The changing seasons

Today was the last show of the season held in the Club Inn at Endmoor which is where our local N V S meetings are held, it's a bit different in that all entries are auctioned off for Charity at the close of the show and I suppose it is a slightly low key show but still everyone likes to win, and I am no exception so i was especially pleased when my Winston potatoes came first meaning that I have got first with potatoes in every show that I have entered them this year, in fact this is the first year I have ever got a ticket with potatoes. My granddaughter Jenny is keen on going to shows and had some entries in the children's competition and was pretty chuffed to get a first prize with her Veg Animals even though the other entries were her sisters.

So now all the excitement of the show season is over I had to get down to some serious work on the plot starting with a rough dig and weeding where I grew my onions and leeks this year, it has been empty since early August except for half a dozen leeks that I kept back for showing and it had started to look a bit neglected, it should break down nicely over the Winter and I will give it a good covering of compost soon and then cover it with plastic sheeting after Christmas as an experiment to see if it allows me a quicker start next Spring, the plant left in the corner is a hydrangea cutting that I took last backend and just popped it in the corner for the Summer, when it dies back in a month or two I will move it to a permanent place in the front border, I also got on with cleaning out the growing mixture from the carrot and parsnip with my home made coring device, so as to lessen the chance of carrying over any nasties that may have made them selves at home in there, later when I turn the sand over I will splash some disinfectant about, as a final clean up.

Results

These are the best potatoes that I have ever grown after some disappointing years with them and I managed to get a first with a set of four coloured potatoes in the members section plus they won the cup for best set of potatoes in show in the members and open sections. My first attempt at growing marrows earned me a second with the one in the top right. Add on the win with peas and a couple of thirds with some fuchsias it was a OK day.

Little Helpers

These are my two grand daughters and helpers who are holding some of the entries for the show. I managed a second with the leeks, a first with the long carrots, and as there is not a class for parsnips I used them in the any other class and tray of four different vegetables and got another couple of firsts with them plus as a bonus the special rosette to celebrate 75 years of the show with best veg in the open section. I think they were as pleased as I was.

Westmorland Horticutural Show

Things are a bit hectic on the farm today with us finally able to get on with our silage, now the weather has finally picked up so i will give a fuller report by the weekend with more pictures, but things went well with a few firsts and seconds, but here is a picture of some of the team that do all the unseen hard work and make it all run smoothly. Mrs Robinson on the right even working on her Birthday. not sure how old but I'd guess about 55.

Those Bl***y deer

Had a look on my plot this morning to see how things were looking ready for my main show on Tuesday /Wednesday to be met by a massacre of my Runner Beans, French Beans and Peas by the local marauding deer population , the whole of my peas and runners beans were completely stripped and the dwarf French Beans have just vanished completely, I have suffered a bit in the past but never on this scale. I will have to drop out of a few entries now but at least my marrow were left untouched along with the Parsnips Carrots and Broad Beans and my Potatoes are safely in the garage plus my tomatoes in the greenhouse. I'm not going to let it get me down but it may be time to try Venison for Sunday lunch soon. I only grew 2 Marrows and both seeds came from the same packet but there is quite a difference between both plants, the lighter variety is a lot more vigorous mind it did get a 3 week start on the other, yet I think I favour the darker one.