenish white which is very soft and juicy and has an outstanding aroma.” Editor’s winning dish of nectarines, variety Zeeglow at Leeds show early August which as its name suggests has a flavour similar to that of a pineapple! It ripens in early September in very warm parts of the country and nearer the end of the month in slightly cooler conditions. The fruits are round and quite large, yellow/green and almost covered in a bright red flush. The flesh is yellow, very soft and juicy with distinctively pineapply flavour. My first peach is Duke of York is a peach of the highest quality which ripens at the end of July. It has large, round fruits which are creamy with a bright red flush and the flesh is pale green and is very soft, sweet and juicy with a good flavour. This is a good garden variety and is very decorative. This is another variety which is very hardy and can be grown successfully as a bush tree. Hale’s Early is not as early as the name suggests but it should be ripe by the end of July/early August. The fruits are medium in size and pale greenish yellow with a purple/red flush and some mottling in the parts exposed to the sun. The flesh is white or a very pale yellow often purple near the stone and it is very soft and juicy. The For All Your Seeds Needs Buy online @ www.terwinseeds.co.uk Free 2012 seeds catalogue Terwins Seeds Unit 5a Peppers Hall Old Hall Lane Cockfield, Suffolk, IP30 0LH e: [email protected] t: 01284828255 32 simplyvegetables This is the eighth in a series of articles that Gerry has agreed to write for our magazine on fruit growing, and exhibiting, thank you. He has written for Garden news, The Garden magazine (RHS monthly publication for members) and Kitchen Garden magazine, amongst others. Gerry is Chairman of the RHS Fruit Group Committee, a member of the RHS Fruit, Vegetable and Herb Committee, and a member of the RHS Fruit Trials Panel. Gerry has developed a garden design and fruit related business and his website is www. gerryedwardsgardenservices.co.uk, a man of many talents! – ed Herbs – to flower or not to flower. Emily Plumb, Southern Branch. I was wondering whether anyone could shed any light on the topic of exhibiting herbs with flowers on. The NVS Handbook describes a meritorious specimen as one which ‘...should be clean of foliage with no sign of ageing, free from pest or disease damage.’ The RHS Handbook describes a meritorious specimen as one that is ‘fresh, healthy, clean...’ and some defective characteristics are ‘material that is not fresh and clean is yellowing or showing other signs of age or pest damage or has any disease’. Therefore, I was wondering whether I would be able to get any clarification on whether you can succeed at a show with herbs that have flowers on. Personally, seeing a vase of herbs with flowers on makes me think of a specimen which has passed its prime condition – you would not show another vegetable, such as a cauliflower or a lettuce, which had bolted. I appreciate that the flowers on some herbs are edible, such as those on chives, but when half of the points that can be awarded to a specimen are given for its condition, with the only guidelines on what is ‘good condition’ being that the foliage is clean and fresh, it seems to me that the decision regarding flowers at present is to the judge’s discretion alone – neither judge’s handbook makes any direct reference to flowers. This means that if you choose not to show herbs with flowers on, that you have a harder job when trying to select a class of 6 vases of herbs, as you exclude all the specimens you have grown which have got to the stage of flowering. However, when judging takes place, depending on the judge, you can be beaten by an exhibit which contains one or more vases of herbs which contain flowers. On the other hand, if you choose to show herbs with flowers on, you can again be penalised by a different judge, as they are not tolerant of flowers on herbs. Therefore, I feel that there is huge scope for inconsistency in the judging of herbs at present. Barry Newman, National Chairman replies; Emily makes a very good point and is something I come across regularly both in judging and when talking to groups on show preparation. Of course we try to remove subjectivity in judging as far we can, but as she observes there is no reference to flowers in either the NVS Judges Guide or RHS Show Handbook for cut Herbs, so at present a judge will adjudicate on his particular preference. Personally I agree that flowers have no part in a vase of Culinary Herbs, but I am sure this will provoke a healthy debate. The matter is exacerbated by our own list found in the glossary of the Judges Guide which examples the most commonly exhibited cut Herbs, some of which are impossible to show without flowers! I very much concur with Emily; flowers on the majority of herbs we see on the show bench signify that a plant is past its best from a foliage perspective and moving in to the reproductive stage. So, what do we do to remove the subjectivity and provide helpful advice to both exhibitors and judges? The short answer is we debate the matter (not always the short answer!) reach a majority decision and then make any necessary adjustment in the handbook. Whilst considering the exhibition of Herbs we might also want to make the distinction between Culinary and Medicinal varieties, as I feel our interest should principally be with the former. A new glossary could then be created which would be useful for schedule makers, as well as judges and exhibitors. Having said all that Emily is to be congratulated on her observations and keeping us on our toes! All the Best Barry Newman, Chairman NVS Our National President, Medwyn replies; This is really a mind blowing question and coming from a young exhibitor as well. It really does open a our minds to the issue of herbs in general when we come to judge them. This is certainly a deep question and one that Emily is to be congratulated on. With the NEC’s permission, and after their deliberations, I would like to take this one to the FV&Herbs committee of the RHS where I have Jecka McVicar on my committee, amongst others, a well known expert on herbs. Perhaps it might make her think as well also showing what an interest has been shown by a young member of our Society. Hope that is of some help to you. Regards Medwyn. President. NEC Member Mary Thomas from the Welsh Branch replies; In response to Emily Plumb’s query, may I first congratulate her for seeing into something that has bugged many a judge. I looked up The Cambridge Dictionary and a definition of ’herbs’ reads: a type of plant whose leaves are used in cooking to give flavour to particular dishes, or which is used in making medicine. The Oxford Dictionary reads: any plant with leaves, seeds or flowers used for flavouring food, medicine or perfume, But a Botanist describes it as: any seed bearing plant which does not have a woody stem and dies down to the ground after flowering I, like Emily agree that if it flowers that it is not young and fresh also bearing in mind the fact that, flavour wise, herbs reach their peak just before flowering. Of course, flowers and seeds are used as culinary ingredients in cookery, but personally I think this is where common sense prevails as most schedules ask for a vase or a number of vases. I would expect to find fresh green foliage with no sign of flowers or seed and free from any sign of pest damage etc. Should there be one vase of bright green herbs with no sign of flowers or seed but with some pest damage, it would be down pointed in favour of a clean vase with flower buds. Mary Thomas, Welsh Branch. Thank you to the three experienced growers, judges and exhibitors for their views, what do you think? – ed simplyvegetables 33 Jobs in the kitchen garden for the coming months. Rob Foster, Northern Branch. Winter is not the time to sit on your laurels, what you do now can make life much easier come spring when things in the garden start to get a little hectic. Retreating into the shed is very welcome on cold and bitter days and it is an ideal time to clear out all the rubbish that has accumulated over the past year. Spades and hoes should be cleaned and sharpened by running a file over the cutting edges then, if they have wooden handles, rub the shafts with raw linseed oil. Clean and oil secateurs and shears, with just a little care you will be surprised how much easier they are to use. A nice steady job, while you are taking a break, is to knot your garden line every six inches this eliminates carrying a tape measure or a cumbersome measuring stick. Cleaning your greenhouse glass is also a must do job at this time of the year to allow maximum light in. At the same time the greenhouse guttering will need a clean. The rubbish that accumulates in them is washed down into your water barrel encouraging algae and disease. The sludge that accumulates at the bottom of your water barrels should also be cleaned out annually as it too can encourage disease. Rain water, apart from acid rain, has an undeserved reputation for purity when in fact it carries a lot of Tel. 01282 501252 impurities and picks up a variety of contaminants, first as it forms and then as it falls. It is because of this that it is not a good idea to use collected water out of your barrels to water tender seedlings. Until your plants are established it is wiser to use tap water that has stood for twenty four hours which if kept inside not only takes the chill off it but allows the fluoride and chlorine to dissipate. Order your seed potatoes as soon as possible and store them in a frost free place. Six weeks prior to planting start the chitting process by placing them rose end up in a standard sized seed tray, or similar, that has been lined with several sheets of newspaper. Water them with a Maxi-crop seaweed extract and keep the paper moist. When planting out they will have some nice shoots and a good root system. Some of the paper will stick to the roots but this can be planted with the potato. When do you plant them out? Well never plant with the calendar, invest in a soil thermometer and take the guesswork out of planting. Insert the thermometer just below the soils surface and when you have forty four degrees F (5C) for three consecutive days then it is safe to plant the tubers and the growing process will start almost immediately. In February feed spring cabbage with a highnitrogen fertiliser such as sulphate of ammonia or if you are organic pelleted poultry manure. However, you can feed your soil with all kinds of fertiliser but if the pH (potential hydrogen) is not right the plant will not be able to take it up and you will be wasting your money. Cheap and cheerful pH testing kits are available from garden centres that are accurate enough and have easy to follow instructions. If your soil is below 6.5 add lime or ground chalk to increase the alkalinity especially where you intend to grow brassicas as it helps to reduce club root problems. Warming a piece of ground with a sheet of plastic will allow you to make an early start on sowing. Not only will it increase the soil temperature but it will help to dry out the surface. Put the cover on few weeks before you intend to sow then hoe off any weeds that it encourages to germinate, this will help to reduce the weed problem later in the season and is particularly useful to use prior to sowing carrots. It is extremely important at this time of the year to ventilate the greenhouse to avoid problems such as botrytis; if the glass is covered in condensation then it requires urgent ventilation. February is also a good time to sow vegetables that will be ready to harvest when prices in the shops are at a premium. The secret is to sow in modules indoors for transplanting outside later. Broad beans, leeks, onions, peas, summer cabbage and summer cauliflower are all good types for this type of growing. In March gardeners up and down the country will have their feet in the starting blocks ready for the sowing season to get into full swing. However, remember that the sowing dates on the back of seed packets is a guide only, there is quite a difference in temperatures from the north to the south of the country and the seed packets, with the same instructions, are sold nationally. In the fruit garden plums, cherries and blackcurrants will all appreciate a high-nitrogen fertiliser such as sulphate of ammonia or pelleted chicken manure. Sulphate of ammonia can also be added to your compost heap to effectively speed up the rotting process. Sprinkle a little on your heap every twelve inches or so. From early March you can plant untreated onion sets just as soon as the soil starts to warm up and isn’t too wet. Alternately plant heat treated sets, which reduces the risk of the plants bolting, in April. When planting any onions or shallots never push them into the soil, always dig the hole out with a trowel, otherwise the soil compacts under the onion and this is one of the problems why you find them lying on top of the soil a couple of days later. Sow tomatoes for the cold glasshouse in a temperature of 50F to 55F. A good tip is to cover the seedlings with a thin layer of sand to help remove the seed coat as the seedlings germinate, also a useful tip when you are sowing cress in pots. Incidentally if you do like cress you have to grow it yourself, supermarkets do not sell it, if you think they do just check the small print on the packs. Sowing peas in March will give the first crops in June/July this is when the pea moth is likely to cause the most damage as it is very active during these months. A word of caution to anyone that uses the old remedies, such as old carpets to supress weeds. Old carpet patterns were made up of vegetable dye as opposed to modern day carpets that are made up of chemicals and also treated with more chemicals to make them stain resistant. These could filter through onto your garden when it is raining. Soot is not the same with all the modern fuels that are available, so if you are using soot make sure it originates from coal. Mothballs are also made with a different recipe so just be aware before you resort to some of the old fashioned methods. Rob Foster FNVS [email protected] www.thelazygardener.org 16 Hereford Ave, Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield, NG19 8QF. “ TSulphate of ammonia can also be added to your compost heap to effectively speed up the rotting process..” Email. [email protected] 34 simplyvegetables simplyvegetables 35 ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Maxicrop Heritage Maxicrop was founded in 1952, and was an early pioneer in the development of seaweed extracts for use with plants, to stimulate natural healthy growth. Now, over 50 years on, seaweed extracts are still at the core of the Maxicrop business. Indeed, Maxicrop is probably the most widely recognised, well established brand in this field, offering innovation and continuity of supply of quality Norwegian seaweed-derived products. Sustainable harvesting Professional harvesters cut and gather the Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed in specially designed vessels, cutting only the top part of the plant and leaving the rest of the seaweed attached to the rocks – this allows it to grow back fully. Each area is only harvested once every 4 – 5 years. This sustainable method of harvesting has been practiced for over 50 years, ensuring that this wonderful natural resource can be maintained for generations to come. Availability today Maxicrop retail packs are available from most good garden centres. If a particular product is not available locally, the full range of products is available to buy online at www.capitalgardens.co.uk (type Maxicrop into the top left search box). The main formulations of Maxicrop – Original, Tomato Fertiliser and Complete Feed – are also available in 10 litre ‘professional’ size packs, which can offer 10 litre packs of Maxicrop can offer even better value for money considerable savings per litre compared with smaller packs. These 10 litre packs are available from a number of wholesalers across the UK, who supply commercial growers and some allotment societies – trade discounts usually apply to volume purchases. For further information, visit www.maxicrop.co.uk or email [email protected] Maxicrop seaweed, harvested in the clean waters near the arctic circle Norwegian sustainable seaweed harvesting VEGETABLE & FLOWER SEEDS Maxicrop Original seaweed extract has long been a firm favourite with keen gardeners and commercial growers - for both conventional and organic growing. These days, more and more ‘Grow Your Own’ gardeners are discovering the benefits of Maxicrop, and its ‘green’ credentials. Visit www.maxicrop.co.uk for more details. The key benefits of Maxicrop – improved root system to take up more soil nutrients and water; greener leaves with more chlorophyll to improve the use of sunlight energy for carbohydrate production; and improved plant health – have been proven in many independent trials. Maxicrop Original - pure seaweed extract - certified by the Soil Association for organic growing - to use alongside fertilisers OR Maxicrop Complete Garden Feed seaweed extract plus 5:5:5 balanced fertiliser. Many other formulations available. Plants do better with 36 simplyvegetables ... naturally A MASSIVE range of both old favourites, new and exciting vegetable & potato varieties, including organic and unusual, also a selection of flowers and miscellaneous. Available by Mail order or online at: WEBSITE: www.tuckers-seeds.co.uk EMAIL: [email protected] TEL: 01364 652233 Are you feeding your plants but killing your soil? Or are you feeding your soil and watching your plants thrive and produce vegetables, fruit and flowers in health and abundance. Even your fresh produce will have a greater nutritional content if you follow our tried and tested programme for feeding your soil. Angus Horticulture promotes feeding your soil so that you can give your plants increased vigour, colour and health as well as increase the nutritional content of your fruit & vegetables. Visit our website and online shop for more! www.angus-horticulture.co.uk FAX: 01364 654211 Contact us for FREE GARDEN CATALOGUE Tuckers Trustworthy Seeds – The Value for Money range Angus Horticulture Ltd, Polmood, Guthrie, Forfar DD8 2TW Telephone 01241 829049 email [email protected] simplyvegetables 37 Reflections of a growing year By Ivor Mace FNVS Welsh Branch At the end of the season, I always like to reflect on the plants I have grown. By giving careful consideration I can decide if I want to try them again or try something new. I love trying new varieties, but I’m also loathed to give up something that is serving me well. This year I grew 3 coloured cauliflowers I got from Medwyn’s of llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrn drobwllllantysiliogogogoch. (all Welshmen can say that name and like to show off about it) Next year I only intend to grow one and that’s Trevi F1 the green cauliflower. It holds for a long time, it tastes good, looks good and freezes well. The others I grew were Graffiti F1, It’s a good grower, it doesn’t discolour even if it’s uncovered, but the reason I will not be growing it again is purely cosmetic. It looks blue on the plate and that’s strange, but most of all, we steam them and the juice which is coloured drips down onto the potatoes and turns them pink. I also grew Sunset F1, this one is yellow and tends to look like a white cauliflower going old and I didn’t like to pass the surplus on to my neighbours. I’m not trying to put you off having a go at growing them because they are all good growers and they taste terrific. It’s just me; I’m a bit of a fussy devil. Marshals soft stemmed Brokali Apollo that came free of charge with the N.V.S. membership was a great success. I made one sowing that lasted a month. Because of its ability to repeat from dormant leaf buds after cutting, you get a very long lasting crop. Next year I will make monthly sowings because we like it, it’s easy to grow and not as demanding as growing cauliflowers and more prolific than calabresse. I tried two new potato varieties, Argos and Markies. I was very pleased with Argos a very white oval second early very much like the main crop Valor. Markies is a yellow fleshed variety that I won’t grow again. They tasted good but I have some wart disease on my ground and I have had to give up growing my favourite early Pentland Javelin, well Markies succumbed to the same problem and there was a lot of wastage. Over the years I have grown broad bean The Sutton. The main reason for growing it is because it is dwarf and doesn’t need staking. I tie my late chrysanths weekly and just felt I could do without tying broad beans. However I feel that in recent years they don’t crop as well as they used to and I have had several rouges amongst them in recent years, so I fancy trying something else, but because I’ve grown The Sutton for over 25 years I really don’t know what to try. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear from you, [email protected] I don’t mind if I have to tie them up, I’ve retired now and have more time, as long as they crop well and taste good that will do for me. Have you noticed the seed catalogues offering grafted tomato plants? I used to graft tomatoes in the 1970’s to plant in greenhouse borders which were susceptible to soil borne diseases. These seed companies do not offer tomato rootstock seed and their video clip of tomato grafting gives the impression that it is difficult. Well their way is difficult but the way I was taught at horticultural college is pretty simple. I’ve obtained 50 seeds from Moles Seeds for about £9. I’m quite looking forward to recapturing my youth and grafting a few plants once again. I will capture it in photographs so that I can show them to others who would like to have a go. My winter project is to remove 100 HT roses that have passed their sell by date and move the vegetable garden up into their place and create a mixed rose and herbaceous border near the house. This will give me new land to combat the potato wart disease and also brassica club-root. Another project I need to undertake is to make a better job of the insulation in my growing cabinet for my large onions. With heating costs going Cauliflower, Trevi The start of a new year, my vegetable garden in Spring 38 simplyvegetables Despite using Perlka, I still get some club root Planting potatoes Earthing up potatoes up by 25% I think we will all have to re-think how we grow our plants. I must say besides showing large onions, I love eating them, I have some raw onion nearly every day in salads, they are mild and therefore it is easy to eat a fair portion, obviously we also cook them as well. I think they promote good health. I can’t prove this scientifically but never the less I believe it strongly, so I would hate to be put off growing them because gas & electricity prices have shot up. I would like to get up on my soap box for a few minutes. A thorny subject to me is the government directive to withdraw peat from horticultural use. The addition of renewable materials in multipurpose composts needs looking into as far as I’m concerned. I’m not against it, but I am against the way its being done so far. What is needed is a good stable reliable material like chopped composted bark, rather than composted garden waste, which is unreliable and very variable. If we are looking at carbon then restrict the use of aeroplanes and food carried as freight half way around the world. Most of you reading this grow your own so why make growing vegetables difficult. My last gripe is V.A.T. Food is exempt, vegetable seeds are exempt and so are seed potatoes, shallots and onion sets. It sounds good, encouraging us to grow our own. Fertiliser has V.A.T. on it whether you use it on the flower garden or the vegetable garden, and so has everything else you use to grow your own vegetables. The government hasn’t done very much to promote vegetable growing and that includes all the political parties. I think as a movement we should pressurise the politicians to support growing your own far more than they do. Ivor. Win tickets to The Edible Garden Show 2012 Following its phenomenally successful debut in 2011, The Edible Garden Show – the UK’s only national event dedicated to satisfying the nation’s hunger for grow-your-own fruit and vegetables – is back in 2012 bigger and even better. The show will be crammed with a thrilling mix of celebrity gardeners, chefs, livestock experts, growers, unique products and fun-filled events for the whole family. Returning to Britain’s famous agricultural venue, Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on March 16–18, the event brings together key experts and innovative exhibitors to create a one-stop shop for kitchen gardeners, experienced growers and novice gardeners – providing everything you need at the start of the growing season. From bees, chickens, goats and pigs to seeds, sheds, wellies and wormeries – there is something for everyone including an incredible range of innovative and exciting products. The show will boast an additional exhibition hall, larger animal marquee and food areas, tips from a wide range of gardening experts, cookery demonstrations and interactive displays. TV Gardening presenters James Wong and Pippa Greenwood will give daily talks along with celebrity chef Rachel Green and a host of other leading experts Show entry costs £15 for adults with concessions for senior citizens, students and children. National Vegetable Society has teamed up with organisers to offer you the chance to win tickets to the 2012 extravaganza. We have a pair of tickets to give away to the first five readers who correctly answer the following question: Which Government Minister opened The Edible Garden Show 2011? A. Jim Paice, Minister of Agriculture B. William Hague, Foreign Secretary C. Ken Clarke, Justice Minister Send your answer along with your name, address and contact number to: TEGS/ Simply Veg 1.12, 20 Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton NN3 6AP or email: [email protected] (subject line: TEGS/ Simply Veg 1.12 Competition). Closing date: 15.3.12 Competition T&C apply (see p4) Please note that the judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. No cash alternative will be offered. The usual NVS competition rules apply. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion. For more information about the show visit: www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk Media Contact: Paul Smith Associates 01420 22532 simplyvegetables 39 The Birth of a new District Association Barry Newman FNVS, National Chairman JERSEY Jewel of the Channel Islands and home of the Jersey Royal potato, the island has become the latest addition to our network of district associations. Back in November, I had the pleasure of returning to the island to chair the inaugural meeting of the new association. With such a rich heritage of growing it is excellent news that the National Officers, committee and active members of the Jersey DA. Sitting (left to right) Nora Trainer, Vice Vegetable Society now Chairman. Maureen Rondel, Treasurer. Graeme Le Marquand, Chairman. Barry. Val Marshman, Secretary has a working and active presence on the island. Clearly these things do not happen overnight, and pleasure of visiting HMP Le Moy at the invitation of certainly would not have happened in the timescale Senator Ian Le Marquand, Minister for Home Affairs without the strong support of the Jersey Farmer’s and Philip Anderson, Head of Learning Skills at the Union (JFU) and its President John Le Maistre. prison. Along with the NVS colleagues, a representative This support together with the energy and of the Jersey Allotment and Leisure Gardeners persistence of ‘our man in Jersey’ Graeme Le Association (JALGA) and the JFU, we inspected the Maquand has seen the new association quickly nursery site and growing areas being used. I particularly establish from a small collective of members to a fully enjoyed speaking with the inmates involved and was fledged DA. A journey which has managed to secure thoroughly impressed with their knowledge and the the Inter Branch Trophy at Dundee in 2010 and now production methods being used. They are clearly sees the group as the principal partner in the JFU’s enthusiastic about the project and are benefitting from exhibit at Chelsea Flower Show later this year. the supervision given by Graeme and Steve. This latter involvement includes a brilliant initiative Day two of my visit started with an interview at with HMP Le Moy where, under the supervision of Radio Jersey which featured the prison initiative and Steve De Carteret the prison’s Horticultural Adviser, and the establishment of the NVS on the island. On Jersey, as part of a wider learning skills programme, selected the radio really does have an impact, so it’s good news inmates are growing vegetables for the Chelsea exhibit. that the local NVS already enjoys good links which will During my couple of days on the island I had the be important in the future. Geoff Hathaway (JALGO) and Graeme Le Marquand talking to plot holder Joy Cummings at Les Creux allotments 40 simplyvegetables Ian Le Marquand and Phil Anderson with NVS Chairman Barry Medwyn’s Pendle improved Leeks and Kelsae onions at HMP Le Moy (Not bad for November – ed !! Next, a visit to one of Jersey’s allotment sites, a new concept for the island which required a change in the law for it to happen! Les Creux is only one season old and I was very impressed how quickly the site had established. On this visit I was welcomed by Geoff Hathaway who is Chairman of JALGA and an NVS member. He is clearly proud of the site and with others in the pipeline it offers the opportunity for some great partnership initiatives and membership opportunities for both organisations. Finally, and on behalf of Medwyn, can I wish the new association well and sincerely thank its supporters. We have both spent time on the island in the last year and it is particularly pleasing to know that time was worthwhile and that we now have an established DA with some enthusiastic members. Barry Newman FNVS Chairman. Another well laid out plot gets Graeme and Geoff’s attention Senator Ian Le Marquand, Minister of Home Affairs enjoys “Simply Veg” with his cousin Graeme Le Marquand, first Chairman of the new D.A The Chairman explaining the finer Points of the Kelsae onion root system simplyvegetables 41 The Great Peat Debate The following are three reports from the representatives who attended the debate on behalf of the NVS –ed. Can Quality Plants be Grown Without Peat? This was the title of the conference held at Stockbridge Technology Centre, and attended by representatives from major plant producers, growers, international research and development agencies, DEFRA and specialist societies such as the N.V.S. The early speakers bombarded us with statistics showing how misleading statements give peat users a bad press. As professor Jack Rieley of the International Peat Society stated “There is a lot of adverse publicity to counteract” We heard from Gerald Schmilewski, a representative of the European Peat and Growing Media Association, and Hein Boon of the Dutch Horticultural Association, and it would appear that both the German and Dutch are tackling the same problems in finding peat alternatives. In producing a peat reduced product, other ingredients used, are mostly bark, green compost and spent mushroom compost. Other speakers, from growers who used peat – including Adrian from the N.V.S. – stressed the need for quality control, and the need to know the contents of the compost. There was a display of trial results, set up by members of the STC. These showed the growing of both Basil and Tomatoes, in modules of peat free composts. These composts were from different suppliers, and bought in different areas of the country. There was a further display showing how the addition of fertilisers affected growth. Another interesting display showed the potential problems which may be encountered by users of green waste. One of the major problems – as I see it – is that consistency does not appear to be present in peat free compost. It can vary from batch to batch, and even bag to bag. As I’m in the loop that received the emails re the N.V.S. position at this conference, I think that members, who wanted to hold meetings, and trials, before we said anything, are creating a problem that isn’t there. Tests on peat free products are being carried out under strict scientific conditions. Firms who produce millions of plants, each year, Win a set of 4 Growrings will always have a greater influence than a small society. Adrian put the case for a gardener being able to purchase a product that could be relied upon to produce a good plant, very well. The N.V.S. was not committed to any statement of policy. So was the question “Can quality plants be grown without peat?” answered? At the present time it would appear to be no. However a further meeting is in the pipeline, when the alternatives will be looked at in more detail. I trust that I shall be able to attend this forthcoming conference. Tony Featherstone, FNVS Peat debate The National vegetable society is small in size to other organisations with approximately 2800 members, but what it lacks in size it makes up for with members ability to produce superb Quality vegetables which can be seen on show benches and displays throughout the country from early spring to late November. In addition the majority of our members are kitchen gardeners producing their own high quality fresh food in their back gardens or allotments. If the government goes ahead and phases out the use of peat in horticultural composts, without, in our opinion an equivalent alternative being available, this could lead to a significant reduction in these activities. We have seen vast improvements in the Quality, variety and range of composts available to amateurs over the last decade which has resulted in larger and better quality fruit, vegetables and flowers. Since the introduction of waste materials now been used in composts this trend has declined. This may be an early sign that peat substitutes do not work as well when used by amateur growers. Why is peat such a popular product for the ordinary gardener? It is relatively cheap and its structure is consistent. It will retain moisture and nutrients compared with current alternatives plus it is easy, clean and safe to handle. The NVS has not found any alternatives to peat that the ordinary gardener can use that will produce the same results. The society is willing to work with compost manufacturers and trial products to find a more successful peat substitute in readiness for 2020. We have members in every part of the United Kingdom GrowRings are instantly assembled by the customer at the point of planting without tools. Ten inches deep and 34" in diameter they provide an immediate and tidy option for anyone wanting to plant a variety of veg in their back garden or allotment. A big advantage of the Rings is that the circle diameter and height match the range of reach of an average sized adult bending over weeding. So you can weed the Ring comfortably and efficiently from the same foot position without straining your back. The rings can be placed on both grass and hard surfaces, so there’s no trucking mud through the house if there’s a shower of rain. Great for lettuce, carrots or onions they’re also super for climbers like beans and peas. The Growrings are naturally circular but need not be so. They may be creased and folded by the user into any geometric shape to suit available space. Many Gardening articles feature readers plots with innovative containers and spaces being used for growing vegetables at home because of the unavailability of allotments. The Rings are dead easy to dig over as they lift up like a sandcastle for the soil to be turned and are perfectly adapted to anyone trying to create viable growing space. (12 sets to give away) 42 simplyvegetables The Mini-Greenhouse attaches securely to the top of the Growring with a couple of ribbons or cable ties. Like a mother ship for early seedlings the greenhouse can be set to ventilate for hardening off young plants before they are transplanted out to other Rings or beds. The Mini-Greenhouse diffuses the available light and increases heat and humidity, seriously impacting on growth. The Rings are available in coloured or graphically printed versions and are fully recyclable. They are available from www.growrings.ie. To win answer the following simple question: Q: ‘Grow rings are circular, but can they be made into any other shape?’ Send your answer along with your name, address and contact number to: GrowRings Competition – NVS.1.12, Crest Publications Ltd, 20 Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton NN3 6AP or email: [email protected] (subject line GrowRings Competition – NVS.1.12). Closing date: 15.2.12 Competition T&C apply including the Channel Isles who grow on many different types of soil from sea level to mountain side. We appreciate the environmental issues and cannot comment on their veracity, but we fear if peat is not available to the amateur in future then a lot of growers will cease practising this activity, which we feel would have a negative effect on the social fabric of our country. Our main concerns What alternatives are there? How reliable are they? How safe are they? How expensive are they? What tests are made on them to ensure the safety? What tests are done to prove the quality and ability to do the job required? Labelling! We need to know what we are buying and using! Reasons We don’t want disappointments or total failures which has happened to myself. One bag of multipurpose compost used to pot up strawberry plants. All the plants died within 10 days. Onions failed to produce any roots when potted up into it. Without testing I can only assume the salt levels were abnormal! A bale of peat purchased to grow potatoes produced severe scab infection on the potatoes without any addition of lime in the mix. Only fertiliser was added. Two further bales of a different brand produced clean potatoes with the same mix! Products found in bags of composts so far range from wood shavings, (not composted) stones up to 2inch plastics, pencils, plus the increase in weeds once in use. We thank the organisation for asking for our contribution on such an important matter. A Read FNVS. The Great Peat Debate, at Stocksbridge Technology Centre. The day kicked off with a presentation by Professor Jack Rieley of the International Peat Society. He gave a very thorough resume on the International position of Peat bogs and the conservation issues surrounding them. In respect of the Governments intention to eradicate the use of peat for horticultural use by 2030 he highlighted certain facts. Most of the peat land in England had been taken up by Forestry, Agriculture, Fuel supply and only a very small percentage by peat excavation for Horticulture. He also covered government issues over CO2 emissions as a result of these excavations suggesting they had failed to do a like for like comparison with other CO2 emissions thereby giving an unfair representation. Defra had produced a New White Paper on the reduction of peat use in England before a working party had completed their report on the issue and in doing so Defra had made some misleading assessments. The next speaker Mr Gerald Schmilewski of Klasmann-Deilmann, Germany gave an excellent presentation on, ‘ The role of peat in assuring the quality of growing media’. Clearly, the German company, in consultation with other EU countries had conducted a thorough assessment on peat and peat alternatives. Of those tested only composted biowaste, bark and composted bark, wood fibre and coir products were the ones considered as growing medium constituents. In summary he suggests, ‘ Despite the background of favour for peat replacements, it remains necessary to include peat in most formulations as a diluent to compensate for the less favourable characteristics of the “alternatives’’. Thus, although they are repeatedly placed in the foreground, the role of alternative growing medium constituents is still subordinate to that of peat, and this situation is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. The Netherlands moved in the same direction long ago when their own domestic peat reserves became exhausted and they found, as still seems the case today, that highly technical and specialist horticulture is impossible without peat. The afternoon session gave our national societies an opportunity to speak on the effects of peat and alternative substitutes. Roger Brownbridge of the National Chrysanthemum Society, Adrian Read NVS and Mr Rick Benton gave written presentations on the subject. A team from Green Technology Consultancy Ltd gave a presentation on the difficulties and challenges of the propagation process, from seedling to field establishment. Experiences of trials with reduced peat media. Once again, there were problems in some produce using peat alternatives! The day ended with a question and answer session with many reservations expressed over reduced peat products currently on the market which as a quality control left a lot to be desired. The day was a very worth while event which hopefully, will create a conduit for further discussion with governing bodies and the people most effected by Defra the white paper on peat! My Resume of the day for what it is worth! Keith Abel Enter our competition for a chance to win a 2.5 litre bottle of Maxicrop Seaweed Extract. We have 5 bottles to give away – each worth £14.49. All you have to do is write in telling us why you like to use seaweed extract for your garden or allotment. Our editorial team will chose the most interesting 5 answers. There are two formulations of Maxicrop to give away – please give your preference in your reply. Maxicrop Original Seaweed Extract This product has long been a firm favourite with keen gardeners and commercial growers – for both conventional and organic growing. The key benefits of Maxicrop – improved root system to take up more soil nutrients and water; greener leaves with more chlorophyll to improve the use of sunlight energy for carbohydrate production; and improved plant health – have been proven in many independent trials. Seaweed extract contains very little nitrogen, phosphorous and potash (NPK) so you need to use Maxicrop Original alongside traditional NPK fertiliser to get the best results – this is why Maxicrop also produces: Maxicrop Seaweed Plus Tomato Fertiliser This product has all the benefits of Maxicrop Original Seaweed Extract plus a balanced high potash mineral fertiliser – to give a complete stimulant and feed for tomatoes. It is also ideal for other greenhouse crops, fruit and vegetables – as well as flowering plants. N-P-K 5.1-5.1-6.7 See the Maxicrop website for full details – including the full range of other products – www.maxicrop.co.uk Send your entry along with your name, address and contact number to: Maxicrop Competition – NVS.1.12, Crest Publications Ltd, 20 Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton NN3 6AP or email: [email protected] (subject line Maxicrop Competition – NVS.1.12). Closing date: 15.2.12 Competition T&C apply simplyvegetables 43 “The Scots Abroad” Fiona Shenfield, Scottish Branch. This season we ventured down south again to try our luck at a few of the veg shows. First stop was the Welsh Branch Championships at Pembroke 20th/21st August where Ian Simpson did well winning the Long Carrots, peas and the British Tap root Championship – an ambition he has had since he started growing. Ian also did well, whilst supporting the local Pembroke show too. One week later, it was back down again to Wales, this time for the National Championships being held in Llangollen. A larger contingency from the Scottish Branch travelled to this show to stage their entries with no less than 17 tickets being awarded; 1st x 3 Eric Craik Blanch Leeks Ian Stocks Stump Carrots Ian Simpson Peas 2nd x 4 Jim Gradie Cauliflower Eric Craik Onions 1Kg to 1.5kg Ian Simpson Long Beetroot Eric Craik NVS Sherine 3rd x 5 Niall Currie Onions 1Kg to 1.5kg Jim Gradie Peas Ian Simpson Long Carrots Jim Gradie Onions <250g Ian Simpson Stump Carrots 4th x 3 Ian Stocks Peas Eric Craik NVS Amour Ian Stocks Long Carrots 5th x 2 Jim Pearson Millenium Jim Gradie Pot Leeks Robert Lind’s “Best in Show” blanch leeks at Harrogate It was also thought by quite a few growers that Eric’s Blanch leeks were in the running for “Best in Show”, however he was just pipped by Vin Throup who staged a marvellous set of large onions. Another highlight at the weekend was the awards given for silver and gold medals which are awarded for outstanding work that has been performed on behalf of the society. Silver Medal Len Jamieson Robert Lind Gold Medal Arthur Provan Happy trophy winners at Llangollen, Ian Simpson for his peas, Eric Craik for his blanch leeks and Ian Stocks for his stump carrots Ian Simpson’s winning tap root collection at the Welsh Branch Championships After another great weekend in Wales and a couple of mystery tourist events courtesy of “Wee Jimmy’s Tours” (Jim Pearson to you and me), it was the turn of the Northern Branch Championship at Harrogate and the new show at the South Causey Inn, near Newcastle. Harrogate saw Robert Lind win the Blanch Leeks at the Northern Branch Championships as well as “Best in show”. Ian Simpson also won the Tap Root Class at the Northern Branch Championships as well as the Carrot Championship in the Harrogate Show section. Meanwhile up at the South Causey Inn, Jim Pearson won the collection of 5 vegetables (similar to the Millennium class but you can also select peas – a bonus for the Scots!). Jim won by a clear 9 points which made for a great day. The Midlands Branch was next with Ian Simpson managing to win the Long Carrot class with a set of carrots staged for him by Gareth Cameron and Ronnie Jackson – many thanks lads ! Lastly, to complete the success over the border, Jim Pearson made the long journey down south to Eric Craik’s winning leeks at Llangollen the RHS show in Westminster, London. (a very long journey indeed after breaking down on the way – but that’s another tale for another day!) This is possibly the first time anyone from North of the border has entered this show and it proved to be a worthwhile trip. Jim won the Cauliflower class and the single plate of coloured potatoes and a few other 2nd & 3rd tickets. The icing on the cake however, was winning the 10 Jim Pearson with his winning collection at Newcastle The Scottish Branch’s winning collection at Westminster, by ½ point! Veg Collection, beating the Welsh Branch by a ½ point! The 10 Veg Collection can be an individual’s entry or a group of people can join forces and enter together. On this occasion, 4 people donated veg to make up the ten items; Fiona Shenfield Shallots Ian Simpson Long Carrots & Tomatoes Jim Gradie Long Leeks & <250g onions Jim Pearson Parsnips, Cauliflower, celery, Potatoes and Peas Arthur Provan receiving his gold medal from the President 44 simplyvegetables Participants in wee Jimmy’s tours!” The Vegetable and Fruit Company Looking back over the season, all the growers from the Scottish Branch who ventured South to enter these shows, gave a very good account of themselves and once again represented the Scottish Branch admirably. Hopefully next season, a few more of us can make the journey South and maybe improve on this season’s great results as well as the most important thing of all meeting up with old friends, gaining new friends and sharing ideas, seeds & stories in this passion for veg growing & showing. Well done to all the award winners. Fiona Shenfield Scottish Branch Ian Simpson’s winning carrot collection at Harrogate NVS PRIZE SPONSORS 2011 simplyvegetables 45 Haygrove NVS Advert Nov 11 185x265:Layout 1 22/11/11 16:33 Page 1 “Get the New Year off to a great start with Haygrove!” The Ultim a t e i n Tu n nel tu 2 nn x2 el m s no & w 3x av 2 ai m la Greenhou ses bl e! “The Best Garden Tunnel I’ve Seen!” Ron MacFarlane National Vegetabl e Society Judg e Roll-up, roll-down ventilation along both tunnel sides as standard ensures you can vent a Haygrove Tunnel and maintain a pest free growing environment. Galvanised steel specified for the construction industry is used throughout a Haygrove Tunnel frame, from us you’re buying a strong, long lasting structure, giving excellent resistance to rust and strong wind conditions. Haygrove Customers Comments Haygrove Designed to Meet Your Needs! Allows the Air in, Keeps Insects out! No Wood, No Nails, No Nonsense! “Commercial technology has reached the ordinary gardener, well done it’s a great product!” Anthony Day, Faversham “Efficient, hard working and friendly, can’t fault the staff or the product!” Abbey Hay Allotments “I took time to decide which Tunnel to buy & I’m sure I’ve got the best!” Cindy Carlton, Bicester “My Haygrove Tunnel has regularly had 8ins of snow on it over the winter with no detrimental effect” Colin Mc Andrew, Scottish Highlands Our modular structure means we can meet your specific growing requirements. Mrs Whitting needed an extra room in her tunnel with an internal door, as you can see, we are incorporating this into her tunnel build. To find out more about Haygrove Garden Tunnels please call our local rate number below or click on our web site. Tel: 0845 269 6395 (charged at local rate) Haygrove Ltd • Redbank • Ledbury • Herefordshire HR8 2JL w w w . g a r d e n t u n n e l s . c o . u k 46 simplyvegetables Winter Undercover For all Polytunnels, it’s important to make sure the cover is tight, particularly when winds are stronger. The looser the covers the more movement will occur during windy periods leading to wear and tear. With the Haygrove Garden Tunnel this is a fairly simple job. Both the hoop clips on the end gable sections and the zip wires around the steel base can be removed and the cover retightened, as shown in the picture below. Choose a calm day for this job and remember your gardener’s kneeling mat! One of our regular blog contributors, Rick Grose from Sussex writes “Summer production is just about finished in my Haygrove Garden Tunnel for this year except for a couple of cherry tom’s still fruiting (var. “Garden Pearl”) and some butternut squash ripening. There are a few things I wouldn’t grow again (like aubergines) and a few others that I’d try again but with different methods, like honeydew melon in a hot bed of horse manure! I’ve got some winter salads going well even though they were sown a bit late in September. This includes winter lettuce, rocket, mizuna greens, spinach, swiss chard and pak choi. I’ve managed to keep some variety of salad leaf going continuously for 12 months now thanks to the extended season the tunnel provides.” The Garden Shows The 2012 Garden Shows at Firle Place (21–22 April), Stansted Park (15–17 June) and Loseley Park (20-22 July). Eighteen years ago The Garden Show at Stansted Park was launched. Specialist plantsmen and designers now share their vision of beautiful gardens and homes, exhibiting a wide range of gardening products, crafts, sculpture, gifts, country foods and complementary therapies. A great day out for the whole family with plenty of opportunity to relax and explore stunning Stansted Park. Visitors have loved their annual visit to Stansted so the organisers have created The Garden Show at Firle Place in the same mould. This a real taste of spring and a perfect time to plan your garden - also a rare chance to visit the beautiful ‘ Secret Gardens of Firle Place. And this year everyone is delighted that ‘The Great Gardening Show’ at beautiful Loseley House has been rejuvenated and restored as The Garden Show at Loseley Park. Once again The Garden Shows’ successful formula will be employed to create a really different event encouraging visitors to replant their gardens and their future! Open daily 10am- 5pm. Please visit: www.thegardenshowonline.com or contact: [email protected] 01243 586323.com to find out more simplyvegetables 47 Scottish Branch CHAIRMAN’S THOUGHTS Well, here we are 15th November, a couple of light frosts to report, but the last two weeks have been above average temperature, dry, and absolutely no excuse for not working in the untidy tip of a garden! I have managed to empty and clean the greenhouse, for the first time I used the pressure washer on the glass and it certainly removed the algae and moss, and it was excellent for cleaning the green scum between the glass overlaps. Inside I used a weak solution of jeyes fluid to soak the capilliary matting and floor, and to finish off I used a sulphur candle overnight to kill any residual bugs and beasties. Many years ago I always had a real problem with white-fly, but since a thorough cleaning on an annual basis the greenhouse remains relatively clean throughout the season. Long leeks should be started by the end of the month, and I will probably start some onions about the second week in December. The next item on the agenda is the polytunnel, it requires a blitz, and if time and effort permit I intend manuring the leek bed. The long carrot barrels “should “ really be emptied this year (bit of a thought), but as we all know if you don’t put in the hard work, you don’t get the results ! Last weekend was the last show of the season at Kelso, and this year the stars of the show were the leeks. Tony Cuthbert from Dates for the diary 2012 Saturday 14th January – N.E.C. meeting, Preston Saturday 24th March – Branch A.G.M. Auchterarder Saturday 28th April – N.E.C. meeting, Preston Saturday 19th May – Branch committee meeting 1st, 2nd & 3rd June – Gardening Scotland, Ingliston Sunday 1st July – Branch Garden Visit (April details) Saturday 7th July – N.E.C. meeting, Preston 3rd, 4th & 5th August – Ayr Flower Show 31st August, 1st & 2nd September – Dundee Show Sunday 26th August – Branch Championships, Kelso. 29th & 30th September – Nationals at Malvern 6th October – Committee meeting & Judges exam Saturday 13th October – N.E.C. meeting, Preston 17th November – Annual Seminar, Penicuick Walkworth (near Alnwick) won a very competitive class of long leeks, and Alan Manning won the inter-mediate leeks with three of the best quality pendles I have seen in a long time. Alan also grew the pot leek called “the giant”, this leek is obviously difficult to keep below the required six inches, but it is a very vigorous leek, and grows like a palm tree This week our national secretary sent out the results of the judges exam, and I have been kept fairly busy answering enquiries by those candidates who failed the exam, not surprisingly they want to know where they went wrong and hopefully I can help them out and give them guidance for next year. Jim Williams, Branch Chairman. Before lunch, Fiona Shenfield and myself gave a “slide show” of the Scottish Branch and National Championships. Fiona is a real expert on power-point, and her presentation was excellent. Somewhere in this edition, Fiona also has an article on Scottish growers on their travels. During the lunch break, were the ever efficient kitchen team of Bobby Jones and George Bartling provide tea, coffee and food, Arthur Provan and Ian Stocks conducted the sale of seeds,goods and fertilisers etc., and Peter Guthrie also had a good range of potatoes on sale. In the afternoon session we were in the very capable hands of Mark Atkins (who travelled all Mark Atkins presentation the way from Doncaster on Saturday morning). Mark is an agronomist and the main basis of his talk, was to produce an effective non hazardous biological management of the soil to promote and sustain healthy soils and plants. It was a very thought provoking talk as we all tend to use insecticides and fungicides as our first line of defence, and Mark was advocating using natural micro-organisms and mycorrhiza to not only keep pests and fungi under control, but they also reduce the amount of fertiliser required by making greater use of available nutrients. Scottish Branch Championships Dunfermline 17th & 18th September 2011 First Tony Cuthbert’s class winning long leeks Alan Manning’s inter-mediate leeks Alan’s “giant” pot leek Annual Scottish Branch Seminar – 19th November 2011 This year our principal speaker was Peter Glazebrook who made the long journey north with his good wife (and helper) Mary. We were very fortunate that we selected Peter some time ago before he broke the world heavy weight onion, and of course all the recent publicity meant that we had a full house with 115 members attending the seminar. Peter Glazebrook and wife Mary. 48 simplyvegetables Full house for the seminar Pleased to report that we again had members from south of the border, with Gareth Cameron, Ronnie Jackson and Simon Smith, and we also had Helen Vincent from Southern Branch, who flew into Edinburgh that morning ! Peter gave a very detailed and straight forward account in how he achieved growing a seventeen pound, twelve ounce onion, and I think the most striking fact that came across, was that this was not achieved overnight, but was an accumulation of twenty years trial and error, hard work, and making sure all the experience gained was put to good use. Very few growers would be prepared to commit the time and effort that Peter & Mary put into their hobby and one can only marvel at what they have achieved. Our President (and past heavy weight onion champion) Bill Rodger expressed his view to Peter that he thought it would take a long time before the record was broken again, but surprisingly Peter felt that the record would go again soon, simply because the knowledge, technology and strains were available to all growers. Mark went through a range of products available, and in the future he hopes to market some of these through Ian Barbour (J.B.A. seed potatoes). The last talk of the day was from Jim Pearson from Whitburn, on the subject of exhibition cauliflowers. Jim has won six National titles with cauliflower, and along with two wins with peas, and one from the millennium collection, I think he has the most National titles of all Scottish growers.(I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong). Jim has always been a bit reluctant to give a talk, but with the help of his wife (Grace) on the camera, and Fiona on the computer, Jim gave, in his own wonderful style, probably the best presentation and certainly the most humorous talk of the day. Jim covered all aspects of growing and showing, and even managed to deal with young grand-children “helping” him wash his newly lifted prize winners with “peat and soil”. I am sorry to say that the photograph of Jim & Fiona was a bit blurred and cannot be used, but we will get you in the next edition. Jim Williams, FNVS Chairman Scottish Branch. Scottish Branch Championships Second Third Fourth Class 1 Collection Eric Craik Alistair Gray Ian Stocks Ted Low Alan Yates Class 2 Mini Ian Stocks Jim Williams Alistair Gray Class 3 Pot Leeks George Scott Ted Low Jackie Davidson Jim Gradie Class 4 Cauliflower Paul Macleod Alistair Gray Ian Archibald Niall Currie Class 5 Peas Ian Stocks Robert Lind Class 6 Stump Ian Simpson Joe Proudlock Ian Stocks Class 7 Globe beet James Lowe Eric Craik Jackie Davidson George McSkimming James Veitch Jackie Davidson David Mitchell Class 8 Tomatoes George Young Paul Macleod Alistair Gray David Mitchell Class 9 Onions Large Joe Proudlock Jim Williams Niall Currie James Veitch Class 10 Onion Setts George Young Ian Stocks Joe Proudlock Jim Gradie Class 11 Onions 250g Jim Gradie Niall Currie Alistair Gray Jackie Davidson Class 12 Shallots Niall Currie Hector Mackenzie James Veitch James Lowe Class 13 Potatoes White Alistair Gray Joe Proudlock Eric Craik George Cumming Class 14 Ian Stocks Potatoes Coloured Jim Williams Joe Proudlock Alan Yates Class 15 Long Leeks Eric Craik Ian Stocks George Scott Jim Gradie Class16 Celery Paul Macleod Alistair Low Ted Low Jim Gradie Class 17 Long Beet George Cumming G. Niall Currie Cumming(sen) Jim Williams Class 18 Parsnips Alistair Gray Ian Simpson Niall Currie Class 19 Long carrots Ian Stocks Joe Proudlock Ian Simpson The Ivor Mace Trophy(Onions) – Joe Proudlock The William Sands Trophy(Potatoes) – Alistair Gray The James Scade Trophy (Collection) – Eric Craik The Cockney Goblet (Best Exhibit Leeks) – Eric Craik Collection, Eric Craik Ian Stocks Large onions, Joe Proudlock Exhibition Shallots, Niall Currie Mini Collection, Ian Stocks George Cumming Tomatoes, George Young White potatoes, Alistair Gray simplyvegetables 49 Northern Branch When you read the items in this newsletter it will be January 2012. January is named after the Roman god Janus. The first of January was dedicated by the Romans to their god of gates and doors. Janus has a very distinctive appearance in that he is commonly depicted with two faces – one regarding what is behind and the other looking to what lies ahead. Why the god of gates and doors you may ask? Well doors and gates look in two directions; letting you both in, and out. Therefore the god could look in two directions at once. We gardeners, in January, look in two directions. Back on the old year remembering the successes and failures, and forward to the New Year dreaming of the superb crops you will grow, and the red cards and trophies, that you will win! So first let us look back on the old year. The last article in the October issue went to print before the major competitions were held. The star competition in September was the Northern Branch Championships held at Harrogate. Derek Neumann as Show Manager, supervised the entries in 23 classes. As usual there were many outstanding entries, with entrants from other Branches as well as our own. Unfortunately it did not receive the publicity it deserved. Most newspaper reports featured the giant sized vegetables, especially since the record for the weight of the giant onion was broken. (By Peter Glazebrook, one of our members) With £1,200 prize money on offer competition was keen with good entries in most classes. This year the North of England Horticultural Society Vegetable Championships, in association with the N.V.S. and under the direction of Show Manager Ray Orme, had several new classes. 50 simplyvegetables Northern Branch Chairman’s Report This class called for a collection of Fruit, flowers and vegetables. The winning trug Another successful year completed by a most enterprising Branch. The traditional start of the new gardening year on the 1st of October was OK, winter digging went well for the first month. November turned much colder and wetter, snow reported in North Yorkshire on the 25th. On the 27th the heavens opened and it snowed and it snowed and it snowed so much that the on the 4th December I had to cancel the Northern Branch meeting for the very first time during my tenure. In the middle of December I battled my way to Harrogate up the A1 to a meeting with Martin Fish and the team to discuss revolutionary changes to the Harrogate Schedule and then came back through Leeds to beat the heavy goods traffic. On the 27th December the great thaw began and we gradually got back to normal. On the 1st January I rang my old pal George McSkimming and wished him all the best for 2011. Seeds were ordered and crop rotation schemes implemented. The AGM was held at Nelson Cricket Club, a club steeped in tradition. Its honours board was like a who’s who of the all time greats of the cricket world, arrangements were made by David Metcalfe and Betty Wall who put on a buffet fit for a king. All existing officers were elected unopposed as were all members of the committee. We welcomed two new members to the committee, Betty Wall and Mike Osbourn. A full calendar of events had been arranged by each DA and these were published for all to see. In an addition to this Paul Henshaw produced a Directory of Shows of all affiliated societies and district associations. A document that has proved to be invaluable to publicise what’s going on and where. During the Showing season the DA’s produced displays that have become legendary in most of the major Shows throughout the Northern area at venues such as The Lakeland Rose Show, Gateshead, Bingley, Harrogate Spring and Autumn, The Great Yorkshire Show, Bakewell, Elvaston Castle, Poynton, Tatton Park and others, and Southport where we had an official presence there for the first time for many years and which we are glad to renew our acquaintance. We gained gold medals at all these shows and at nearly all of them gained the honour of being awarded the premier award for the best display in the Show. It has been an excellent year working with excellent people. This year my Vice Chairman and friend Bob Herbert has stated that it is his intention not to seek office in 2012. I will miss his advice and support greatly. I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe 2012. Malcolm Evans, FNVS Chairman. Looking Forward…Future programmes More entries at the EYDA Show The highlight of these classes was The Master Gardener Class, with a first prize of £150. This was won by John Smiles FNVS, of Tong Nr. Bradford. Another class calling for all round growing skills was “A trug of vegetables” Again these not only test the gardeners expertise, Geoff Butterworth and Derek but provide the visitor with an Neumann judging at the East Yorkshire interesting exhibit to look at, as D.A. Show they are all different. Fruit was not forgotten, and whilst not coming under the banner of the NVS, but judged under RHS rules, proved most interesting. I particularly liked the class for a collection of fruit from a garden tended by a professional gardener! Incidentally my own village show used to have classes for both The Edenfield Cottager and the Professional. Several business people such as the Reckitts, Zerneys and Ferens, lived in the village and employed large numbers of servants in the pre war era! The gardens and grounds are now large private housing estates. Many of our District Associations held their own competitions in September, and as usual a high standard of vegetables was on show. The Lancashire D.A. sponsor a class in the Edenfield and District Horticultural Society’s Autumn Show, and this class, along with the Lancashire Millennium Plate, was won by Frank McVan, for three onions under 8oz. Cheshire and District D.A. flew the flag for the National Vegetable Society by putting on a display at Wythenshawe Garden City Festival. Tony Featherstone, Newsletter editor Organising a programme that will please all members of your District Association is a most difficult task. You will have gardeners of all abilities and interests. Some will want only to know about” Growing for showing”, some will only be interested in “Growing for eating”. We are fortunate that in the N.V.S. there is a group of members, who not only are experts in their subject, but are prepared to travel vast distances – at little cost – to spread the word. As a member who has had the task of obtaining speakers, I find that being able to see what other D.A.’s are doing invaluable. That is one reason that I find the news from other D.A.’s so interesting. Also remember that you would be welcome at any D.A. if you make the effort to attend. At the start of the year some programmes are awaiting confirmation, which is why there is a contact number for each D.A. East Yorkshire D.A. Meet on the last Monday of the month, 7.30p.m., at The Hill Top Club, Willerby, HU16 5JD Contact Mike Abel on [email protected] Monday 30th January 2012 Annual General Meeting Monday 27th February 2012 Quiz Night Monday 26th March 2012 Growing Potatoes, David Thornton FNVS Westmorland and North Lancs. D.A. Tuesday 10th January 2012 Growing Pot Leeks, Blanch Leeks and Onions – John Soulsby, Kibblesworth. Tuesday 14th February 2012 To be Arranged Tuesday 13th March 2012 Highs and Lows in an Exhibitor’s Garden – John Smiles FNVS, Tong Lancashire District Association Meet on the second Thursday of the month, 7.30 p.m. at The Ribchester Sports and Social Club, Ribchester, Preston, PR3 3YE Thursday 12th January 2012 To be arranged Thursday 9th February 2012.Growing Long Carrots and Growing Peas – Ian Stocks FNVS Thursday 8th March 2012…….To be arranged For further details contact Paul Henshaw FNVS, tel. 01254 878145 North Yorkshire and South Durham D.A. Meet on the last Wednesday of each month 7.30 p.m. at The Cleveland Bay, Eaglescliffe Wednesday 25th January 2012 Annual General Meeting Other meetings are not yet finalised, but for details contact Ray Orme FNVS, [email protected] Mansfield District Association Meet on the last Wednesday of each month 7.30 p.m. at The Black Bull, Mansfield Woodhouse. Contact [email protected] Wednesday 25th January 2012 Annual General Meeting Wednesday 29th February 2012 To be confirmed Wednesday 28th March 2012 Growing Better Tomatoes, David Thornton FNVS Crewe and Nantwich District Association Meet at The Crosville Social Club, Chester Street, Crewe. North East Derbyshire District Association Meetings are held at Staveley Miner’s Welfare, Staveley on the third Wednesday of each month. Contact Geoff Butterworth FNVS, tel 01142 485203 January 18th 2012 Annual General Meeting February 15th. 2012 Growing my World Record Onions! – Peter Glazebrook March 21st 2012 Gardens of North Wales – Mike Davey April 18th 2012 TBA North East Derbyshire DA trophy winners from our show held at Glapwell on 4 September 2011. 1. Collection of 6 veg 2. Derbyshire Onion Champ 3. Derbyshire Potato Champ 4. Derbyshire Leek Champ 5 250g Onions 6 Long carrot/short carrot 7 Cauliflowers 8 Onion collection 9 NVS Sponsored class (beetroot) 10 Tap root collection 11 Millennium collection NVS Silver Medal Most points in show J Parsons J Parsons M Shipley J Parsons G Butterworth R Hall B Gilthorpe J Goodall J Croot D Thornton J Croot J Parsons J Parsons simplyvegetables 51 West Yorkshire DA All meetings held on the second Tuesday of the Month at Leeds Paxton Horticultural Halls, 186 Headingley Lane, Leeds, LS5 2AB. For more info, contact the Secretary, David Allison on 01943 862106 or e-mail at [email protected] 10th January 2012 – John Smiles and David Allison, Illustrated talk, reflections of 2011 plus the year ahead. 14th February – Sherie Plumb, Illustrated talk, growing potatoes and runner Beans, my way. 13th March – Ian Simpson, Illustrated talk, The cultivation of exhibition Stump carrots and peas. 10th April – David Thornton, Illustrated talk, Growing Exhibition and Pickling shallots by a Champion grower. West Yorkshire DA’s display at Harrogate Another premier award, keeps the Treasurer happy! The end of a season. John Croot FNVS Northern Branch Secretary. The 2011 growing season is coming to an end and most of us will be thinking thank goodness, bring on 2012. The end of 2010 and the start of 2011 was very cold with large amounts of snow about. The Northern Branch committee meeting was cancelled a number of times due to the weather and road conditions. When the snow and the weather began to improve the temperature shot up and it was warmer in England than many of our European neighbours. Then came the long dry summer with very little rain and looking at Northern Branch Championships held at Harrogate 2011 Results Class 1 A collection of 6 kinds of vegetables, one of each kind. 1st P Clark Tomato Cedrico, Onion Tom Lowe strain, Leek Peter Clark Strain. Parsnip Palace, Carrot Long New Red Int, Cauliflower Sky walker. 2nd K Abel Tomato Cedrico, Onion Own strain, Carrot Long New Red Int, Potato NVS Amour, Leek Pendle Improved, Celery Morning Star. 3rd J Parsons Parsnip Javelin, Onion Own Strain, Long Carrot G Watson strain, Potato Vivaloi, Leek Welsh Seedling, Celery Morning Star, 4th B Micklewaithe Parsnip Gladiator, Onion Own strain, Celery Morning Star, Cauliflower Raleigh, Potato NVS Amour, Leek Welsh Seedling. Class 2 One dish of two Celery 1st 2nd 3rd 4th G Parry J Parsons K Abel P Macleod Evening Star. Evening Star. Ideal. Class 3 One dish of two Cauliflower. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th M Roberts S Plumb J Smiles M Read Cornell. Raleigh. Aviso. Cornell. Class 4 One dish of five Onion to weigh between 1 and 1.5Kg. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th R Rogers D Unsworth D Thornton G Cameron Kelsae. Kelsae Kelsae. D Meltcalfe Strain. Class 5 One dish of nine Tomatoes. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th P Vine P Clark D Thornton J Parsons Cedrico. Mecanno. Class 6 Mini Collection three kinds of vegetables two of each kind. 1st B Micklewaithe Onion own strain, Potato Amour. Leek Pendle Improved. 2nd R. D. Bull Potato Amour, Carrot Sweet Candle, Parsnip Princess. 3rd S Plumb Potato Winston, Runner Bean Stenner, Cauliflower Raleigh. 4th K Abel Carrot New Red Int. Leek Pendle Imp. Celery Evening Star. Class 7 Carrots one dish of three Stumped Rooted. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th I Hairsine G Parry I Simpson P Clark Sweet Candle. Sweet Candle. Sweet Candle. Abaco. the reservoirs now they are still very low and if we do not get a wet winter then I can see a water shortage next year. Even now (mid Nov)the weather is abnormal with temperatures higher than we are used to at this time of year. Looking round the show benches the weather has affected the number and quality of some of the exhibits, but it was great to see the number of entries up at the Northern Branch Championship at Harrogate. At Harrogate the world record for an onion was smashed by a Northern Branch Member, Peter Glazebrook. Peter has been trying for over two decades and over the last few years the weight of his onions has been going up until this year he achieved the record which is now under ratification by the Guinness Book of Records, at 17lbs 15½ ozs. Where will it all end?-ed A number of members won red cards at the National (Jeff Parsons, Vin Throup, Peter Clark, Graeme Watson, Dave Thornton, David Metcalfe, David Peel and Ron Jackson.) The Northern Branch D.A.s have also had a successful year with many of the Societies winning gold, large gold and premier awards at horticultural shows throughout the Northern region. A number of Northern Branch members attended a seminar at Stockbridge Technology Centre on the effects of reducing the amount of peat used in composts and the end of peat for amateur growers Class 10 Onions one dish of five under 250 gms. Class 14Carrots Long one dish of three Class 19 Runner Beans one dish of nine. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 2nd G Watson Own Strain 3rd R Freeman G Watson Strain. 4th M Roberts New Red Intermediate. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th R Jackson I Hairsine R Macfarlane P Bastow Tasco. Tasco. Toughball. Vento. Class 11 Potatoes Coloured one dish of five. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th S Plumb D Peel I Hairsine J Bebbington Kestrel. Kestrel. Amour. Kestrel Class 12 Shallots Large Exhibition one of twelve. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th S Mc Donald F Worth D Owens D Thornton Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Class 13 Parsnips one dish of three 1st 2nd 3rd 4th G Parry I Simpson D Thornton G Dodd Pinnacle. Pinnacle. Pinnacle. Picador. S Plumb D Peel J Bebbington M Winder P Lee G Parry J Pearson A Pease A rare moment, John Smiles buying a raffle ticket! 52 simplyvegetables Stenner. Stenner. Stenner. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th R Lind Pendle Improved. 2nd J Parsons Welsh Seedling. 3rd P Clark Own Strain. Class 16 Tap Root Collection I Simpson 2nd M Roberts 3rd A Taylor 4th D Thornton Parsnip Pinnacle, Carrot Sweet Candle, Carrot New Red Int Parsnip Palace, Carrot Abaco, Carrot New Red Int. Parsnip Pinnacle, Carrot Sweet Candle Carrot New Red Int. Parsnip Pinnacle, Carrot Sweet Candle, Carrot New Red Int. Class 17 Onions Large Exhibition one dish of three. T Lewins Own Strain. 2nd J Parsons Own Strain. 3rd P Henshaw Own Strain. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Pablo. Pablo. Pablo. S Plumb A Pease D Owens D Peel 1st Class 18 French Beans one dish of nine. Class 9 Beetroot one dish of five globe. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th New Red Intermediate. Class 20 Cucumber one dish of two 1st Winston. Winston. Winston. Winston. D Thornton Class 15Leeks Blanch one dish of three 1st Class 8 Potatoes white one dish of five. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th from 2020. The 2012 Annual General Meeting will be held on the 3rd March at Horbury Working Members Club. Hallcroft, Cluntergate, Horbury, Wakefield. West Yorkshire WF4 5DB. The meeting will start at 13.00 hours. All Northern Branch Members are welcome. The Judges Examination will be held on the 6 October at Paxton Hall Leeds. Will any member wishing to sit the examination please contact John Croot on 01773 834213 for an application form in May. All applications to be sent to the Northern Branch Secretary before the 16 June. Thank you, John. Any DA’s requiring applications for awards forms, i.e. fellowship, silver medal or gold medal as detailed on page 20 of the current directory, please also contact John Croot for a form. Any DA’s or affiliated societies who qualify, i.e. who did not receive one last year, who wish to have a sponsored plaque class at their show, also please contact John. Both the above will be discussed at the committee meeting on 3rd March prior to the AGM. Ed R Jackson M Winder D Raw M Hall Prince. Prince. Prince. S Plumb G Dodd J Smiles I Hairsine Carmen. Carmen. Carmen. Carmen. Class 21 Marrow one dish of two 1st 2nd 3rd 4th D Peel R Rogers J Ellis J Parsons Table Dainty. Table Dainty. Table Dainty. Table Dainty. Class 22Shallots Pickling one dish of nine. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th D Owens R Newton S Plumb D Peel Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Hative De Niort. Class 23Cabbage one dish of two. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th P Lee J Bebbington N Kitchen A James Autoro. Kilaton N.V.S. Silver Medal and Card R Lind Class 15 Leeks Blanch one dish of three. S Plumb Cockney Bowl Most Points in Show. Exhibitors entered 76 Exhibitors staged 72 Exhibits entered 364 Exhibits staged 215 simplyvegetables 53 Midland Branch From the Sub-Editor A very happy new year to you all! I hope 2012 will be a happy, peaceful and healthy one and that your gardening, whether for kitchen or exhibition, will be productive and successful. There are quite a few dates to note in your diary for the coming year, including the Midland Branch AGM on 3rd March. This gives members the opportunity to meet fellow gardeners and is a social occasion as well as a business meeting. We look forward to seeing as many there as possible. SPONSORED PLAQUES Our Secretary, Sandra Hall, would be pleased to hear from any of our affiliated Societies who would like to apply for a Sponsor Plaque for their Shows this year. Please see note at the end of this newsletter. It was good to meet friends, old and new, around the Shows in 2011 and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2012. Just a reminder to advise that the copy deadline for the April edition is 10th February please. Happy Gardening! June Davies South West England District Association 15th January 2012 Dear Fellow Member, I am pleased to invite you to the Annual General Meeting of the District Association starting at 2.00pm, and finishing at approx. 4.30pm, on Saturday 11th February 2012 in the Bristol East Allotments Pavilion, Nicholas Lane, St. George, Bristol BS5 8TL. Directions are available from the Secretary if required. If you have any nominations for office or committee or any other items you wish to be considered at the AGM please let me know, in writing, as soon as possible. You should make sure you have the consent of the person nominated. It may be helpful to know that the current officers and committee have agreed to continue for another year if the AGM approves. We are, however, at our lowest number of Committee members for some time and it would be most welcome if any members would consider joining the Committee. I can outline what is involved and find proposers and seconders if required. Should you wish to wait until the AGM, volunteers can be elected at that time, at the discretion of the Chairman, which I’m sure will be OK. It is hoped that the formal part of the meeting will be reasonably brief to allow plenty of time to have an entertaining 54 simplyvegetables quiz on knowledge of vegetable growing with prizes for best scores and a tea break during which you can raise vegetable growing questions. In order to enhance this opportunity of contributing to our main objective of promoting the growing of vegetables, the meeting will open to non-members (who will of course not be eligible to vote). You are therefore most welcome to bring any interested friends. Please note any number of members of Affiliated Societies are also most welcome but each Society will have only one vote. Last year we had a very successful DA Show at the Bath and West Showground, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset. This year we will be at Shepton Mallet again for our DA Show and we hope to have an even better show. The Show will be on Friday 31st August and Saturday and Sunday 1st, & 2nd September with staging on Thursday 30th August. Hope to see you there. At the AGM we will also be canvassing members’ opinions about what other activities you would like us to organise. I look forward to meeting you on 11th February. Best wishes for a successful growing year in 2012. Yours sincerely Derek Aldred Hon. Secretary Malvern Autumn Show 2011 Chairman’s Report The show season has drawn to a close, the prize winners are all happy and the runners-up already working on plans to change and improve on this season. The cycle of gardening in particular vegetable growing, be it for the table or show carries on endlessly. The unusual weather for this season has thrown up many strange happenings. Summer fruiting strawberries are cropping for a second time I am sure they will suffer next year and the vegetables and fruit for store show lots of signs of not keeping as well as we would like, potatoes are already sprouting and apples and pears ripening very early. The Winter vegetables are still all growing strongly so let’s hope we do not get a repeat of last year’s very cold spell as they might well not survive a really bad period. The last major show of the year was at Malvern where a great deal of hard work by the team resulted in another red card. My thanks go out to all for the effort put in to make this happen because it is only skill and determination that ends up with the right result. The social side of the weekend was once again well appreciated and a credit to the organisers. (for some, including NVS members, the last major show of the year is the RHS Autumn Show at Westminster, first week in October – report in next issue – ed) Once again we had a very successful show at Malvern, with vegetables of a very high standard. 480 entries were received, although only 85% of these were staged as, unfortunately, four exhibitors did not turn up. Congratulations to those who won prizes for their magnificent entries. To those who did not win this year, please don’t give up, try again next year. Several new members were signed up and we welcome these Results Midland Branch Championships – 2011 Class 1 Collection of 5 Kinds of Vegetables 1st J. Thompson 2nd A. Jones 3rd J. Branham 4th D. Aldred Class 2 Collection of 3 kinds of Vegetables 1st J. Thompson 2nd D. Thornton 3rd D. Aldred 4th M. Roberts Class 3 Potatoes – White 1st P.D. Ottaway 2nd R.G. Sale 3rd Mrs. S. Plumb Midland Barnch Stand at Malvern Show Next year the Midland Branch hosts the National Championships at Malvern so the Midlands Branch Championship will be held at Shrewsbury on 10th and 11th August. The challenges for the committee therefore have already been set and their enthusiasm has already got us off to a good start. The Branch and DA’s sales of our new book “Getting Started on the Show Bench” are to say the least impressive a fine addition to the tools we need to expand the membership. Our congratulations go to Barry Newman our new National Chairman and we all wish him well. John Branham Chairman on board. The weather was good on the Saturday but not so good on the Sunday morning. However, it turned out nice in the afternoon. Two well-deserved Red Cards were awarded to the Branch and a very enjoyable weekend was had by all. The results follow. Class 4 Potatoes – Coloured 1st Mrs. S. Plumb 2nd T. Humphrey 3rd R.G. Sale Class 5 Onions 0ver 250g under 1500g 1st R. Price 2nd D. Thornton 3rd D. Aldred Class 6 Onions 1500g or over 1st A. Jones 2nd Mal Jones 3rd M. Roberts Class 7 Tomatoes 12 cherry 1st C.J. Docker 2nd S. Smith 3rd R. Price Class 8 Carrots – Stump rooted 1st P. Devonald 2nd J. Thompson 3rd B. Rance Class 9 Cauliflowers 1st Mrs. S. Plumb 2nd M. Roberts 3rd C. Higgs Class 10 Parsnips 1st A. Jones 2nd C.J. Docker 3rd J. Thompson Class 11 Carrots – Long 1st Ian Simpson 2nd D. Thornton 3rd Bob Brown Class 12 Celery 1st R.G. Sale 2nd A. Stevens 3rd R. Price Class 15 Runner Beans 1st A. Jones 2nd Mrs. S. Plumb 3rd J. Thompson Class 23 French Beans 1st R. Scriven 2nd J. Thompson 3rd N. Anderson Class 16 Cucumbers 1st Mrs. S. Plumb 2nd J. Thompson 3rd C. Higgs Class 24 Pot Leeks 1st M. Poultney 2nd S. Greenaway 3rd D. Aldred Class 17 Beetroot Long 1st J. Thompson 2nd J.G. Jones 3rd Gwyn Davies Class 25 Cabbage 1st J. Bebbington 2nd Gwyn Davies 3rd M. Poultney Class 18 Marrows Table 1st M. Powell 2nd G. Tranter 3rd A. Jones Class 26 Shallots 30mm 1st R.G. Sale 2nd Mrs. S. Plumb 3rd D. Owens Class 19 Shallots Large 1st R. Ingram 2nd A. Jones 3rd D. Thornton Class 27 Beetroot Globe 1st M. Hall 2nd Mrs. S. Stephens 3rd S. Smith Class 20 Tomatoes 1st J. Bebbington 2nd J. Oliver 3rd D. Owens Class 28 Collection of 4 dishes of vegetables 1st D. Owens 2nd J. Thompson 3rd M. Hall 4th A. Young Class 21 Collection of Onions and Shallots 1st D. Owens 2nd A. Jones 3rd W. Thornton 4th T. Hale Class 22 Potato Collection 1st Mrs. S. Plumb 2nd A. Jones 3rd S. Smith 4th J. Bebbington Class 29 Special Class (Novice) 1st B. Symonds 2nd R. Hawks 3rd M. Powell Class 13 Onions 250g or under 1st R. Jackson 2nd J. Oliver 3rd M. Hall Class 14 Leeks 1st Gwyn Davies 2nd D. Aldred 3rd T. Hale simplyvegetables 55 SWDA Report The DA had a very good annual show at the beginning of September at the Bath and West National Gardening Show. We were kept very busy answering questions for 3 days and even managed to recruit a few new members. The attendance was higher than last year and generally the weather was kind to us. (Actually we don’t mind some rain because our show is indoors and with poor weather the crowds flock into our “clutches”!) We believe the standard continues to rise, in quality and quantity, and this year we attracted several National Champions into our exhibitor ranks. They did manage to win a few firsts but only after strong competition. We show the results in a separate table. We would like to express grateful thanks to our stalwart judges, Messrs Charles Maisey, FNVS and Roy Tudor, FNVS. The DA Panel of “wise men” (and lady), Ken Pearce, Ray Davey, Gill Hazell, Dave Tucker and Derek Aldred, continue their rounds of local societies doing our version of Gardeners Vegetable Question Time. We currently have some bookings for 2012 at Pen Selwood, Yatton and Box but are always open to more offers via the DA Secretary. Derek Aldred Hon. Secretary Chairman: Ken Pearce, 63 Ridgeway Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol. BS14 9PN. Tel: 01275 839631 Treasurer: Mrs Gill Hazell, 17 Valley View, Clutton, Bristol. BS39 5SN. Tel: 01761 452036 Secretary: Derek Aldred, “Pax”, Gaer Hill Road, Witham Friary, Frome, Somerset. BA11 5EX. Tel: 01373 836414. E-mail [email protected] Annual Summer Show 2nd–4th September 2011 Results at the Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Class 1 Collection of 4 Vegetables 2 Mini Collection, 3 pairs 3 3 Long Carrots 4 3 Parsnips 5 3 Blanch leeks 6 2 Celery 7 4 Coloured potatoes 8 4 White Potatoes 9 3 Large exhibition onions 10 6 Pods of peas 11 2 Cauliflowers 12 2 Green cabbage 13 8 Exhibition shallots 14 9 Pickling shallots 15 3 Stump carrots 16 3 250gm onions 17 6 Runner beans 18 3 Red globe beetroot 19 2 Cucumbers 20 5 Tomatoes 21 2 Marrows 22 9 French beans 1st Derek Aldred 2nd Ray Scrivens 3rd Terry Ruddick Derek Aldred Mark Hall Ray Scrivens Derek Aldred Derek Aldred Norman Hoskins Norman Hoskins Derek Aldred Ray Scrivens Harry Godden Dave Tucker Ken Pearce Harry Godden Ken Pearce Ken Pearce Harry Godden Harry Godden Dave Tucker Terry Ruddick Terry Ruddick Rodney Cundict Mark Hall Ray Scrivens Ray Scrivens Derek Aldred Mark Hall M. Roper Ken Pearce Norman Hoskins Peter Devonald Mark Hall Mark Hall Mark Hall Derek Aldred Derek Aldred Terry Ruddick Mark Hall Ray Scrivens Derek Aldred Ray Scrivens Mark Hall Frank Bowey Mark Hall Peter Devonald Rodney Cundict M. Hawkins Ray Scrivens Harry Godden Peter Devonald Rodney Cundict Ray Scrivens Peter Devonald Rodney Cundict Elizabeth Maunders Ray Scrivens Ray Scrivens Norman Hoskins George Williams Ray Scrivens Dave Tucker Ray Scrivens The NVS Sponsored Plaque winner was Mark Hall for the 3 250gm onions The NVS Silver Medal and Card winner for the Best Single dish was Derek Aldred for 3 Blanch leeks 56 simplyvegetables Midlands Branch Events 2012 BUCKS DA September 10/11th. The D A Show was held at the County Ground, Stafford by kind invitation of the National Chrysanthemum Society. This was our 21st show. The first show was held at Bridgemere Garden World; how quickly time goes by. Our first Chairman was Roy Binfield and our first Secretary was, and still is, Pat Brown – a long time to do a very demanding job. A big thank you, Pat! The D A started with a meeting held on the 14th.October 1989 at the Catholic Club, London Road, Newcastle – under-Lyme. A collection was taken at the end of the meeting which realised £42.00 + another £6.00 from the sale of Items donated, a grand total of £48.00 and the North Midlands D A was launched as the first D A in the Midlands Branch. And we are still going strong. At this years’ show we welcomed some new faces who entered and did very well on the show bench. Newcomer Colin Higgs won the silver medal (best in show), with the more experienced Roy Price taking the Banksian Medal, a very successful year for both of them. Thank you to all exhibitors who came along and supported the show. I take this opportunity to wish you all a prosperous New Year and good growing. Terry Hale FNVS Chairman North Midlands D A Potato Weekend – 21st & 22nd January 2012 Dundry Nursery and Garden Centre Bamfurlong Lane, Cheltenham, Glos GL51 6SL 01451 713124 Plant and Garden Fair – 6th & 7th May 2012 The Walled Garden, Attingham Park, Atcham Shrewsbury Shropshire SY4 4TP 01743 708123 Malvern Spring Show – 10th – 13th May 2012 Three Counties Showground Malvern, Worcs WV13 6NW 01684 584900 Midlands Branch Championships; Held within Shrewsbury Flower Show – 10th & 11th August 2012 Quarry Lodge Shrewsbury ST1 1RN 01743 234050 National Championships 2012; Held within Malvern Autumn Show – 29th & 30th September 2012 Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs WV13 6NW 01684 584900 200 Club Winners Draw Number Amount Winners Name OCTOBER 184 Mr A. Seymour 5 Mr A. Hinchliff 126 Mr M. Strange 2 Mr M. Bicknell Prize 1st 2nd 3rd 4th £20.00 £10.00 £5.00 £5.00 NOVEMBER 1 Mr H. Hopkins 1st 65 Mr H. Hopkins 2nd 145 Mr Harry Haywood3rd 183 Mr & Mrs K.G. Blay4th £20.00 £10.00 £5.00 £5.00 DECEMBER (CHRISTMAS DRAW) 179 Mr & Mrs K.G. Blay1st 109 Mrs S.M.C. Durie 2nd 20 Mr A.J. Preest 3rd 75 Mr & Mrs K. Cook 4th £50.00 £25.00 £15.00 £15.00 Class 1 2 Trophy Capewell Trophy May’s Memorial Vase 6 Dennis Memorial Trophy Avro Trophy 7 The Bucks DA’s stand at the Bucks County Show made a considerable impression on all who visited the Flower & Vegetable section of the marquee. John & Jill Branham provided the produce and in no time at all had the display looking fantastic. Visitors gazed in amazement at the incredible vegetables. It provided good discussion and the chance to push the benefits of NVS membership. A new member was signed up. NORTH MIDLANDS DA REPORT Perhaps at this time of the year we reflect on what we have be doing over the gardening year. Thoughts like,’if only I had done this or that’, especially for the show bench.So this coming year we can put it all right. As the farmers say, ‘ I can plough all my mistakes under the soil, then everything looks much better’. Looking back at our visits to the various Agricutural shows, Market Bosworth, Newport and Leek, our D A stand, displaying vegetables, becomes focal point for people who really want to grow good produce; this is where we meet the public, answer questions.and maybe enrol new members. As D A members we arrive at the venue with whatever vegetables we have to spare, erect the stand till all are satisfied. So if out there, members who do not show vegetables, would like to get involved with this aspect of D A activities, let your committee know. Midlands Branch AGM Midlands Branch AGM will be held on Saturday 3rd March 2012, at 2.00 pm in the Freisian Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs. We look forward to seeing you there. JUDGES’ EXAM This year the Judges’ Exam will be held on Saturday 6th October. If you are interested in entering, please contact our Secretary, Sandra Hall, for further information. 8 9 10 1 14 19 20 21 24 25 26 Winner Collection of 5 kinds C. Higgs Collection of 3 kinds, R. Price 20 point vegetables Onions over 1.5 kilo T. Hale Carrots stump rooted Avro Trophy Cauliflower Avro Challenge Shield Parsnips Avro Challenge Shield Carrot – Long pointed Wagstaffe trophy Celery W. Thornton Trophy Runner Beans Scott Trophy Shallots Large Scott Trophy Shallots small Burntwood Guild Tomatoes Trophy Roy Binfield Vase Potato Collection Pat & Bernard Brown Collection of Onions Trophy & Shallots Atkinson Trophy Collection of 3 kinds NOT 20 point veg. Garden News Shield Special Class Wagstaffe Trophy 2 Best exhibit in classes 5,6,12 D.A. Perpetual Trophy Most points in show R. Ingram R. Price R. Ingram R. Ingram C. Higgs R. C. Bassett R. Ingram R.G. Sale M. Hall M. Hall M. Hall R. Ingram No Winner T. Hale R. Price Notice for Affiliated Societies Did you know you can apply for a ‘NVS Sponsored Plaque’ It is to be designated to ‘A Dish to comprise of One Variety’ in a Show and won by an NVS member or a member of an affiliated society. The Midlands Branch Committee decides which Societies the Plaques are awarded to. Applications to Branch Secretary, Sandra Hall. simplyvegetables 57 ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE The Walk-In Wonderwall® (TM) With a Wonderwall it needn’t take an olympic effort to protect your crop – good luck team GB 2012 Netted Brassica / vegetable Tunnel The Walk-in Wonderwall provides a wall against the elements and garden pests. While, at the same time allowing rain and sunlight to enter. The Walk-in Wonderwall is designed for the garden / allotment growers budget and is ideal for the organic grower. After fighting a losing battle year after year against pigeons, cabbage white butterfly and other garden pests, we realised that we needed something that could both eradicate these problems and also be affordable and hard wearing. We came up with the Walk-in Wonderwall. No more having to remove net to weed or thin out. No more makeshift bits of wood / bamboo cane frames etc. No more height restriction for our brassica (with the Wonderwalls 1.9m height). The unique light weight, yet robust pvc frame needs no base and fixes directly into the earth. The frame is then covered with a fine heavy duty uv rated netting, which drastically reduces wind speed within the tunnel and can withstand very strong winds. The entire growing space can be worked with ease and watering can be carried out DESIGNED - MANUFACTURED - PACKAGED - HERE IN BRITAIN. HELPING TO GROW THE GREEN SHOOTS OF RECOVERY New for 2012 – optional carrot root fly protection! from outside or inside the Wonderwall. Assembly time is 2-3 hours, using our easy to follow instructions. Each stage of assembly is accompanied by a full colour photograph. No specialist tools are required for assembly. Buy direct from the manufacturer. Not available in any retail outlets. We have Wonderwalls in the Orkney isles, the Shetland isles, the isle of Arron, Republic of Ireland, France, Jersey, Croatia, and also – Port Stanley in the Falkland Isle. The wonderwall has a standard width of 3.5m and is sold in lengths from 2m upwards. We can however, manufacture wonderwalls to fit your raised beds exactly ie; 2.5m width x 3.2m length.” For more information and customer feed back, please visit our website www.walk-inwonderwall.co.uk Welsh Branch Chairman’s report I wish all members a healthy and prosperous New Year, good luck and good gardening for 2012. 2011 was a very busy season for our own Welsh Branch, holding our own Welsh Branch Championships in Pembroke and the National Championships in Llangollen. I can report all went well. Congratulation to all who were granted awards in 2011 for their dedicated services to the National Vegetable Society. Gold Medals: Late Mr R.H. Griffiths, Bob Ball, Roy Tudor, Ron McFarlane Silver Medals: Ann Griffiths, Arwyn Edwards. Fellowships: Alaw Jones, Sue Stephens, Peter Stephens Congratulation also to my wife, Unni and Chris Jones for passing Judges Exam. At our AGM meeting in March I will be standing down as Chairman of the Welsh Branch, it’s time to do things we have promised ourselves every year and never got round to do. I can’t see myself ever stopping growing vegetables for showing as I am very competitive and enjoy life in the allotment and also meeting like minded people at the shows and social evenings. After a very busy season all round and some health problems to end last year, tells me to cut back and slow down. Don Owens FNVS Welsh Branch Secretary’s report The Judges Exam took place on the 1st of October and we were pleased to accommodate four candidates for the practical exam and three for the theory. Our meeting room at Brynafon Country House looked very colourful and the quality of the vegetables supplied would have won at any show. Thanks to all that contributed in any way and we hope that the candidates will be successful. If this spurs any of you out there to consider becoming a qualified judge, now is the time to think. The exam takes place on the first Saturday in October. You must contact your branch secretary by mid-August to ensure that there are enough papers printed. You must also have been a full member of the society for at least 12 months. On the topic of membership, if you have not yet renewed, please do so by the end of the January. Spring magazine goes to print early February and if your membership has not been renewed, then regretfully this will be your last magazine until your membership has been renewed. If you have misplaced your renewal form, don’t despair, use the one in this issue or contact Grant Cathro on 01932 844183, [email protected] Annual General meeting The Welsh Branch annual general meeting will take place at Brynafon Country House Hotel Rhayadr at 1.00pm on Saturday 3rd March 2012. This is open to all members – your opinions count. Our Chairman Don Owens has not been well recently. As we go to press, he is waiting for treatment. We wish him a speedy recovery. Ron MacFarlane was the backbone of our show at Pembroke this year despite not having enjoyed the best of health during the last few months. I’m glad to report that he has now had a successful bypass surgery and is well on the way to recovery. I wish you all a Happy New Year and a good growing season. 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Roy receiving Gold Medal at LLangollen P.S. I have just been advised that Unni Owens and Chris Jones were successful in their judges examinations, congratulations to them both from all in the Welsh Branch. simplyvegetables 59 Southern Branch News from the District Associations Devon District Association Southern Branch Introduction Notes Well, what a year we have had. While some DA’s have obviously struggled with numbers and in particular to find committee members; overall we appear to be going from strength to strength. It is particularly heartening to note that very shortly we will have formed yet another new DA, this time in Jersey and we all wish them every success for the future. I remember from my musical days conducting with the brass band on competitions just how hard it is, but how necessary it is to have to travel to experience the correct levels of competition if you were not just to wallow in your own local bubble, – where you probably thought that you were really good. Travelling around for open competition soon lets you know where you really stand in the big scheme of things. Jersey will probably find it harder and more expensive than most to do this, but we look forward not only to welcoming them over to the mainland, but also of course, this now gives all of us “mainlanders” the perfect opportunities to visit them too. For Jersey though and indeed all of us, the future does need to be worked at if we are to grow and develop as we all hope we will. It is depressing and sapping to put full programmes on only for people not to turn up and for the same old dedicated few to have to stand again on committees rather than see things degenerate. And our sincere congratulations must go to Barry Newman, FNVS, our new National Chairman. I can tell you from first hand how far sighted, encouraging and diplomatic he is in committee and I am confident that he will help to lead the NVS on to even greater things, hopefully for many years to come. And I for one am really pleased to see Barry’s vision to widen things for the society to give the NVS a greater voice in the horticultural press and media generally. We have a hell of a lot of work to do to convince others that we are not simply interested in showing. I think that we need to widen our horizons and embrace everything about vegetables, from seed diversity to taste and nutrition and commercial producers. Are you properly dressed? Your Merchandise Secretary advises that we currently have stocks available of the following clothing items, ideal for wearing when representing the Southern Branch at various fund-raising Events and Shows. Bodywarmers at £15 each, in sizes Medium Large and XL Polo Shirts at £12 each, in sizes Large, XL and XXL Please contact your Merchandise/Membership Secretary Neil Hope on 01932 844183 or neil_hope@ hotmail.com for further details and postage costs. All items are in green and are embroidered with the NVS Southern Branch Logo. Order now for the new Show Season and while stocks last! Sponsored Plaques Winners 2011 Three of the winners of the NVS Southern Branch sponsored plaques for this year are;Honickknowle Allotment & Gardeners Association, Mr R Pook, 5 Stump Rooted Carrots. North Tonbridge Horticultural Society; – Mr C Passey, 9 Runner Beans. River Gardeners Association; – Mr B Constable, 9 Cherry Tomatoes. Congratulations to all of them. 60 simplyvegetables There are thousands of new allotment holders and land sharers out there crying out for help and advice, so we need to educate too, children in particular as they are the future of everything. How many new members do we lose each year because the NVS is perhaps not what people thought it would be when they joined? And to me the heroes of the fruit and vegetable world are really chefs and greengrocers like Gregg Wallace. Many of these are real champions of fruit and veg and everyone enjoys good eating even if they are not gardeners. And it is chefs that have brought us a wealth of fantastic TV programmes lately where they have searched out some rare and dying varieties, often whole fruit and vegetable types and the best of flavours to set before us. And some surprising and horrifying facts have come to our attention too, such as the reducing numbers of both producers and varieties of beetroot, different types of nuts, currants, rhubarb and cauliflowers, apples, pears, cherries and even potatoes etc. Things can get so bad that there is for example only one commercial producer of currants in the UK and even he never even has orders for red or white currants and the rhubarb triangle is just a fraction of its former size and diversity. I know that much of this is strictly not vegetables, but it does all go together. If you are interested in vegetables then you probably could and should embrace the fruits and nuts and even mushrooms and fungi too. So there is definitely much work to do. But the society and Barry too in turn needs our help and support. Enthusiastic as he is, he himself will have less time and energy to devote locally. We will no doubt find this both at branch and DA level. And after all we are a purely volunteer society. But let us take heart from the positives and resolve to do that bit more ourselves and put a bit more in. As always, this year is another new year, this new season we can build on things for the future. After all if gardeners were pessimists not optimists we would never sow, plant, or start anything. David Wall, FNVS, Sub Editor A date for your diary 2012 Southern Branch Championships The 2012 Southern Branch Championships will be held on the 24th 25th and 26th of July 2012 as part of the New Forest Show held at The Showground New Park Brockenhurst Hampshire SO42 7QH Contact Chris Neel FNVS, Show secretary on 01425 629694 email [email protected] Judges Examination 2011 Southern Branch once again ran the Judges Examination this year. Congratulations go to the following successful entrants from Southern Branch: D Pride M Miles D Miles FNVS G Baker These are all awarded judges qualifications Chairman: Ron Doige, Treasurer: Alan Terry, Secretary: Dan Harvey. There were 20 members and 3 non members at our August meeting. Barry Newman gave an excellent presentation on soil preparation, seed varieties, growing and pest and diseases. He also presented Dan Harvey with the FNVS award for his service to the society and in particular for his involvement in forming the Devon DA and in moulding it into what it is today. By the time you read this another year will have gone by. We had a spell of summer weather in April, since then temperatures have been well below average especially at night and a much below average rainfall until the end of September when summer heat returned. Yet there have been some very good exhibits. The best mainly grown under cover, except potatoes which have been very good with excellent crops. There have been a few good onion exhibits but spoiled by showing too much white skin. But all in all it has not been a bad season and things could have been much worse. Diary Dates: Our next meeting will be for the AGM on January 31st at Kingkerswell community leisure centre at 7.30 pm. For further information on Devon District Association matters and activities, please call the DA secretary Dan Harvey on 01803 813056 Dan Harvey, FNVS Dorset District Association Essex DA stand at RHS Taste of Autumn Chairman: David Miles, Secretary: Vacant, Treasurer: John Tinsley. Raffle organiser Dennis Hewitson. Our last two meetings of the year were firstly a talk on the history and importance of fruit, vegetables and other trees and plants by Reverend Trimbrell. This was a humorous talk and there was a good receptive audience. At the time of writing the last meeting and also the AGM is for a changed date of Wednesday 30th November where there will also be a presentation by John Trim speaking on GROWING AND SHOWING ROOT VEGETABLES. John was instrumental in starting the Dorset DA and is well known to NVS members for his frequent informative articles in the quarterly magazine “Simply Vegetables” as well as his entertaining and enlightening talks. With such a small county membership our numbers still give a cause for concern, but we have been encouraged by the turn out at our last meeting, and we hope to be putting on a full and varied programme for 2012. Full details will be given in the next issue. I am pleased to report that following my article on Egyptian onions, my offer to supply Egyptian Onions and Babington leeks has raised some £30 for the DA to date. For further information on Dorset DA matters, please contact either Dave Miles on 01258454689, or John Tinsley on 01258472744. David Wall, FNVS packets of seeds which are despatched by the team who work there. Lastly, we visited their onsite shop, where the public can visit and purchase seeds and accessories. Also, on 22nd and 23rd October, we supported the RHS ‘Taste of Autumn’ weekend with a display of vegetables at Hyde Hall. This was set up by Sherie and Fred Plumb and their daughters. Over £400 was raised for DA funds over two days. There was a steady flow of people over the weekend – with over double the number of visitors compared to previous years – mainly down to the lovely weather! Submitted by Emily Plumb Essex District Association Hampshire District Association On 25th June, members visited Kings Seeds, a seed merchant at Coggeshall which was founded in 1888 by Ernest William King. His family had started growing seeds in Essex in 1793, initially with just 3 acres of land, but by 1918 they were farming 1500 acres of land, still farming 325 acres today. We were given a very informative tour by Peter Miller, Kings Seeds Purchasing Manager. He told us about the history of Kings Seeds and the thriving seed industry which had existed in the local area. In 1905, most of their catalogue was devoted to Sweet Peas – Ernest’s favourite flower, so the first thing we went to see were the Sweet Pea trials out in the fields. After this, we went into the main building and were shown how the seed goes from field to packet. After the seed is dried, they use various pieces of machinery in order to grade and clean the seed – some of which were original machines! One of the newer machines could even grade seeds by colour! You inserted a seed of the correct colour which was scanned, and the machine was capable of throwing out any seeds which did not meet this specification. We also saw the cold store where the seeds are kept, and a state of the art machine which packages the seeds. The huge building also houses Kings Seeds, Essex DA shelves from floor to ceiling full of President Bob Brown FNVS, Chairman Ted Perren, Secretary John Trim FNVS & Treasurer Chris Neel FNVS. As we move into another Year Hampshire DA does so with a new secretary. So at the time I write this report as the outgoing secretary I don’t know who that will be. But I am sure it will be someone capable to take over the reins. I have been recruited as head gardener to Woodlands Lodge Hotel in Hampshire resurrecting yet another walled garden, so my time is limited. The past year has been a successful one. The DA plays a very active role in the organisation of the Southern Branch Championships under the guidance of our show secretary Chris Neel & his able team. This culminated in a bumper entry & many accolades for the branch. Next year we are looking to include a social function & so invite a wider audience. Hampshire DA put on a full programme in 2011 ranging from talks on vegetables by John Branham & Sherie Plumb to an enthralling evening on fungi. We now look ahead to our 2012 programme. A plethora of top speakers are booked covering a wide range of subjects. Don’t miss the Sunday seminar on 11th March featuring Barry Newman, Charles Maisey & a guest speaker. John Trim F.N.V.S. Our full programme is also on the NVS website or contact the secretary John Trim 02380 844521 or email [email protected] for more details. Our AGM in November was well attended by 18 members and we were pleased to see some new members there, who were made most welcome and who we hope to see regularly at our meetings. Our cash at the bank is now over £2,000 and we hope to use these funds to have more regular meetings and speakers. We said our farewells to David Newman and his wife who are moving to Northumberland, so will we see a new DA staring up there? (I hope so –ed) Good luck to you both, keep growing. Peter Cranfield. For further information on Essex District Association matters and activities, please call the DA secretary Pat Eves on 01621 784184. simplyvegetables 61 Kent District Association The move to Bridge Village Hall has been very successful, attendances are up and we gained some new members. We had a very good programme with Medwyn Williams, Sherie Plumb & Len Stebbings to name but a few that came along to our meetings to give us a talk. Our stand at Edenbridge on August Bank Holiday won a Gold award and we also had a very successful weekend with the Plant / Vegetable merchandise sale The DA show was also held at Bridge on the 10/11 September, exhibits were up this year with 90+ exhibits on the table. The Chairman won the collection Cup, Most points in classes 2 to 15 the large exhibition onion shield and the NVS plaque for 6 Runner Beans. The NVS Silver Medal & Card,The Alf Ashby Trophy & the Cockney Tray was won by Chris Passey for Best Exhibit for 5 Stump Rooted Carrots and Micheal Beer won the Brian Crust Trophy for 12 exhibition Shallots. We finished the year off with our social evening at the Halfway House Pub. Our first meeting in 2012 is on the 8th February and the speaker for the evening is Ivor Mace talking on Leeks & Onions. This is open to members but there is a admission of £3 for non members on the door. Details about the DA meeting and other activities can be obtained from the Secretary G J Francis FNVS, 01622 710486 or email; [email protected] or from the NVS web site. Diary Dates: 8th February 2012 14th March 2012 11th April 2012 Ivor Mace “Leeks & Onions” Annual General Meeting Janine Doulton “Growing & Showing Daffodils” 9th May 2012 Paolo Arrigo “From Seed to Plate” Seeds of Italy (Offer on seed packs) 12th 13th May 2012 Medway Festival 13th June 2012 Milena Moore “All about Herbs” 13th 14th 15th July 2012 County Show Stand at Detling 8th August 2012 Dusty Miller “What is Organic Vegetable Growing?” 26th 27th August 2012 Edenbridge Show – D.A. Stand 8th 9th September 2012 Our NVS Show at Bridge Village Hall 12th September 2012 Heather Willis “Spring & Autumn in Scotland” 10th October 2012 John Branham “Talk on Collections” Meetings are held on 2nd Wednesday of the month at Bridge Village Hall, High Street, Bridge, Canterbury, Kent CT4 5JZ. The hall is open at 7.30 pm for tea/coffee and biscuits followed by our meeting at 8pm If you have any suggestions for talks in 2013 please contact Geoff or Judi on 01227 860400 or email “[email protected]” A raffle is held at each meeting, donations of prizes are gratefully accepted – thank you. Supplied by Neil Hope, FNVS Surrey District Association Diary Dates: Saturday February 4 Best in Show Stump Carrots, shown by Chris Passey. Best collection – shown by Roger Sommins The rest of the year we have a good selection of speakers including Paolo Arrigo (Seeds Of Italy) and John Branham with a talk on Collections. We will also be at the Medway Garden Festival with our usual plant sale and also the two stands that we do during the year at Detling and Edenbridge. 62 simplyvegetables AGM (venue Barley Mow Public House, West Horsley KT 24 6NR, 11:00am for Coffee, 11:30 meeting commences. Lunch afterwards (Pre-booked with Patricia Barrett 01737 271587) at members own expense. Thursday March 8 GROWING HERBS – Claire Brown from Plantpassion Thursday May 17 FRUIT FOR THE SMALL GARDEN – Peter Collett. Thursday Sept 13 VEGETABLE SEED BREEDING IN THE UK – Dr Peter Dawson from Tozer Seeds Thursday Nov 8 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO VEGETABLE GROWING – Mark Saunders Meetings are held in the Lovelace Room, East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue, East Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 6QT and commence at 8pm. All NVS members are welcome to attend, together with members belonging to our Affiliated Societies. We also intend to hold our second meeting at Redhill Methodist Centre RH1 1BP on Thursday 19th April, Topic and Speaker to be announced on the NVS web site. For further information on Surrey District Association matters and activities, please contact the DA Secretary Sally Coleman on 0208 399 8809. Sally Coleman Surrey DA at RHS Wisley ‘Taste of Autumn’ Event Oct 20th – 23rd As in previous years, once again the Surrey D.A. were invited to take part in the annual ‘Taste of Autumn’ event at the RHS Wisley Gardens over the four days of October 20th to 23rd. Our accommodation was in a 3m x 4m ‘minispan’, as part of a row of units in the field directly opposite the main restaurant and cafeteria. This year the event was fortunate to experience dry and relatively sunny weather, in total the RHS reported over 25,000 visitors to the Gardens over the four days, and many visited the National Vegetable Society Stand. Our main activity was in responding to Vegetable cultivation questions from the general public, advice on varieties, and also in promoting our various publications and organisation; our new booklet ‘Getting started on the Show Bench’ sold particularly well, we even sold two to the RHS’s own Library! Star of the Show was undoubtedly ‘Marilyn the Marrow’ kindly Neil Hope manning the stand at Wisley Neil and Richard Bailey being kept busy provided by Brian and Janet Arm whose weight was guessed by 308 of the visitors (actual weight was exactly 68 lbs or 27.24 kgs) and we provided six adult and three children prizes in the form of Garden Vouchers. Thanks must go to the dedicated team of Volunteers who help us each year, especially Len Stebbings, Patricia Barrett, Sally Coleman, Richard Bailey, Norman Ingate, Richard White and Linda Hargrave from the Surrey DA and also Gordon Francis from Kent. We would welcome more volunteers for this and other events in the future, this should be seen as more of a Branch event, so any assistance from any of the members in the Southern Branch would be gratefully accepted. Neil Hope. Diary Dates: Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm. We are delighted to welcome John Branham FNVS, one of the countries top show growers who will talk about his method of growing and showing. For those who grow to show, one not to miss. Wednesday 9th May 7.30pm. Tonight we host Peter Collett, a member of the RHS Fruit Group and well respected lecturer on fruit. His topic is Fruit for the Garden and Allotment. A must for the kitchen gardener. All members and guests are welcome, refreshments are served and the meetings are held at Falmer Village Hall just off the A27 adjacent to the new Amex Brighton football stadium. For further information about the District Association please phone 01403 711598 Submitted by Barry Newman FNVS Sussex District Association The final 2011 show and recruitment stand at the South of England Autumn Show was our best yet both in terms of competition entries and money raised. The show was judged by Neil Hope and the ‘guess the potato variety’ competition was particularly good fun and created a lot of interest. Hopefully by the time you read this our AGM will have provided the new Chairman and Secretary the DA needs to continue. We have a full programme again this year and look forward to your support. Neil Hope – engrossed in his deliberations Potato quiz. The quiz was not as hard as it looks, we did give a sheet with all the varieties listed, you just had to match the numbers to the names! simplyvegetables 63 Strawberry Buddy The latest breeding from East Malling Research ! W E N The mail order Fruit & Vegetable Company FREE ! P&P We predict that this new everbearing strawberry has a great future. Called Buddy, it is set to become a friend you can rely on to crop well in your garden or allotment. The fruits are plentiful between June and October and incredibly flavoursome – dark red, large and very sweet. Buddy has been bred at the famed East Malling Research as part of a programme to develop new strawberries that will fruit well in our changing climate. 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