Simply Vegetables Spring 2018

Volume 24 Part 2 £3.99

N 50 Years and Still Growing

the quarterly magazine of the National Vegetable Society SPRING 2018

Land of the leek PAGE 24

Gold Medal Display

Less common cultivars PAGE 40

Pests!

PAGE 44

This edition of Simply Veg. is suppported by

Branches PAGE 48

Melon Pepino Trio

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simply

vegetables

....58 years and still growing

The Quarterly Magazine of the National Vegetable Society Volume 24 Part 2 SPRING 2018 National President Medwyn Williams MBE AHRHS FNVS 01248 714851 e-mail: medwyn@llanor.fsnet.co.uk or medwynsofanglesey.co.uk

the team

Charity registered 1088979 National Chairman Vacant

Sub-Editor: Fiona Shenfield FNVS 01592 890284 e-mail: fcshome@talktalk.net Northern Branch

National Vice Chairman Grant Cathro FNVS 01382 580394 jgrant.cathro@sky.com

Ivor Mace FNVS Welsh Branch Rep

General Secretary Fiona Shenfield FNVS 01592 890284 fcshome@talktalk.net

David Metcalfe FNVS Chairman, Northern Branch 01282 614429 davidforleeks@gmail.com

Assistant Secretary Mark Hall BEM FNVS 07768 290122

Ian Simpson Scottish Branch Rep

Treasurer Denis Barry Bsc (ED) FNVS 01633 440905 denisbarry@btinternet.com

Bernard Brown Midland Branch Rep

Membership Registrar Branches Neil Hope FNVS 01932 844183 neil_hope@hotmail.com

DVD Distribution Executive Gordon Francis FNVS 01622 710486 gordonjfrancis@googlemail.com

Gareth Cameron FNVS Scottish Branch Sponsorship Manager 07935 117397 garethattheplot@hotmail.co.uk

Emily Plumb FNVS nvswebmaster@outlook.com

John Croot FNVS Secretary Northern Branch 01773 834213 j.croot@btinternet.com

Chairman of the Judges Examination Board Jim Williams FNVS 01875 320644 jimtwilliams@yahoo.co.uk

Arwyn Edwards FNVS Chairman, Welsh Branch 01267 253363 edwards.arwyn@gmail.com Sandra Hall, FNVS Chairman Midland Branch 01952 541396 noddy.crudgington@outlook.com

Articles, notices, meetings etc relative to your Branch and DA should be sent to the sub-editors below.

Scottish Branch

01443 775531 ivormace@hotmail.com

01592 890284 fcshome@talktalk.net

bernardbrown1947@gmail.com

Sub-Editor: David Allison FNVS 01943 862106 e-mail: drallison@hotmail.co.uk Midland Branch Sub-Editor: June Davies 01531 822750 e-mail: june.davies03@btinternet.com Southern Branch Sub-Editor: Kelvin Mason FNVS 01264 781684 e-mail: kelvin.mason123@btinternet.com Welsh Branch Sub-Editor: Ivor Mace FNVS 01443 775531 e-mail: ivormace@hotmail.com NVS Ireland Editor: Michael Gordon 086871 3359 e-mail: m_gordon100@hotmail.com

and finally, myself…

National Magazine Editor Kelvin Mason FNVS Amasca, 7 Fifehead Cottages, Salisbury Lane, Middle Wallop, Stockbridge, Hampshire, SO20 8JN Tel: 01264 781684 E-mail: kelvin.mason123@btinternet.com …to whom all articles for inclusion in the magazine should be sent. July 2018 edition – deadline for submissions to Kelvin: Friday 11th May 2018 simplyvegetables 3

contents

This edition of Simply Veg. is supported by

News from the Trustees by Mark Hall BEM, FNVS.......................................................................................5

Kitchen Garden and the National Vegetable Society – together helping the nation to grow better vegetables

Important! Planned changes in Data Protection Laws..................................................................................6 Kelvin’s Comments......................................................................................................................................8 From the Kitchen by Linda & Mary.............................................................................................................10 The History of the National Vegetable Society Part 4 by J Grant Cathro, FNVS..........................................12 Leek, Onion and other Vegetable Breeding by Jim Symonds.....................................................................14 New Breeding and innovations in growing Fruit and Vegetables by David Allison FNVS..............................16 Improving Your Soil by Kelvin Mason FNVS................................................................................................20

10

Letters to the Editor...................................................................................................................................22 The Land of the Leek by Micheal Osborn FNVS.........................................................................................24 Seasonal Jobs by Derek Brooks FNVS......................................................................................................26 A First Hand Account of the NVS Judging Exam 2017 NVS Judging Exam by Thomas Carpenter.............30 NVS Privacy Notice...................................................................................................................................32 Mildew By Derek Brooks FNVS..................................................................................................................34

16

Getting Started in the Greenhouse – part 9 by Kelvin Mason FNVS...........................................................36 Growing less common cultivars of some top fruits by Gerry Edwards FNVS.............................................40 Growers Profile: John Goodall FNVS.........................................................................................................43 Diamond-back Moth (Plutella xylostella) by Kelvin Mason FNVS.................................................................44 Spotted Wing Drosophila...........................................................................................................................45 Clarification of Special Competition’s for 2018...........................................................................................46

24

Scottish Branch.......................................................................................................................................48 Northern Branch......................................................................................................................................53 Midlands Branch.....................................................................................................................................57 Southern Branch.....................................................................................................................................59 Welsh Branch..........................................................................................................................................62

49

Irish Branch..............................................................................................................................................63

www.nvsuk.org.uk Published by Crest Publications, 12 Brooklands Court, Kettering Parkway, Kettering Venture Park Kettering, Northants, NN15 6FD Telephone: 01536 317000 • Email: jayne@crestpublications.com The views expressed by the authors/contributors are not necessarily those of the editor, the Society, or its officers.

MEMBERS IMPORTANT NOTICE Please note that the law on data protection is changing on May 25th 2018. Please read the article within this edition in conjunction with the NVS Privacy Notice. The NVS has also included within this edition a loose leaf Consent form and request that you review, complete and return the form to your local membership secretary ( contact details provided in this magazine). This is very important for NVS Officials, DA Officials, Key Positions, Judges and Lecturers. If we do not receive your consent form, then we will assume consent has not been given and will be required to remove your contact details from the Directory, web site and references in our Simply Vegetables magazine. The NVS does have an annual certificate of cover from the ICO (Information Commission Office), which can protect its members from unauthorised contact by individuals and organisations acting without NVS permission. Action can and will be taken against such activities on behalf of the member if required. The Trustees are always seeking ways of reducing running costs of the Society and improving the services and information provided to its members. One such way is attracting on-line advertising from carefully screened, reputable and relevant companies in the horticultural sector with paid for advertising in NVS media and also support of other activities through sponsorship.

Where such companies request reciprocal membership data for the purpose of direct mailing, the NVS will no longer forward your details unless your consent has been given to do so.

Fiona Shenfield FNVS, General Secretary

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61

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 (publishers of Simply Vegetables magazine on behalf of the NVS) in full accordance with data protection. The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners will be notified by phone, email or post, a list of winners is available on request from Crest Publications, 12 Brooklands Court, Kettering Parkway, Kettering Venture Park, Kettering, Northants, NN15 6FD.

News from the Trustees January 2018 Mark Hall BEM, FNVS National Assistant Secretary Grant Cathro took the chair for this meeting and welcomed Emily Plumb and Kelvin Mason who are standing in as the new representatives for the Southern Branch.

After correcting some spelling mistakes the October 2017 minutes where accepted as a true record.

Fiona Shenfield reported that the Society’s Public liability insurance has been renewed, along with the RHS membership. We are still awaiting more information on updating ICO (data protection) Dennis Barry had circulated his treasurers reports prior to the meeting which he went through the figures.

It was noted that money needed to be transferred to cover the Direct debit invoice, it was also noted that the Society was carrying approximately £8,000 of stock mainly the Getting Started books, and that we should try and reduce the stock that we hold.

Trustees noted the cost of the Simply Vegetables magazine to Branches and the remaining monies left to Branches in which to service members after capitation had been taken which left very little money. Dennis Barry gave options to overcome this...

• Raise membership fees.

• Fund raising.

• Reduce Capitation.

• Reducing the print run on the magazines would make very little saving. No action was taken at present.

Neil Hope gave the membership report his report was circulated prior to the meeting, which he went through the membership numbers which are very similar to this time last year.

Neil pointed out that he would not be seeking re-election at this year’s AGM when his second three year term is completed. He also tabled a job specification to assist Trustees in finding a replacement.

The chair asked that views from the branches on centralising this role be sought for the next meeting.

Trustees were aware of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) Effective from May 2018. Neil Hope and Fiona Shenfield gave an overview of this new legislation. It was agreed that documentation guidelines for the Society would be drawn up and circulated throughout the society to Branches and DAs along with information on the website and Simply Vegetables magazine.

Trustees agreed in general to the proposed tabled draft membership form update but requested that it contains some colour on the front page, and that the DA map on the website be updated.

John Croot gave an update so far on the arrangements for this year’s National Championships to be held in Harrogate. The host class would be small fruited tomatoes.

The evening venue is booked. And the AGM is confirmed for Friday 14th September but venue is yet to be announced. There will be no Inter Branch (wheelbarrow) competition this year.

The 2019 National Championships are likely to be at the New Forrest show (Southern Branch) held 23rd to 25th July 2019 (now confirmed).

Corrections to the NVS Judges guide have been published in the January Simply Vegetables magazine. Trustees agreed that Ian Simpson should put together a small team to prepare and update the guide for reprinting. In the meantime the 2017 guide with the amendments made in January 2018 will continue to be used as the Society’s official guide.

Fiona Shenfield had circulated some updated drafts of pointing

cards, which contained more information about our Society, overall trustees were happy to proceed with these allowing for the PDF documents to be printed off and used by society judges.

Emily Plumb had circulated a website report prior to the meeting of which she went through highlighting points for trustees. She asked that details on the Website be checked and any corrections be sent to her Website improvements, Emily had circulated a paper giving the history of Trustees work on website over past few years. Dennis Barry had also submitted a quote which will be reviewed in accordance with the required criteria. Dennis also suggested that he revisit the trustee finances to potential offset any cost.

Gareth Cameron had circulated a paper prior to the meeting on sponsorship of which he went through. Trustees noted that Gareth and Fiona had met with Dobie’s reference a sponsorship deal, there is still more work to do on this before a deal is confirmed.

Fiona Shenfield had circulated a draft Trustees induction pack prior to the meeting of which Trustees agreed would be beneficially. It is hoped that this would give potential Trustees an insight into the workings of the Society. This induction pack would be made available to any member on request and could be found on the website.

Grant Cathro proposed a vote of thanks for the work Fiona had done on this. Trustees changed the Meeting date of 30th June to 7th July.

Grant Cathro thanked Neil Hope for his work on the trustees over many years, he also thanked John Croot for his work as this would be his last meeting with the trustees.

Grant Cathro thanked Neil Hope for his work on the trustees over many years, he also thanked John Croot for his work as this would be his last meeting with the trustees

Important notices from the Membership Registrar Membership subscriptions for 2018 are now due, if not renewed already. Coloured Branch specific forms were included with the Autumn Issue of Simply Vegetables, if mislaid the form on page 7 can be used. Members are reminded that all renewals should be made well before the end of March to ensure continued receipt of your Quarterly magazine. Please make renewal cheques payable to ‘National Vegetable Society’ not NVS! It is also possible to renew using the NVS website.

In addition, for those members who have in the past kindly completed a Gift Aid declaration which enables the Society (as a registered Charity) to reclaim 25% of a portion of their subscription or donations under the Gift Aid Scheme, please note that HMRC are now requiring that these declarations are updated at a minimum of every 7 years, so it would be appreciated that members who have completed these forms in the past please bear this in mind, to ensure that we meet the HMRC Criteria. If at all in doubt please complete this declaration each time your membership is renewed.

simplyvegetables 5

Important! Personal Data

Planned changes in Data Protection Laws As you may be aware, Companies and organisations such as the NVS are required to comply with the existing UK Data Protection Act 1998. Further to this, a new EU Law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been released which will come into force from 25th May 2018. This new law has been designed to smooth data privacy laws across Europe as well as providing the improved protection and rights of individuals.

Please also note that the GDPR is not to be confused with the recent Data Protection Bill that was announced during the Queens speech. The Data Protection Bill will replace the Data Protection Act 1998, and will also incorporate the GDPR into National UK law— meaning that even post-Brexit, companies and organisations will need to comply with these same EU rules. Please Note that the UK Data Protection Bill is not yet law.

As with the existing data Protection act 1998, the new GDPR legislation will be enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has been working to assist and guide Companies and Organisations like ours regarding the new changes that will come into place.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO YOU? This new law refers to how your Personal data is recorded, saved & used. Examples of personal data include; your name, home address, telephone number, mobile phone number, email address, bank account details.

This relates to all personal data records including manual filing systems/paper records and electronic records/databases and what we in the NVS do with it. Some key areas of change from May 25th include the following; • The requirement to ensure that our NVS members are made aware of this new law and its requirements. (hence this article along with the NVS Privacy Notice) • The requirement for the NVS to advise with you what we intend to do with your personal data and how we intend to process it, before we do so. (Please refer to the NVS Privacy Notice) • The requirement for the NVS to obtain consent from members for certain activities related to your data. Example; we now require you to “opt in” for certain items, rather than include/process your data and then subsequently ask you to “opt out” ( e.g. we will not be able to add your details to the Directory without your consent or send your name and address to a seed company so that you can obtain a catalogue or free seeds without your consent). Please refer to eth NVS Consent forms • The requirement for the NVS to obtain parental or guardian approval for children age 16 and under regarding their consent agreement.

• The requirement to ensure that you have ease of access to the data that we may hold about you (a reduced timescale of one month has been stipulated for the NVS to provide you with that information – it’s 6 simplyvegetables

currently 40 days) • There is now a specific improved & increased list of defined rights for you as an individual. ( please refer to the NVS Privacy Notice) • There is also now a new fines regime.

SOME HELPFUL TERMINOLOGY Personal Data or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) relates to any living individual who can be identified from that data, for example your home address, phone numbers email etc.

Sensitive Personal Data relates information such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, whether you are a member of a trade union, physical or mental health or condition, sexual life etc. The GDPR legislation covers this type of data too, however the NVS does not hold or process sensitive personal data.

The NVS is known as the “Data Controller” as we determine the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, processed, or are to be, processed.

“Data Processers” are Companies outside the NVS who process data on the NVS’s behalf. One example would be Crest Publications, the Company who fulfils our SV Magazine printing and distribution. The NVS sends them your name and address so that they can post out the Simply Vegetables Magazine to you.

“Consent” The NVS will require you to “opt in” for certain activities, rather than include your personal data and then subsequently ask you to “opt out”. An example would be the previous Winter Edition of our SV magazine, page 39 contained an article regarding the Directory asking you to opt out if there was any of your data that you did not wish to be included. From May 25th, we must now ensure that you have firstly given consent prior to us including your data in the Directory. Note: We have been obtaining consent for use of data for all newly qualified judges, but are now required to expand our consent process.

NVS Privacy Notice As the NVS receives personal data from you, we will assist in your awareness and understanding of the GDPR requirements. To this end, the NVS has produced a Privacy Notice which is an easy to understand document providing you with information on; Who we are and what we do / What personal data we collect and how we use the information about you. / What we need? / Why we need it? / Processing Data / How we obtain your details / members who are Age 16 and under / Legitimate interests & lawful basis for processing your data / Sharing your information / Retaining your information (data retention) / Your details on the web / SV magazine / public domain / Your rights / How to contact us.

A copy of our Privacy notice has been

provided in this copy of your SV Magazine (see page 32), please take the time to read this. Should you have any questions, please contact us and we will be happy to help.

NVS PERSONAL DATA CONSENT FORM The NVS has also included Consent Form 1 & 2 with this copy of your SV Magazine.

Consent form 1 is required for all Members and Consent form 2 is required for all NVS Officers, D.A. Officers, Key Positions, Judges & Lecturers. (if you fall into the latter category, you are required to complete both form 1 & 2) We respectfully request that you please complete the form(s) and return it as soon as possible to ensure the NVS’s ability to meet your data rights and requirements as quickly as possible. If you could please help by returning your form by the end of April, this will help us to better protect your data and meet the new law which comes into effect in May. DA’s Please note, if you are reading this article and are not a fully subscribed member of the NVS, but are a member of an NVS District Association (D.A.), you are not required to complete a members consent form (form 1), however if you are not a fully subscribed NVS member but are an Officer of a D.A., ( e.g., Treasurer or Secretary, you will be required to complete Consent form 2).

Affiliated Societies or Groups Please note if you are reading this article and are not a fully subscribed member of the NVS, but are a member of an affiliated society or Group, you are not required to complete a member’s consent form. Your designated primary contact (whom the SV magazine is sent to) is requested to complete form 1.

Electronic version of the consent forms Should you prefer to complete this form electronically and then email it, a copy can be found on the NVS web site for you to download, complete and return via email to your local Membership secretary. (email address details on the web).

NOTE 1 If for some reason, you have not received the NVS consent form with this edition of your magazine, please let us know and we will rectify this as quickly as possible.

NOTE 2 We really require you up most attention to ensuring that you send back your consent form, especially if you are an officer, DA Officer, key contact person, lecturer or Judge, otherwise, after May 25th we will be required to remove your contact details from our Magazine, web and/or Directory until such times that we receive your consent.

As a reminder, we are required to have this in place by May 25th but also the deadline for the next SV magazine is May 12th so your soonest response would be most appreciated. PLEASE HELP US GET IT RIGHT. THANK YOU. Fiona Shenfield, NVS General Secretary 01592 890 284 / fcshome@talktalk.net 4 Canmore Street, Kinghorn, Fife KY3 9RH

THE NATIONAL VEGETABLE SOCIETY APPLICATION/RENEWAL FORM

IMPORTANT!!

GIFT AID DECLARATION

Mr, Mrs Ms, Miss ������������������������������������������������������������������� (name)

Name of Charity:

Address �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

THE NATIONAL VEGETABLE SOCIETY REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1088979

Postcode �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

Details of donor:

Telephone �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

Title: .............. Forename(s): .....................................

Membership No. if renewal: ��������������������������������������������������������������

Surname: .................................................................

email: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

Address: ...................................................................

Please accept my application for membership of the National Vegetable Society for the period ending 31st December 2018. I enclose a cheque/postal order/standing order for £ ……………..

................................................................................. .................................................................................

Payable to The National Vegetable Society

Postcode:..................................................................

New members please complete and return to: Mr Neil Hope FNVS, 11 Sumner Place, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 1QD

Telephone:.................................................................

Tel: 01932 844183, Email: neil_hope@hotmail.com If renewal, please send to the relevant Branch Membership Secretary as listed on the right MEMBERSHIP FEES Juniors (up to 16yrs).....£ 5.00 Affiliated Society.................. £19.00 Individuals....................£17.00 Educational Establishments.. £15.00 Couples........................£19.00 Society Medal & Card........... £ 7.60 Application and 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.

National Vegetable Society DVD Order Form PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY USING CAPITALS AND BLACK INK. THANK YOU. Your Name:..............................................................................................

Your Address:......................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................

Postcode:.................................................................................................

Telephone No:........................................................................................

Membership No:...................................................................................

Date:............................................................................................................

Post Completed Order to: Mr G J Francis FNVS, 147 Bull Lane, Eccles, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7HW Tel: 01622 710486 Email: gordonjfrancis@googlemail.com 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

Branch Membership Secretaries.

MIDLANDS Trevor Last, FNVS, Tel: 01603 868316 43 Carters Road, Drayton, Norwich, Norfolk, NR8 6DY e-mail: trevlast@tiscali.co.uk

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 2011, and all donations I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you otherwise. as Gift Aid donations.

Signed: ………………………………………………

Date: …………………………………………………

DVD TITLE

NORTHERN Michael Osborn FNVS 01282 863351 e-mail: michael.osborn2@ntworld.com

Qty Req’d

On the Allotment With Stella & Peter Growing Exhibition Potatoes With Sherie Plumb FNVS Growing Exhibition Tomatoes With Charles Maisey FNVS

SCOTTISH Fred Stewart FNVS Tel: 01224 781309 Penny Lane, Redmyres, Portlethen, Aberdeenshire AB12 4RR

Growing Exhibition Shallots With Graeme Watson FNVS Growing Potatoes With Alistair Grey FNVS Growing Exhibition Carrots With Graeme Watson FNVS Growing Exhibition Onions With Jim Williams FNVS Growing Exhibition Celery With Trevor Last FNVS Growing Exhibition Blanch Leeks With John Soulsby

SOUTHERN. Neil Hope, FNVS, Tel: 01932 844183 11 Sumner Place, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 1QD e-mail: neil_hope@hotmail.com

Growing Exhibition Pot Leeks With John Soulsby An Insight into Vegetable Showing With Trevor Last FNVS Compost Making with Mick Poultney and 2011 National Championships

NEW – Growing Exhibition Leeks

and Onions with Ivor Mace

Growing for Showing 2006 With T Last, John Branham & Gareth Cameron WELSH Mrs Mary Thomas, FNVS Tel: 01691 780420 Fron, LLanrhaeadr, Y.M. Powys, SY10 0JJ e-mail: maryfron2005@yahoo.co.uk

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

£ simplyvegetables 7

Early Cauliflowers

Kelvin’s Comments Firstly, I must start off with an apology to the Scottish Branch, Welsh Branch and Kent D.A for missing part of their branch news from the last issue; especially as it contained details of up coming events which members may have missed. I am aware that many members use Simply Vegetables as their diary reminder so my apologies if you missed anything I know how annoying that can be. Also to other members for the photographs with the wrong captions despite a careful proof reading; not careful enough though!

The January edition was the hardest one I have had to do and I had a number of problems with it which I thought I had sorted but in the end did not quite get right. I am told you should never buy a car or piece of electrical equipment made on a Friday afternoon as they are often not up to the required standard. Whether this is true I do not know but it is true of the last Simply Vegetables!

8 simplyvegetables

If we are going to move forward as a vegetable society we need to increase our membership and at the January trustees meeting Ian Simpson mentioned that if every existing member recruited just one more member we would double our membership and without any great effort. This would give the NVS a greater budget that could be invested in Branches, D.A’s and the website as well as improving vegetable growing in the U.K. So if you have a keen neighbour who grows vegetables, growers at your allotment site or friends and relatives give them an application form or point them in the direction of the website. Application forms are available from your branch membership secretary and are in this magazine. It would be good for the country and the populations health if more people grow their own food, it is still considered trendy so we should be able to encourage more members.

Looking at this magazine Gerry Edwards has written a piece on growing less common cultivars of common top fruit like apples and pears. If you have the space as Gerry says some of these cultivars are worth a try, they may be earlier than common cultivars or in some cases better tasting. Most of the types available in the supermarkets are grown for

high yields, good skins (so they look good and travel well) and will store well. Many of the older cultivars were grown for taste or because they are suitable for local conditions.

Linda and Mary have sent some new recipes to help you use what you have grown in a healthy range of meals. If any other members have any good recipes they would like to send, please do.

Grant Cathro continues with his series on the history of the NVS and is looking at the history of NVS showing from its early days. It is amazing how we have grown over the last fifty years and the range of shows that the NVS and DA’s organise and are involved with nowadays.

David Allison is looking at the new innovations and breeding that has been carried out over the last couple of years and what is available. Many of these new cultivars are worth a look especially if they have pest or disease resistance which can save spraying. The range of new fruit that are coming out these days can improve the time when they are available for picking. Rhubarb and strawberries have a much longer harvesting period compared to ten to twenty years ago; in fact, rhubarb can now be harvested for nearly ten months of the year

compared to about five months in the past.

Jim Symonds very kindly sent me another article, part of which he sent earlier so I have merged them together. He tells me he is 92 and still going, I am very impressed with what he has written and the work he has done breeding vegetables. He gives some hints and guidance if you want to have a go and if you want more detail let me know as he also sent some further technical detail on the topic.

I have mentioned before about some of our more mature members putting pen to paper so that they pass on their knowledge to other newer growers, so please if you have some knowledge on a topic send it in for publication, Jim has set a fine example.

The Getting Started series continues and I have moved onto fruits now covering grapes. It is usually the dessert grapes that are grown indoors in the U.K. as the wine grapes are fine outdoors in the Southern U.K. A grape vine does take up a bit of space but can give good crops of sweet grapes and there is a lot of satisfaction in growing your own grapes here in the U.K. I have an outdoor vine which produces dessert grapes some years but they are not as sweet as the indoor one.

Michael Gordon has sent a short article on Veg Sport making some interesting points and I was reading in another magazine a couple of articles on how gardening is good for your health and very good exercise. More people should do it and it will reduce the costs to the NHS by millions, gardening is good for both physical and mental health so is a no brainer.

I have included the first part in what I hope will be a series on soils and its care; you may think there is not much to know about soil or that we already know it. There has been a lot of research carried out on soils over the last couple of years and it is continuing. I am

convinced that any large increases in yields are going to come from soil improvements or new breeding work. Many of you will know the saying feed the soil and it will feed the plants, this is now looking increasingly true. The research is now showing that many of the muck and mystery theories of the early organic movement are what we need to consider. Not only will adding plenty of organic matter to the soil improve its structure, hold water, supply and hold nutrients but also feeds many of the soil flora and fauna which helps the plants to grow better. More to come later.

Derek Brooks kindly continues his series on seasonal jobs as a reminder of what you need to do over the coming three months and as guidance to new growers. Aim to make maximum use of your land and continue sowing and planting to get crops for autumn and winter.

I have included two short articles about two fairly new pests which have come into the U.K. over the last few years now but appear to be getting worse. They can both be difficult to control so you need to be persistent and put a bit of effort in otherwise they can cause extensive damage. Just to add a bit of gloom and doom I briefly mention the new bacteria disease threat from Europe (nothing to do with brexit!). It has not got to the U.K. yet and you may already have seen some of the publicity given to it by the government agencies and nursery industry. If it does arrive and inevitable it may at some time it can cause damage and kill a wide range of plants and at present, there is no control. It does not appear to affect vegetables but will affect some fruits and a wide range of other woody plants.

Michael Osborn sent an article called The Land of the Leek for the last edition and I had to remove it owing to lack of space so it is included in this issue. I would also like

to thank Michael for his contributions to the Northern Branch News and also acting as editor for the last five years. He was also very good at persuading other branch members to contribute articles so please continue even if Michael is not chasing you!

I was very pleased to receive an inspiring article from one of our younger members, Thomas Carpenter who tells us of his experience of taking the NVS Judges exam last year. Not only do we need more young members but we also need more judges. If you have the experience, then have a go at the judge’s exam your services will be widely used.

The winter digging was completed in January apart from the area where the leeks are, the autumn raspberries pruned down and the garden and allotment tidy so I feel ready for the new growing season. So far I have broad beans that will be ready for planting in March, possible earlier as they are getting a bit big! Also some early cauliflowers which I am hoping to crop in May or early June if all goes to plan before the cabbage white butterflies are out. I have also started some early potatoes (Rocket) with the aim of picking some to go with the early cauliflowers in May, these will be grown in the poly-tunnel.

I hope you have sown your pepper seed that was included in the January edition, if you want to get good sized fruit for the early and even mid-summer shows you should have sown them in early February. I sowed mine at the end of January although they have not germinated at the time of typing these comments.

I am sure most of you are busy out in the garden now with April being a busy planting and sowing period so I will finish my comments here, good gardening.

A grape vine does take up a bit of space but can give good crops of sweet grapes

Salad Leaves

simplyvegetables 9

From the Kitchen Linda & Mary

The confused lot…

A definition of Marmalade generally refers to a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water.

It can be produced from kumquats, lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots, and other citrus fruits, or any combination of them.”

In Britain, people spread it on bread or toast and eat it as part of their breakfast.

Although the following recipe is called ‘marmalade’, it is savoury, not made from citrus fruits, not a gelled consistency and is good to eat with meats and cheese.

Red Onion Marmalade 2 tbs. rapeseed oil 500g/1lb red onions 4 tbs. sugar (I use Demerara to give richness in colour and flavour) 70ml//3 fl ozs red wine vinegar 50ml/2 fl ozs balsamic vinegar 200ml/7fl ozs red wine or port ½ teasp salt a shake of pepper Peel and finely slice the onions. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan, add the onions and sugar and stir until well combined. Cook on a low heat, stirring regularly to avoid burning or excessive browning.

Continue cooking this way until a dark colour is achieved and the onions have caramelized. This process can take 30 – 40 minutes.

Add the vinegars, seasoning and red wine or port, stir to combine.

Turn up the heat slightly, bring on to a simmer and continue cooking for another 30 – 40 minutes until thick and syrupy. A good test is to draw a wooden spoon through it and it should leave a trail when reached the correct consistency.

Bottle and seal as for any other preserve.

Definition of “jam” reads as “a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency of sugars, fruit and water. As above, there are exceptions to be found in old and newer recipes.

This is called “jam” and can actually be used as jam, being, thick and sweet, It is ideal for filling a carrot cake or any other cake. The difference here, is that unlike fruit jam, there is no pectin present and therefore no gel or setting point.

10 simplyvegetables

Carrot Jam 1kg/2lb finely grated carrots 250g/8ozs golden sultanas 500ml/17 fl ozs water 750g/ 1 ½ lb sugar Rind and juice of two large lemons 2cm/1inch piece root ginger – grated

Goats Cheese Tarts filled with Red Onion Marmalade

Put the carrots, sultanas and water in a preserving pan or large thick base saucepan. Bring to boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Add all the other ingredients, bring to the boil stirring until the sugar has dissolved, turn down the heat and simmer until a very thick consistency is reached. This could take up to an hour and this consistency is the final set.

Ladle into warm sterilized jars and finish as for any other jam.

Another exception that I came across while judging a local show is: -

Chilli and Tomato Jam 500g Ripe tomatoes 6 cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly sliced 4 garlic cloves 4 large red chillies 300g caster sugar 100ml red wine vinegar 2 tbs Thai fish sauce Blitz tomatoes, chilli, garlic and ginger in a food processor and pour into a heavy based saucepan. Add sugar, fish sauce and vinegar, bring to the boil stirring slowly. Simmer for 30 -40 minutes stirring from time to time until darker and sticky. Store in warm dry sterilized jars and seal.

Although quite high in sugar, this is best consumed as a savoury.

Asparagus, Pea and Bean Risotto 1 cup fresh or frozen beans (Soya, broad or cooked kidney etc) 1 Cup peas, frozen or fresh.

Bunch asparagus cut into 3 cm lengths 1 onion chopped 1 Celery stick chopped ½ pt wholemeal Oat Groats, barley or brown rice 70 mls dry sherry 50 Gms grated strong cheese Flat-leaf parsley chopped.

20 Gms butter.

Stock. double the volume of rice Vegetable stock cube Fry the onion for a few minutes until starting to turn brown, add the celery and fry for another 2-3 minutes Cook beans, asparagus and peas in simmering water for 3-4 mins until just al dente.

Drain and use the water to make the stock.

Add the rice and stir for a minute then add the sherry.

Gradually add the stock stir well to combine, cover with a well fitting lid and cook on low heat for 20 minutes until rice grains have absorbed the liquid and are tender.

Add asparagus, peas and beans simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Add cheese, parsley, butter and seasoning.

Chickpea Curry 500 gms cooked chickpeas 1 onions finely chopped 1 cup slow roasted tomato puree or 6 tomatoes 4 garlic cloves chopped 1-inch (25mm) ginger finely chopped Coriander leaves 4 Cardamoms 5 cloves 5 peppercorns 1 tsp turmeric powder 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon of ground cumin 1teaspoon ground mango powder (Amchoor) 1 teaspoon garam masala chilli powder to taste or 1 chilli pepper finely chopped Heat oil in a large non-stick pan, fry onion slowly until turning brown. Add cloves, peppercorns and cardamoms, allow to sizzle for 1 min. Add garlic and ginger, sauté for 2 mins, stirring frequently. Add fresh chilli if using fry for a minute. Add turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and salt. Stir well and cover for 3 minutes Add chick peas and chilli powder if using, stir well. Add tomatoes and ½ cup water. Cover cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Finally add amchoor, garam masala and chopped coriander.

Coriander is very easy to grow and usually seeds itself down and grows the following year. This freezes well.

simplyvegetables 11

The History of the National Vegetable Society Part 4 The History of Showing Part 1 It was in 1960 that George Jackson was to become our first Show Organiser. He was later joined in this task

by Rodney Fox-Taylor. George Jackson said “one of our objects would be to stage our own National Society Show”. Realising that it would be some years before our finances were strong enough to face up to this ambitious project, it was therefore decided to run a series of Sponsored Championship Classes. A panel of 35 judges had already been set up in 1960.

The following is a rundown of the Show activities in the early years from the limited material which I have in my possession. (if anyone has further material I am sure Grant would be pleased to receive it – Ed)

1961

Six Classes sponsored classes by the Society. The first ever was staged by the Selhurst Allotment Society. It was judged by Jim Cooper and won by George Jackson.

These classes proved to be so popular that it was decided to increase them to twelve the following year. However, the finances of the society could not stand the strain of setting aside the £30 needed for the prize money. The solution to this problem was arrived at in a very ingenious manner. It was decided to produce a “National Vegetable Society” Plaque, while the Society actually staging the Class would themselves be responsible for the actual prize money.

be made from money donated by Mr Holdernesse. So far this cash award has only been won twice, first in 1977 and again in 2003.

1972

Nine Sponsored Classes. Six Championship Classes were held outside of London for the first time and they were held at Southport Show.

1973

Nine Sponsored Classes. Six Championship Classes were held in London at Vincent Square in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society at their show. Here a Silver Knightian Medal was awarded for a vegetable display and a silver medal was awarded to Bill Miles for his individual collection of vegetables.

1974

There were ten Sponsored Classes. Six Championship Classes were held at Southport Show. It was expected that entries would be considerably increased due to the popularity and enthusiasm of the Northern members of our Society but it was not anticipated that 1974 would produce a record entry of 136. Entries were received for the six classes.

1975

Was the first time gifted trophies as well as National Vegetable Society plaques were competed for at both Guildford Town Show and Middlesex County Show.

There were fourteen Sponsored Classes between the Shows.

The staging of the National Vegetable Championship at Shrewsbury Flower Show was an unqualified success. It was the first time this show had been visited by the NVS. The decision to stage a display of vegetables was at that time an ambitious one. A presentable stand had to be built and no one had any experience on this. However, work was carried out and a vegetable display stand was built and dressed with vegetables.

An information stand was also made and, as a result of this, many new members were welcomed to the Society. The end result of this effort was a Gold Medal award presented to our Society by the Shrewsbury Show Committee. Quite an achievement.

1965

1976

1962-63

On the above basis there were twelve Sponsored Classes with National Vegetable Society plaques being awarded.

1964

The Sponsored Classes were fourteen again and competitors competed at both the City of Birmingham Show and at Southport Show where trophies and plaques were awarded. By 1965 George Jackson was well into his Stride as our Show Organiser.

We were holding four Championship Classes at various shows for which we were offering four handsome trophies along with National Vegetable Society plaques.

In addition to these Affiliated Societies could purchase two Award of Merit Cards and Medals to be used at their own shows.

1966

At the first Championship Classes to be held at the Royal Horticultural Society Hall in London the prize money was £12 for each class and this was sponsored by our own Society.

1967-71

In all of those years the Sponsored Classes were held in London at the Royal Horticultural Society Show. The Sponsored Classes ranged between eight, nine and ten. Our gifted trophies were awarded as well as National Vegetable Plaques.

1968

This year saw the First Silver Knightian Medal awarded to our Society for a display of ninety different varieties of vegetables at the Royal Horticultural Society Hall in London. It was here that an extra incentive was put in place namely that if any competitor was to win the Holdernesse Trophy and the Holdernesse Twin Trophy in the same year a cash award would

12 simplyvegetables

In this year, for the first time, the National Championships were held in Scotland. The venue was Ayr Flower Show held in the middle of August.

The organisation of this was really splendid. Of the fiftyfour entries staged one came from Northern Ireland.

During the course of this year an international Open Vegetable Championships was held by Guildford Show in Surrey. The classes were sponsored by Phostrogen in conjunction with the NVS. This was organised by the Guildford Show Committee. The classes were for Potatoes, Runner Beans, Onions, Leeks, Carrots and Tomatoes.

Prize money was £30, £20 and £10. A large number of NVS members staged exhibits and the allocated space was pretty full.

For some time, it had been evident that the decline in the number of entries at recent shows must be partially attributed to the amount of prize money that was offered. The rising cost of cultivating vegetables to show perfection, plus the expense of transporting these to the show bench had made the effort no longer viable, therefore the Executive Committee felt that it would be in the interests of our exhibitors to make the prize money more attractive wherever possible.

To achieve this, it was necessary to seek commercial sponsorship and this saw the start of sponsorship of the show classes from outside sources.

1977

There were eight classes in the National Championships and the awards on this occasion were presented by the Right Hon Ian Percival QC, MP. The highlight of this year was the putting on a display of vegetables at Clacks Farm for the television programme “Gardeners World”. Our

grateful thanks went to Arthur Billitt who had recently consented to become a Vice President of the Society. This opportunity was due to the Midland Chairman, Mr Cecil Smith and his cohorts, who did all the spadework enabling this to happen. An honourable mention must be made to this worthy band. When one pauses to think that this programme was viewed by some seven million people up and down the country it was justly felt that the Society had really arrived.

1978

The Championship for this year was held at Shrewsbury. A very high standard was attained.

Many of the Officers of the Society felt very proud of the exhibits that were exhibited when one considered the poor growing season.

At this time the Radio Times was probably the widest read family weekly publication in the country. An extract, dated Thursday 16th February 1978, read as follows; ‘Gardeners World returns with plans for a national vegetable competition for amateur gardeners from Penzance to the Pentland Firth in conjunction with the National Vegetable Society. The programme plans four preliminary competitions in the South, Midlands, North of England and Scotland’.

An announcement was made in the Radio Times on the 12th September 1978 which read; ‘Gardeners World from Clacks Farm with Arthur Billitt and Peter Seabrook. To be shown on the 14th September 1978. Throughout the season members of the National Vegetable Society have been growing their exhibits for a competition organised by the Midland Branch of the Society. This evening Fred Potter, Chairman of the Vegetable Committee of The Royal Horticultural Society will judge the entries from the Scottish, Midland, Northern and Southern Branches’.

On the 12th September we reached our pinnacle of success in conjunction with the BBC programme Gardeners World. The BBC offered a trophy for a Collection of Vegetables to be competed for by the four Branches, (The Welsh branch had not been formed at this stage). As you would imagine the competition was fierce and at the end of the day the Northern Branch won the Trophy, on this occasion by the smallest of margins, in fact by 1point. This was the start of the competition between the Branches later to be referred to as the Inter Branch Competition which still is competed for to this day, and the winning of this is as much sought after as ever by the Branches.

It was also around this time that Geoffrey Smith, the well known down to earth gardener, who appeared regularly on television became a Vice President of the Society and helped regularly promote our cause.

1979

This year marked the Golden Jubilee of Southport Show and once again the most exciting event of the year. The National Championships were held there. The classes numbered ten and no less than seventeen well known horticultural firms sponsored the Championships. For the first time ever, as it was Jubilee Year, a celebration was organised by the Southport Show officials. A buffet supper was organised and we were able to express our gratitude and thanks to the sponsors and all the award winners were invited. This was a way of saying a temporary farewell to Southport Show who had served us so well. It had been decided to look to our Southern Branch to hold the 1980 Championships which took place at Reading Show.

This year saw the second Inter Branch Competition being held at Forton, near Preston, at Mr & Mrs Martin Robinson’s Nursery. Once again the competition was keenly fought although there was an excellent competitive spirit experienced through out. We are indebted to the BBC 2 Gardeners World producers for organising the award which the BBC very generously provided as last year. The 1st and 2nd prizes were cups and the other two awards were certificates. The prizes were presented at a buffet after the event. On this occasion Scotland won by ½ a point - some competition! Once again the atmosphere was electric and the friendship was immense.

1980

The National Championships were held again at Reading Show. The Championship Classes had grown to twelve in number with ten trophies being offered and prize money amounted to £580. Once again the standard of vegetables at this show was of top quality and the organisers of the event were very pleased with the results. A comment was overheard by an official at the end of the show about how impressed the people of the Reading area were with the standard of the displays.

1981

Once again the National Championships were held in Ayr, Scotland, where they were a great success

due to keen competition and friendship among all the members who exhibited at the show. It was commented by a show official, following the show, that it was due to the exhibitors that we owe the success of this show.

This year was the celebration of Twenty-One years of the National Vegetable Society. A publication was produced by Leslie Perry, a Vice President of the Society, to celebrate this fact.

This was titled ‘The First Twenty-One Years’.

This was available for sale at Ayr Show for members to purchase. A large number were sold.

After the show to help celebrate the TwentyOne years of the Society a party was held complete with cake and a wee dram.

1982

The National Championships were held at Shrewsbury.

At this show there were Fourteen Sponsored Classes and each class winner received a trophy along with some prize money. It appears that this show was a great success and one can never thank the exhibitors enough for the support they give to Championships up and down the country. The Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury very graciously presented the Trophies to the winners.

1983

Southport Show hosted the1983 National Championships where another Trophy was competed for. A new class was introduced making Fifteen Sponsored Classes in total. A new trophy was given to the Society by Hendry Ludiam, a true and dedicated member of long standing who shortly after giving the trophy passed away unfortunately never to see his trophy presented.

1984

The National Championship were once again held at the Reading Show. These Championships were very well supported and quite an impressive display was put up by the exhibitors. The people of Reading were once again very impressed by the standard achieved by all the competitors.

1985

The Silver Jubilee Year in any Society is an important landmark in its progress and development. Scottish Branch had the honour to stage the National Championships once again at Ayr Flower Show. There was, as usual, a noteworthy display of vegetables from all over the UK from all the Branches.

A happy social evening, with splendid Scottish hospitality, including the usual beverages, followed a successful show.

A comment was made by the Chairman of the day at the 1985 AGM which was held in Cardiff; “This year our Silver Jubilee was splendidly celebrated in all areas and at all levels by our Society with various vegetable displays up and down the country at various venues. I thank all those who organised and helped with the success.

It was a tremendous effort in promoting the National Vegetable Society further towards achieving its goals of promoting vegetable growing up and down the country either in showing or for kitchen use”.

To be continued...

Correction I am grateful to N F Hoskins, FNVS, who has kindly been in touch and corrected the information I had on the awarding of the Fellowships to members.

The first Fellowships were awarded to the founder members of the Society in 1961, and thereafter they were added to by recommendations of persons who had rendered special service to the Society.

J Grant Cathro, FNVS.

simplyvegetables 13

Leek, Onion and other Vegetable Breeding

by Jim Symonds I noticed in a recent Simply Vegetables magazine that there was a visit to Tozers seeds and I wish I was there. (so did I – Ed). I see that Dr Peter Dawson has found the male sterile leek, for years I and others (Peter Kerry being one) have been emasculating the male stamens on selected leeks to try to obtain good seedlings. I had one leek success and I know Peter is still experimenting with “breeds” but we haven’t got pure strains yet. We have to rouge seeded plants otherwise I know I get a lot of inbreeding depression to which the leek is especially prone. Yet we hear of members using just two leeks to cross and having success; why?

I also use 3 leeks, one is a commercial F1 to try to keep vigour and I know that the pods above the seed head can contain male sterile units which are very pale in colour.

Also on onions some pods can be sterile.

My latest and possible last attempt (K9) started as usual with straight parents and using the usual seed heads, above these were some small bulbils which I grew on.

These all turned out to be bulbous yet they were vegetative growth so should have been the same as the parent plant – what a poser!

Moving onto other vegetables I tried a beetroot cross with Pablo and Red Ace, this has produced some good plants but a few more years trial for consistency is required yet. From my original cross three years ago I kept seven plants which were really good.

This year (2017) the flower stalk is over 6 foot (1.8m) high and full of seed heads. If I can ripen some of the seed, I should get some good plants and some consistency in the cultivar.

I also tried pea Show Perfection crossed with the Kelvedon series. Show Perfection can be too tall and prone to disease. So my aim is to try to reduce the height and give it more disease resistance and have the plants produce pods with 11 to 12 peas inside.

But so far I have been unsuccessful and had poor germination from the seed collected.

I tried breeding onions (Allium cepa) from seed provided by Ron Parkin who won at the Yorkshire Show a few times many years ago. If you are breeding to improve shape 14 simplyvegetables

Allium ‘Quatro F1’

Ron Parkin said not to propagate from flat bottomed bulbs, at a talk Bill Rogers agreed with this comment. Also there are times when you have to back cross to keep the characteristics that you are trying to achieve.

The bulbing onion (Allium cepa) is different from the Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) which is also called the Japanese bunching onion. These two species have been crossed by the Americans resulting in a vigorous bunching onion called ‘Beltsville Bunching’ that is a fertile hybrid.

The shallot (Allium cepa var. ascalonicim) is fully fertile with the bulb onions as it is very closely related as can be seen by its Latin name. Onions can show considerable inbred depression and the pedigree breeding method is not effective with this crop. The F1 method is used to produce many modern cultivars which are much more uniform. The old onion types “male sterility” is now made good use of in this technique, using the male sterile line from vegetatively produced small bulbs produced by the seed head.

Some onions need cold treatment to flower; two weeks in a fridge is enough. In the past I have saved seed from seed grown plants and also from ‘pod’ growth. Alliums form large clusters of flowers (umbels) and

all are out breeders. Bees and flies can be used for pollination, but individual flowers do not self-pollinate; this is because the male anthers produce the pollen before the female stigma is ready. By the time the stigma is ready the pollen has gone over. The pollen starts to “shed” shortly after the flowers start to open over a period of three to four days.

The stigma becomes receptive when the pistil reaches full size and in some cases this is after pollen release is complete; the stigma remains receptive for two to three days. An onion is hermaphrodite (it has both male and female flower parts) and is protanrous - that is the male flower parts develop first and releases the pollen long before the female parts finish their development and become receptive.

Although as mentioned above the onion is an out breeder it is self-compatible even though a flower is normally pollinated by another flower it can be pollinated by a flower on the same plant.

Pollen is usually applied with a fine camel hair brush and dried with alcohol. Airborne pollen such as beet can be injected into the seed parent as it is difficult to cross by hand.

Small flowers like carrots and celery open in synchronisation fortunately!

The F1 method is used to produce many modern cultivars which are much more uniform

Squash, cucumbers and melons with their separate male and female flowers on the same plant are primary out breeders, but as with onions nothing prevents a female flower being pollinated by a male flower on the same plant.

Going back to growing onions an onion seed can weigh 0.0035gm and can produce a bulb weighing over 8 kilos. That is an increase of over 2 million times, so conditions must be nearly perfect. I wonder if we can achieve that in leeks? Below I found some old figures on onion weights: • 1975 Sinclair McGill – St. Boswell, Roxburgh 4lb 15oz • 1976 Preston, Garstang, Mr. J Weildon 5lb 10oz • 1977 Mayfield Kelso, Mr. R. Rodger, Fife 5lb 13oz • 1978 Dickens Stockton, Mr. B.H. Charles Oswestry 4lb 4oz • 1979 Grosvenor Chester, Mr. G. White York 5lb 5oz • 1980 Mayfield Kelso Mr. R. Rodger, Fife 6lb 0oz • 1981 Harlow Carr Harrogate Mr. B. Rodger 6lb 7oz • 1984 Ashington Mr. B. Rodger 7lb 11oz • 1985 Harrogate Mr. W. Rodger, Fife 6lb 14oz (These days I believe the champion weights are over 18lbs – Ed) Next I tried tomatoes crossing a yellow type which has been around on the show bench locally and winning for a few years. I crossed this with a red (Shirley) which has a good shape and is a good cropper. I selected the seed parent plant at the third truss, it had heavy yellow pollen on the anthers.

The yellow plant was good, strong with a good round shape of fruit, but it ripened very quickly and had thin skins. I thought I could put the vine type of the F1 red (i.e. longer ripening gene) into the yellow and also a thicker skin. I removed the male anthers of the yellow and dusted the red cultivars flowers onto the yellow to pollinate it. I then covered the flower with a bag to stop any other pollination taking place. I removed the bag after a week and left the fruit to ripen.

Once ripe I collected the fruit and removed the seed which was stored until the next year. I had 28 seeds but following the theory of 1 in 4 being yellow I kept seven of the plants and grew these onto the second truss.

I then selected one good fruit and saved the seed from this and sowed the seed this year (2017). Not one seed came up, so I must be getting too old and did something wrong! I need to move forward with this project in the future.

To successfully breed a new strain, you still have to grow the plants and this can run into thousands of plants to get one new good cultivar. To be successful you need plenty of patience, time and a good knowledge of plant genetics and breeding.

Seeds from a breeding programme represent a valuable effort so should be stored in small packets and treated with great care. The extraction of seed from a fresh non fleshy fruit / pod is fairly simple as they can be rubbed between your hands and the seed collected and chaff blown away carefully.

Some seed such as onions and leeks can be placed into some water and the good seeds

sink, any that float are not viable and will not germinate so should be thrown away. They should then be carefully dried and stored in an envelope with a bit of silica gel to reduce the moisture level. Put the seed in a plastic airtight container in a cool place to improve the storage.

Extraction from fleshy fruits like tomatoes, cucumbers and marrows is fairly easy, I just soak them in pickling vinegar until the flesh is loose and then extract the seed. This should be dried between sheets of non-acid paper (i.e. neutral pH). Seeds vary in their storage capacity but should be stored in a dry atmosphere. When dried they should be kept in an airtight container and in a low temperature that does not fluctuate. Under these conditions high storage types can last for five to six years. Low storage types like parsnip even if stored in a fridge may lose their viability and only last a year or two.

Examples of storage are: • Low – leek, onion, parsley and parsnip • Medium – beans, carrot, celery, pea, tomato • High – beet, cabbage, kale, turnip,

melon, marrow, cucumber, radish.

Finally, some claims of treatments using onions made by homeopathic people over the years. But be sure to get medical advice before trying. It has been taken for: • Colds, chest and throat infections • Some skin complaints • Prevents some blood clotting • Good for stings, use half a raw onion • Good for burns • In China used to treat angina • Good for poor appetite • Reduce blood sugar • Aid to hair growth • Improve digestion • Aid to mild diabetes They were also placed in the Pharaohs tombs in Egypt to aid the afterlife.

Jim Symonds Ed – Jim included other information with this article illustrating the technical terms on the flowers, flower parts and methods of emasculation and pollination. If you fancy your chances at breeding a new cultivar let me know and I will include a further article using more of Jim’s information.

Beta vulgaris subsp vulgaris seedhead

simplyvegetables 15

New Breeding and innovations in growing Fruit and Vegetables David Allison FNVS In no particular order of importance, I set out below some recent innovations in growing fruit and vegetables.

Blackberries Over the last 3 or 4 years a new primocane blackberry has been developed. Primocane, where a cane grows and fruits in the same year, rather than over a 2-year cycle as with floricanes. The first to be bred was “Reuben”, a reasonable cropper but not brilliant on taste and very spiny. Then last year a second cultivar was bred called “Prime Ark 45” much better cropper and better flavour.

Rhubarb There have been great strides forward here, the breeders have, through selective breeding NOT genetic modification, bred out the dormant summer genes of rhubarb, so that instead of going dormant in late summer the crowns continue to crop until the first frosts. Brilliant if you like fresh rhubarb. The first variety to come on the market 3 or 4 years ago was Livingstone, followed this year with Poulton’s Pride, bred by D. T. Brown, and named after their former trial grounds at Poulton-Le-Fylde on the coast in North Lancashire. Two excellent British bred Autumn cropping rhubarbs are Pink Champagne and Raspberry Red which are two modern varieties, with lovely red stalks and a pink flesh. Can be bought as dormant crowns in winter or growing in a 9cm pot in spring.

Livingstone rhubarb

Raspberries As well as a good number of new modern summer cropping Raspberries, floricanes type including a new late summer orange fruiting one called Valentina; there have been great strides in breeding new Autumn cropping varieties ( primocanes) to replace that old variety, Autumn Bliss. These crop after the summer ones are coming to an end and continue until the first frosts. Two good new ones are Polka and Autumn Treasure.

An added bonus is that after cropping you 16 simplyvegetables

World’s first primocane blackberry, Reuben

can cut them down to the ground, as they grow and crop on the same year’s growth, so no messy tying in over winter.

Strawberries Many new varieties have come onto the market over recent years, including Early, midseason and late summer cropping varieties, Everbearers or Perpetual fruiting varieties, Hanging basket varieties and alpine varieties. Up until a few years ago, the only giant Strawberry was one called Grandee, very big but lacked flavour. This was then crossed with better flavoured varieties and a new one called Maxim became available.

Not content with that this year the biggest of them all was released called Sweet Colossus, a giant of a berry with loads of flavour.

Most strawberry varieties have a white flower, but two new everbearers, also suitable for hanging baskets with beautiful pink flowers have been bred in Holland, and can be grown from seed, Fragoo Pink and Fragoo Rose.

Another recent innovation with strawberries is that rather than purchasing dormant runners in late Autumn/winter when they are traditionally sent out, and then planted in cold wet soil, you can now purchase cold stored runners in Spring when the soil is warming up and daylength and light intensity are getting better, and you will have fewer failures. Better still, buy “misted tips” which are runners taken form the parent plant as soon as they can be seen, planted into a jiffy pot or similar and rooted in a mist propagation unit. So you are getting a live growing plant in its own cell

Late summer cropping raspberry, Valentina

Imported bumble bees to help with pollination

Giant Strawberry Sweet Collossus

Late summer cropping raspberry, Valentina

of compost which will get away better when planted, rather than a dormant runner. As many commercial varieties of Strawberry are now grown under cover, both to bring them forward a week or two, and to avoid rain spoiling ripening fruit, and whilst self-fertile, they still need pollinating to get good quality fruit, growers now buy in continental bred boxes of bumble bees, which are released in to the greenhouse/tunnel/ enclosed growing area to help set the fruit.

•

• •

vote, but didn’t win.

Tomato, Indigo Rose, 2014 submission. An almost black tomato said to have the highest levels of Lycopene and antioxidants of any variety. So very healthy variety, just takes forever to ripen!

Raspberry; “Ruby Beauty”, 2915 submission, A dwarf growing variety, said to be ideal for pot culture.

Aubergine, Solanum tubererosum, plus Solanum melongena, “egg and chip” plant , 2016 submission. A bit of a novelty, grafting aubergine (egg plant) onto a potato (chip plant) rootstock. Would have looked better if someone had watered it! I have not grown it but a few years earlier, Thompson & Morgan who submitted both, sent in “Tomtato”, a cherry tomato grafted onto a potato rootstock. I did grow this and got a superb crop of cherry tomatoes, variety not disclosed, but not a single spud!

Coleus; (now Solenostemon scutellarioides,) “Campfire”. A new colour break in coleus cultivation, a lovely burnished orange. Again a 2016 submission.

Mulberry For the first time since I have been involved with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Plant of the Year competition an edible has won.

(2017) . This is a dwarf compact mulberry, Morus rotundiloba, “Charlotte Russe”, named after a member of the Royal Family. Unlike most mulberries which can take 7/8 years to mature before carrying a crop, and makes a large tree, this dwarf variety crops in its first year after planting, and only gets to approx.

1 meter high. My only question is if it will be hardy enough in my part of the North of England. I have bought one so time will tell!

Talking of the Plant of the Year Competition a number of edibles have been put forward and made it to the final cut, including; • Strawberry, “Malling Centenary”, 2013 submission. A superb tasting and cropping summer variety, which is has made it into commercial production.

Named to celebrate 100 years of fruit breeding at East Malling Crop Research Centre in Kent. Got my

Apples There are now literally hundreds of varieties of apples available, and due to the breeding of dwarfing rootstocks, particularly M26 and M27, you don’t need acres of space to grow

Chelsea Plant of the Year comp.

2016. Coleous, Campfire

Chelsea Plant of the Year comp. 2016. Egg & Chip plant.

•

Chelsea plant of the Year comp.

2015. Raspberry, Ruby Beauty

simplyvegetables 17

instead of buttons the plant produces loose florets of leaves at each leaf node, which have a much sweeter flavour than sprouts.

There are green and purple types.

Redlove

them, particularly if trained as either, cordons (single or multiple) , fans , espaliers and stepovers. Family apple and pear trees, where two or more varieties are grafted or budded onto the same rootstock, particularly those that flower in the same pollination group, enable good pollination and fruit set on one tree. Can also be grown in large containers, so you don’t even need a garden! With family trees, pruning is critical, as often the more dominant variety can and does take over if left unpruned.

For something a little different, a new variety of apple called Redlove, has pink blossom, unlike most apple varieties which have white blossom, pink undersides of new leaf growth, deep pink skins and pink flesh.

And if left to mature and fully ripen on the tree, (mid Sept. in my part of the world) has a lovely flavour, a good mix of acidity and sweetness. Taking that one stage further, a new variety for 2018 is one called Surprize, with orange skins and orange flesh. Can’t tell you what it tastes like as I’ve only just bought my bare root plant this winter.

Again, messing about with breeding, there are a number of varieties of Aprium ( an apricot and plum cross with apricot being the dominant cross) and Pluots, ( a plum and apricot cross, with plum being the dominant cross) Both need a fairly sheltered site if growing outdoors, especially, the midlands and all counties north.

Cauliflowers As well as clubroot resistant varieties now available, i.e. Clapton, and a new variety to me, Sapporo, a white curd, summer cropping type, is said to offer some resistance to a range of brassica root diseases. Cauliflowers don’t have to be just curds of white, Trevi has green curds as do the Romanesco types, Graffiti has a deep purple curd, remember Rob Smith winning The Great Allotment Challenge with this variety, stunning when grown well, pity it’s not more popular on the show bench as there are three points awarded for colour, not just white, any colour, and Sunset, a lovely deep orange curd, where, unlike white curds, exposure to sunlight is said to improve the colour.

If clubroot is a problem for you, there are two options available, Either grow clubroot resistant varieties, Cauliflower, Clapton as above, green cabbages, Kilaton and Kilazol, red cabbage, Lodero, could replace Autoro which is no longer available, Brussels sprout Crispus, and calabrese, Monclano. Or; Try using Perlka, (calcium cyanamide) sold mainly as a nitrogenous fertiliser. Whilst it’s not a cure of clubroot, once dissolved in the soil, its fumigant properties have the effect of stopping clubroot spores travelling in the soil, so if they don’t find a host plant to feed on, eventually they will die out. My allotment site has been allotments since the end of the first world war, 100 years next year, and every plot, without exception has club root disease in the soil. By growing good sized plants to plant out and dropping a few granules of Perlka into each planting hole a few days before planting, I can grow a worthwhile crop of brassicas.

Runner beans If poor bean set is a problem for you, new breeding of varieties, a cross between dwarf French beans and runner beans, have been bred, which are self-fertile and will set in cooler weather, not just relying on insects for pollination. In addition they are said to take a lot longer to develop beans in the pod, so have a longer picking life, a win win all round.

Four new varieties are Moonlight, (White flowers), Firestorm (red flowers, Firelight and Tenderstar.

yellowing if the leaf and a white furry fungus on the roots. I don’t think there is a chemical cure which amateur growers can buy legally to combat this dreadful disease, but a newish variety, Santero F1, is said to show remarkable resistance to it.

Santero

Tomatoes If you enjoy growing tomatoes outdoors, but have struggled with blight, help is now at hand. A couple of new blight resistant ( not immune ) varieties have been bred called, Crimson Crush and Mountain Magic.

Crimson Crush

Potatoes Not new but worth mentioning, if potato blight is a problem in your area, you may wish to plant tubers from the Sarpo range, originally bred in Hungary with further breeding in Wales, and usually maincrop varieties. These are not immune to the disease, but do give some resistance.

So go on, try something different this year, you may just be amazed! The above lists are not exhaustive, but hopefully will give you an indication of what is available out there.

Flower sprouts This is a cross between a kale and a brussels sprout, so whilst it grows like a sprout,

Onions A scourge of onion growers, and becoming more prevalent in wetter summers is Downy Mildew, a fungal disease which causes a

Ed – I will endorse David’s comments on Sarpo above as I have grown it now for four years and although it has sometimes got a touch of blight they have kept growing and still produced an excellent crop. They seem to outgrow any blight attack and restrict its spread to the odd leaf.

Graffiti

Sunset

Trevi

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Improving Your Soil

by Kelvin Mason FNVS Early last year I attended a seminar which was part of a series being held throughout the country over the year on various methods on improving the soil and why this should be done. The seminars are organised by the Agricultural, Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) who carry out research for commercial growers or sponsor research at various universities on relevant subjects. The research is partly paid for by a levy on the large growers and they also receive some funds from central government (not enough in my opinion).

The seminars were on soil health as AHDB feel not enough attention is being given to this by the growers which is leading to a general decline in the health of our soils which will lead to a decline in yields. I would have thought most growers should have a good knowledge of their soil but AHDB obviously feel it is worth while doing to ensure growers throughout the country are kept informed and up to date. Many farm and large growers soil suffers from compaction and erosion which can lead to quite large reductions in crop yields. Our knowledge of soil chemistry is improving all the time and as it improves so should the yields and health of our crops. The costs of growing are increasing in particularly fertiliser costs, so the more we can get out of the soil with less inputs the better.

•

The soils in the Norfolk Fens have sunk by 3.91 metres since they were drained owing to a loss and breakdown of organic matter and carbon. The average loss is 30.5mm a year!

Increased levels of nitrogen are being found in drinking water in some areas of the country and in the Test Valley area of Hampshire one borehole has been closed owing to the increasing nitrogen level.

Poor soils tend to cap in heavy rain and soil erosion leads to both soil and phosphate being washed out to sea.

Phosphate is imported from North Africa and the Middle East which is both expensive and adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The organic matter in the U.K soils has dropped since world war 2.

Some interesting facts to start with: • It is essential to add organic matter to maintain a heathy soil • Soils contain a quarter of all living species on earth • One teaspoon contains thousands of species • Bacteria can amount to 1 to 2 tonnes per hectare (2.4 acres) • Bacteria will move back into the soil quickly even if killed • It is important to keep the soil covered with plants and not left as bare earth • Soils high in organic matter have a more stable structure

So what is a healthy soil? It has three main components structure, chemistry and biology, these are interlinked and affect each other. It is important that all three are in the best possible condition to maintain a good healthy soil.

Structure – this is the actual physical structure, how the soil particles form crumbs, peds and aggregates (the small lumps of soil). A good structure is required to allow oxygen to get to the roots, water to drain down to the roots and then out to avoid waterlogging and spaces for the roots to grow through. A good structure is required for the right air / water ratio for the plants roots, a good soil will have approx. 50% air/ water which will change depending on the weather and any irrigation used.

Chemistry – this is made up of the plant nutrients and other chemicals in the soil, the NPK etc. which plants need to grow. To achieve decent growth and good yields there needs to be adequate levels of nutrition in the soil.

Biology – the flora and fauna that lives in the soil and consist of fungi, bacteria,

protozoa, actinomycetes, insects, worms and many other creatures. I predict this is where we will get the biggest gains in yields in the future apart from breeding new and improved cultivars. (I will do some future articles on this in later editions – Ed) The factor that links these all together and is key to soil health is organic matter (yes I know I keep harking on about it but it is important!). Many soils in the U.K are between 4 to 5% organic matter but in many cultivated areas it is dropping and in some cases as low as 1 to 2% The aim in the future is to at least maintain 4 to 5% or better still improve it, which is what you need to do in your gardens and allotments.

One of the important attributes of organic matter is that it helps to hold soil particle together to form the aggregates / crumbs.

To give an idea of soil particle size, sand is about pin head size, silt is approx. hair thickness and clay is about bacteria size (very small). The ideal soil is a mix of all three formed into small aggregates. Earthworms are a major factor in helping to produce good soil structure and they feed on the soil and organic matter.

Looking at the soil chemistry side in a bit more detail the key points here are the nutrients and them being available to the plant roots. Looking back to the 1960’s and up to the 1990’s many growers relied on artificial fertilisers to feed their crops and rarely used organic matter. This worked well while there was a residue of organic matter in the soil from previous years but once that had run out it became necessary to add more and more fertilisers to achieve the same yields; it’s a bit like drugs once on them it is difficult to get off them. We are now wiser and going back to adding organic matter where possible.

Of the main plant nutrients nitrogen is very easily leached out of the soil in the soil water as I it drains away. Potash can also be leached out but not quite as easily as nitrogen although quite a bit can be lost over winter. Phosphate is not very soluble

Composted woodchip

Green Manure roots (Phacelia)

Leaves for composting

20 simplyvegetables

•

•

•

Municipal compost

and tends to be held in the soil, but if that is washed away by erosion the phosphate goes with it. Also on alkaline soils the phosphate can get locked together with calcium and is then unavailable to the plant. Of the other nutrients plants need magnesium, manganese, iron and sulphur can be leached out of soil. Organic matter not only helps improve the soil structure but also holds onto some nutrients and if good quality organic matter will contain some nutrients to feed your plants.

The biology of the soil is where we can make improvements at very little cost to amateur growers although costlier to commercial growers. How can we improve it, by adding organic matter – got the message yet!

A good soil has a high level of good bacteria and fungi. These will help reduce the numbers of bad bacteria and fungi as well as help to improve the soil structure and release nutrients for the plants. Mycorrhizae are a type of fungi that live on the roots of most plants (Brassicas are the only vegetable family that so far they have not discovered a mycorrhizae relationship). They help the roots to take up both water and nutrients especially phosphates which some plants can have difficulty doing. Mycorrhizae also help to bind the soil particles together which improves the soil structure. Using small amounts of composted wood chip can help as the fungi like this to feed on. (I will be adding to the information on mycorrhiza in a future

Woodchip mulch

edition as there is much new research and information coming available – Ed) Actinomycetes are one of the things that give the soil its nice smell and are not often given the credit they deserve for their work in the soil. There are billions in a healthy soil and they carry out a number of functions.

Protozoa are also not widely known about and again are important in a healthy soil.

Nematodes are better known as a pest of vegetables, bulbs and herbaceous plants, but there is a very large number of species that are good creatures; it is important to encourage these.

Moving onto the bigger creatures these include the arthropods such as centipedes, beetles, as well as the spiders and mites of which there are thousands of species. Many of the arthropods breakdown organic matter which helps to improve the soil. Finally, there are the earthworms of which there are 26 species in the U.K all of which are good.

Some species move vertically in the soil some horizontally but all create drainage holes and improve the aeration of the soil as well as releasing nutrients in their worm casts.

So hopefully I have now convinced any doubters to use some organic matter on your soil, at this point I possible should say what types of materials can be added to the soil as organic matter in case any members are not clear, they include: • Farm yard manure which can be from cattle, sheep, goat or pigs

• • • • • •

Horse manure Garden compost Spent mushroom compost Spent hops Well-rotted wood chip Municipal compost – collect from households and composted by local authorities or private companies and then sold back to you!

• Basically anything that has once lived and will rot down.

At the AHDB seminar they spent some time going through green manuring which those of you who are regular readers of Simply Vegetables will know I have covered before. Having said that they mentioned some green manures I have not so at the risk of boring you will list out some in the table below. If a major organisation like the AHDB think it is worth spending the time and effort they are it must be worthwhile.

There are other green manures so use these if you have them or can obtain them easily. The below are available from various seed companies. All the below are available from Cotswold Grass Seeds Direct if you order a reasonable quantity, their website is www.cotswoldseeds.com Telephone number 01608 652552.

I hope the above has wetted you appetite for more about soils which I will include in future editions of Simply Vegetables, just remember the old organic saying “feed the soil and it will feed the plants”.

Common Name

Latin Name

Sowing Rate /m2

Comments

Alsike Clover

Trifolium hybridum

1.5gms / m2

Sow not too deep in August / early September

Crimson Clover

Trifolium incarnatum

1.5gms / m2

Sow no deeper than 10mm in August or March to May

Lucerne / Alfalfa

Medicago sativa

2gms / m2

10mm deep in August

Red Clover

Trifolium pratenese

1.5gms / m2

Sow no deeper than 10mm deep in mid to late August.

Sainfoin

Onobrychis vicifolia

8-9gms / m2

A large seed sow in drills 20mmdeep in April / May

Vetch

Vicia sativa

8-9gms / m2

Sow 10-20mm deep in September

Chicory

Chichorium intybus

1.5gms /m2

Sow 10mm deep in August / September

Fodder Radish

Raphanus sativus

1.5gms /m2

Sow in the autumn, can be earlier

Grazing Rye

Secale cereale

18gms / m2

Sow 20 -30mm deep in September / October

Italian Rye

Lolium multiflorum

2-3gms / m2

Sow 10-20mm deep in August / September

Mustard

Sinapsis alba

2gms / m2

Sow 5-8mm deep in August / September

Phacelia

Phacelia tanacetifolia

1gm / m2

Broadcast and lightly rake in during August

Westerwolds Ryegrass

Lolium westerwoldicum

3.5gms /m2

Sow 10mm deep September / early October simplyvegetables 21

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, As a devoted and enthusiastic amateur horticulturalist I wish to contribute to the NVS magazine with some of my achievements during last year, which will hopefully encourage others to try growing and showing of vegetables.

Firstly, I have been a member of Caterham and District Horticultural Society for over four decades now; there has been a society / group in existence since 1886 so is one of the older societies in the U.K. I am also a member of the Surrey branch of the NVS and the Allotment Society.

I was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and my late mother taught me how to grow seeds and cuttings from plants when I was six years old. It was a very different world over seventy years ago, people grow and harvested most of their food and the area was very rural. What people grew they shared with their neighbours or exchanged it for something they needed; they shared all their plants and seeds.

My mother was a school teacher and her classroom had no furniture; the children sat on the floor. Her pupils always brought her fruit, flowers or seeds especially papaya, mango and pineapple. It was an extraordinary time and everyone shared what they had with others.

I have lived in Surrey for nearly fifty years and have been fortunate that I have the opportunity to have allotments and can be involved in horticulture. I am fascinated by the variety of people I meet at the allotments and enjoy the sharing of information and ideas. I have been involved with the Caterham and District Horticultural Society since 1975 and have met some lovable gardeners who have been so friendly and helpful. The society has three shows a year, Spring, Summer and Autumn; every first prize at each show gains a point and at the last show they award the Murray Rose Bowl (this cup was first awarded in 1921) to the person with the most points.

I am proud of the achievement that in 2017 I have won this cup 5 times, it’s a great achievement for me to receive such an award for my dedication and enthusiasm. I have also won many other cups that the society awards. Now aged 75 years I still have the zest to continue.

Joe Perera Surrey Ed – Joe sent a couple of photographs of his produce and being awarded the Murray cup.

There is some excellent produce and it is good to see people going strong at 75, an example to many of us.

Debbie Fox and Joe with the Murray Bowl

22 simplyvegetables

Joe with giant marrow

Joe on his allotment

Dear Kelvin “Enough Said” I don’t believe we are having this debate about what the judge should or should not do.

The exhibitor has been provided with a schedule for the show, telling him what classes are available to enter and he should have read the schedule and decided which classes he or she are going to enter. Once decided on which class(es) they should grow / harvest to the schedule.

If they are growing 250gms onions for instance and the schedule states 4 onions of 250gms or less, then 4 should be exhibited of the correct weight. It is not up to the judge or steward to take it upon themselves to alter the exhibit. If the right amount (i.e. 4) are on the dish then no more should be said, but what if one onion is over the 250gms stated on the schedule? Then a little note would tell the exhibitor and general public as to why the exhibit was NAS (Not according to schedule) and marking the offending onion may help. If the incorrect number are exhibited the note should state, the required number in the class and if under or over that number.

The exhibitor should also remember that he / she is not allowed into the tent / hall while judging is taking place and should not be there to alter the exhibit once judging has started.

All Shows large or small should be judged without favour, when this does not happen you will lose exhibitors.

Yours sincerely, Keith Shepherd.

Northern Branch

Ed – As Keith Shepherd indicates above we have possibly said enough about altering exhibits prior to judging. I have to admit I am coming around to agreeing with leaving the exhibit as the exhibitor staged it even though it will result in an NAS. I did not have the time to write a comment to Ian Haussuer’s letter in the last Simply Vegetables but I put it in the magazine as I felt the logic of it could not be argued against.

I believe the new NVS judges guide will have some guidance on this matter and as members of the society we ought to follow that advice when judging although that is up to the individual judge. The current guide states the following from the Stewards Role: Most importantly the steward should, to the best of their knowledge, ensure exhibits are in the correct class and that the entry quantities concur with that specified in the schedule.

If the steward is required to move an exhibit to another class or make any other alteration they should make the show secretary aware of their action.

A later paragraph referring to introducing the judge to the show states: The steward will advise on the accuracy and whereabouts of all classes to be judged and if not obvious, suggest the order of judging.

In the section on the judge’s role it states: Where an exhibit is ‘not according to schedule’ and the steward has not been able to remedy the situation, the judge must reject the exhibit. The judge should then record this on the exhibitor’s card together with a reason for rejection. Clearly this is a last resort and must be carefully considered.

I feel that this says the steward can rectify an exhibit if possible, although as I said above I am coming around to thinking this may be unfair to other exhibitors in that class.

If there are any other topics I am happy to air them in Simply Vegetables if it will help move matters forward.

Dear Editor, After the January issue of Simply Vegetables I had a phone call from one of our members in Wales; to say he was interested in Peter Glazebrook’s article on growing giant onions using hydroponic methods. He told me about growing onions “hydroponically” during the war years and into the 1950’s when food was scarce. They used jam jars full of water and placed an onion plant on the top.

The water was topped up using a mixture of water and sheep’s manure (similar to the old fashioned manure left soaking in a drum and then diluted) or liquid feed.

The jars were placed on a window sill or on shelves in a greenhouse to grow and the plants would need some sort of support to keep them upright and so the jar does not topple over. Reasonable sized onions were grown this way and did not use space in the garden of on the allotment; and supplied fresh vegetables when food was short.

Giving it a bit of thought it would be very easy to grow onion sets in hyacinth vases and they could easily be started off early to get an early crop. If gardening is getting a bit like hard work this is a possible way to grow a bit of your own food along with some micro greens Ed A letter was also sent to me to pass onto Peter from a keen chrysanthemum grower who uses similar methods to how Peter had grown his giant onions. This grower uses Airpots with a mixture of perlite, vermiculite and mini cubes of rockwool which is a very open mixture and he feeds this with a hydroponic nutrient solution. He uses reverse osmosis to lower and control the pH to the required level for the nutrient solution. The water is stored in a tank which helps some of the chlorine to dissipate and he then passes air bubbles through the water to introduce as much oxygen as possible and to feed the bacteria in the solution; a sugar solution is also added.

The grower also monitors the eC level (salt concentration of the solution) to maintain this at a level suitable for the type of plant being grown. The water that drains out of the pots is collected and then tested using a meter.

Ed – Do any other members grow any of their crops using hydroponic type techniques? If so an article would be very interesting

simplyvegetables 23

An Overall view of the show

The Land of the Leek

Onion competition

by Micheal Osborn FNVS At first glance when you mention the Land of the Leek most people would assume you are talking about Wales and as we all know the leek is one of the national emblems of Wales. There are many theories behind this but the most popular is that St David advised the Britons on the eve of a battle with the Saxons to wear a leek in their helmets to distinguish them from their enemies. Another version is a similar thing happening at the battle of Agincourt when Welsh archers fought with Henry V against the French. However the leek is definitely associated with the Welsh nation as its emblem along with the Daffodil. This probably came about as the word in Welsh for leek is the same as daffodil. Cenhinen means Leek and Cenhinen Pedr means Daffodil.

However the real passion for growing the leek is firmly embedded in the North East of England where the tradition goes back to the mid 1800’s with the first recorded show at Swarland Northumberland in 1846.

Traditional employment in the area was either mining or ship building and after toiling all day digging coal or bashing rivets into the next ship to roll off into the Tyne the fresh air of the garden or more commonly the allotment was a welcome relief.

Where did the Leek (Allium porrum L) originate from? Well it has been cultivated in this country for several hundred years and it is derived from allium ampeloprasum a native plant of South West Asia and Southern Europe. Just how the leek arrived in this country is not really known but it is thought that it probably came with the Romans and it is said that it was the favourite vegetable of the Emperor Nero.

So coming back to modern times, there are three main types of leek grown, the trench or blanch leek, the intermediate leek and the pot leek, the latter being the one that 24 simplyvegetables

stirs up most passion and where competition is the most serious on the show bench.

Competition in this male dominated pastime was and still is intense with special compost mixes and different fertilisers a closely guarded secret. These days there is more science used with new crosses and varieties emerging all the time, some of which can command a hefty price once they have been seen to be successful on the show bench. However, all the modern leeks have genes from the top show varieties of earlier days like the Jones Leek, the Bone Leek, the Jumbo, and the Yorkshire Green In years gone by shows were commonly held, again, in the male dominated Working Men’s Clubs and Pubs. Prizes were definitely worth winning and were usually furniture or appliances, in more recent times fridge freezers and televisions have featured and these were usually displayed alongside the show benches. Now however the prizes are more commonly cash and can be as much as £250 for a first prize.

With valuable prizes and great fame and honour at stake competition has always been intense. In the old days there are all sorts of stories of leeks getting slashed the night before the show. I have also heard stories

of men sleeping on their allotment plot with guard dogs to protect their leeks once the show date was imminent! There is also a story of one grower who kept a vicious owl in his polytunnels to ward off thieves!

Regarding the male domination of this pastime there is a record of the women fighting back when an all-women Pumpkin Group was set up in the 1980’s called the Portland Pumpkin Group, unfortunately I don’t have any further details of this feminine initiative. Bolden Colliery also had a ladies leek club in the 1970’s again I cannot find any more details about this club.

One of the big shows was the world open leek championship and world heaviest onion challenge at the Northern Club in Ashington, Northumberland. Sadly this show which attracted entries from all over the country was discontinued in 2008, a great loss to the showing scene.

The showing and judging of leeks particularly in the North East is controlled by the National Pot Leek Society which was formed in 1980 previous to this (and still is in some competitions) leeks were judged to CIU rules (The Working Men’s Club and Institute Ltd) and these rules are based mainly on the cubic capacity of the leek. The RHS and our

Chrysanthemum exhibits

Winning Leeks at Pelaw Show Pot Leeks S. White 292.39 Cubic inch S. White Blanch Leeks 342.16 Cubic inch P. Holden Intermediate leeks 264.05 Cubic inch R. Hamilton

own NVS rules grade all three types of leeks as twenty point vegetables with the normal condition, uniformity, size and colour as the criteria to be assessed.

The main show in the leek grower’s calendar today is the National Championships held in Stanley at a show staged jointly with North East Horticultural society and I am pleased to say I am a member of both organisations. This show started about ten years ago quite by chance when the current show secretary Joe Keeler was out pursuing his other passion fly fishing on the lake belonging to The South Causey Inn, now a very large hotel, a popular wedding venue and equestrian centre.

The hotel proprietor wanted to stage a show in the large indoor equestrian arena adjoining the hotel. Joe spoke to his good friends John Soulsby chair of the North East Horticultural Society and Rob Hall chair of the National Pot Leek Society and as they say the rest is history and the show was staged very successfully for several years at this venue.

Two years ago the Causey Inn decided that they wanted to expand their very successful wedding business which would involve demolishing the equestrian arena so once again this prestigious show was without a

venue. Fortunately the Stanley Town council stepped in and decided to support the show.

The show now fully supported by Stanley Town Council is staged at the local Sports Centre (The Louisa Centre) and in my opinion is bigger and better than ever.

The weekend of the show is one of the highlights of my showing calendar and it always follows the same format each year.

The weekend starts when David Metcalfe picks me up around 12noon on the Friday giving us ample time to drive up the A1 and get our exhibits on the bench. The show is well supported by quite a few NVS members so it is also a wonderful social weekend as well. Having benched our vegetables we retire to the Causey Inn for a meal and a couple of pints of local ale before walking back up the road to our overnight accommodation at ‘The Ball Alley’. The Ball Alley is a small pub named after the alley behind the pub which in times of old was used to play a type of hand ball unique to this area. The highlight of our stay at this very comfortable hostelry is the wonderful breakfast which really sets us up for the day!

The show opens to the public at 10.00am on the Saturday and it is very well supported by the public. David Metcalfe and I always

The weekend of the show is one of the highlights of my showing calendar

The stars of the show! The Pot Leeks

Pelaw WMC Show September 1999

take the NVS Road Show which always gets a lot of attention over the weekend and we usually come home with several new members signed up as well as quite a few sales of books and magazines.

One end of the hall is dedicated to the National Pot Leek Society Show of Pot Leeks, Intermediate Leeks and Blanch Leeks.

The rest of the area covers all classes of vegetables as well as a good show of the giant vegetables. There are also excellent benches of Chrysanthemums, Dahlias and pot plants.

As I said earlier this show is one of the highlights in my show calendar and it is a credit to the hard work of John Soulsby, Jo Keeler and Rob Hall along with an excellent band of helpers without whom this excellent event could not take place.

This is a wonderful venue with excellent lighting and all the supporting facilities the show committee work very hard to set the show up but we must acknowledge the wonderful support provided by the Stanley Town Council when budgets are so tight.

The demands on their finances must be immense, it is really heartening to have a council willing to support growers on this scale. Let’s hope more councils take a leaf out of their book!!

Michael Osborn FNVS

John Soulsby chair of the North East Horticultural Society and Rob Hall chair of the National Pot Leek Society

simplyvegetables 25

Seasonal Jobs

by Derek Brooks FNVS April 2018 I have several cold frames that I use for hardening off plants. When not in use they are all dismantled and put away behind my shed. This is the month when I assemble them again and put them in position ready for use. All plants raised in greenhouses, whether vegetables or flowers, need to go in the frames for at least a week to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions. The frame tops are left closed for a day or two then opened gradually until they are left open altogether.

Plants described as tender (or half hardy) can’t be planted out till there is no risk of frost which is the end of May or June, depending on where you live. They won’t be going into the frames till next month but this is the month to sow them. The vegetables I am thinking about are runner and French beans, marrows, courgettes, sweet corn, pumpkins and squashes. These can all be sown direct, where they are to grow, but not till May. I always sow them in the greenhouse to get them cropping earlier. The seeds are large enough to sow individually in small pots using a good multipurpose compost. If the roots have filled these small pots before it is time to put them in the frames, they will need potting on into larger pots.

Other tender plants I am thinking about are half hardy annual flowers such as cosmos, antirrhinums, zinnias, rudbeckias, asters, stocks and marigolds. They may have been sown last month but if not, they

can still be sown now. I said last month that they are sown in trays and are best put in a propagator but this month, now it is warmer, they are alright on the greenhouse bench.

When germinated, they will need pricking out into other trays about 2 inches (5 cm.) apart.

Harden them off in the frames next month.

Dahlias are also tender and won’t stand any frost at all. If you have given your tubers some bottom heat to get them growing you may have been taking some cuttings.

I described last month how to take the cuttings. If you took any cuttings early enough they may be rooted by now and need potting up into three and a half inch (9 cm.) pots. When the roots have filled these pots, the plants need potting on into 5 inch (12.5 cm.) pots. Depending on when the cuttings were taken, this may need doing before they go into the frames in May. If you haven’t taken any cuttings yet there is still time but the plants will flower later. If you haven’t started your tubers into growth to take cuttings, you can plant them out this month. They need to be planted about 6 inches (15cm.) deep so that the shoots will not appear above ground till there is no danger of frost.

Chrysanthemum cuttings are taken in the same way as dahlias and are potted into small pots when rooted, then into 5 inch (12.5 cm.) pots later. The difference is that chrysanths are not tender like dahlias and can be planted out in May. They should therefore go into the frames this month to harden them off for planting.

Last month I mentioned sowing summer brassicas and peas. If you didn’t do them then there is still time now but the crop will be

later. They can be sown directly where they are to grow or, in pots in the greenhouse, as I do. Those sown earlier should have germinated by now and be thinned to one per pot. When the roots have filled these small pots I always pot them on into 5 inch (12.5 cm.) pots. This helps to combat clubroot because the roots have a larger volume of compost to work in before they reach the soil. Depending how advanced the plants are, they need to go into the frames either this month or next, ready for planting.

What else can be planted this month?

First of all, this is the main month for planting potatoes starting with the earlies and finishing with maincrops towards the end of the month. I dig out trenches, a spades depth and a spade wide. I fork over the base then add a thick layer of lawn mowing to lay the potatoes on which helps prevent scab.

Earlies can be planted 12 inches (30 cm.) apart and maincrops 15 inches (37.5 cm.) apart.

We can also plant asparagus crowns, onion sets, onions grown from seed, shallots and garlic. Asparagus crowns are planted on ridges of soil in trenches. I start onion sets, garlic and shallots off in pots in the greenhouse earlier in the year (shallots the previous December) to get an earlier crop.

They are hardened off in the frames and planted out this month or next month. If you haven’t started them off in pots you can still plant them directly where they are to grow, Onions are normally sown earlier in pots or trays then potted on as they grow and also planted out this month or next after hardening off.

Gladioli corms can also be planted this

Daffs on allotment

Annuals pricked out

26 simplyvegetables

Winter onions ready for harvesting

Onion sets ready for planting

Tomatoes planted in polytunnel

Overwintered onions harvested

month about 12 inches (30 cm.) apart and 6 inches (15 cm.) deep, I put some coarse sand in each hole to help drainage.

Hardy annual flowers can be sown this month directly where they are to grow. You need to rake the soil to a fine tilth and sow thinly, either in drills or broadcast and thin out the seedlings as they grow Having said this, though, I prefer to sow them in the greenhouse as I do half hardy annuals mainly because I don’t usually have the ground ready early enough.

Vegetables that can be sown direct in drills are radish, turnips, swedes, salad onions, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, beetroot, kohl rabi and spinach. I prefer to sow lettuce, beetroot and kohl rabi in cell trays and plant out later.

I also sow long carrots and parsnips in tubes or drums and short carrots in buckets using sieved compost.

I have written a lot about sowing directly and planting out but none of it can be done unless the ground has been prepared properly. Make every effort to get rid of

weeds and rake the soil to a fine tilth for outdoor sowing and rake in some general fertiliser such as Growmore or fish, blood and bone.

In the greenhouse you will probably have tomatoes, cucumbers and maybe peppers and aubergines that have been sown earlier and growing on. They can be planted now either in the greenhouse border or in larger pots.

Tulips on allotment

Annuals in frames

Chrysanths all planted

The tender vegetables mentioned for sowing last month can still be sown if not done before, and also brassicas for late summer and autumn use. They can be sown directly in the soil or in pots but they don’t need any extra warmth to germinate the seeds as they did in March or April.

Also the root crops mentioned last month and lettuce can also be sown. In fact, these should be sown in small batches to give a succession of cropping, this also applies to cauliflowers. They don’t last very long and should be cut and used as soon as they are ready so we don’t want too many ready all at once.

It is also time to start sowing vegetables for

late autumn and winter use such as winter cabbage and cauliflowers, sprouting broccoli, and Chinese leaves. Other vegetables that can be sown now are carrots, rocket, Swiss chard, corn salad and chicory. These can be sown directly outside but I prefer to sow them in cell trays and plant them out later.

There are varieties of chicory to grow for use in salads and some to be grown as chicons.

Many plants can be planted this month and this is the main month for planting chrysanths. They are better grown in beds on their own but if you haven’t room there is no reason why you can’t grow them among other plants. I have a special bed where I stretch wires across supported on “T” posts.

The canes are attached to these wires by “Jiffy clips” and spaced 15 inches (38 cm.) apart and the plants are tied to them as soon as they are planted.

If you live in the South you can start planting dahlias, the tender veg and half hardy annual flowers towards the end of the month but up in the North it is safer to wait until June. Dahlias are also better in a special bed of their own if you have room. When they are established, both chrysanths and dahlias need stopping which means removing the growing tip. This makes the plants produce side shoots (called laterals), which will eventually carry the flowers. If you want your flowers earlier, the plants can be stopped

May 2018

simplyvegetables 27

Cabbages covered with protective net

Dahlias hardening off in frame

Onion bed planted

while they are still in pots but they must be at least 4 inches (10cm.) tall. I do them this way because I want the flowers for August and early September shows.

I have just mentioned planting annual flowers but if you haven’t sown them early enough to have any ready for planting there is still time but, of course, they will flower later.

Later cuttings of dahlias will not be ready for planting yet. You may have some not yet potted up so they should be done as I described last month.

Depending when brassicas were sown, they will be at different stages of growth. You may have some ready for planting from early sowings. Later sowings, if they are in pots will need thinning to one per pot, then potted on into larger pots later as I have described before.

I mentioned last month that gladioli corms could be planted. I don’t plant mine till May because I want them for the August and September shows and they still flower in time. Onions can also be planted if not done last month.

If potatoes were planted in April, the

shoots should be above ground by now and they should be earthed up by drawing soil up around them. If potatoes are exposed to light they become green and are unusable and earthing up helps to prevent this.

In the greenhouse or polytunnel, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines should be planted in their permanent positions if not done last month, either in the border or in pots or growbags. Tomatoes are classified as cordons or bush varieties. Bush varieties are allowed to grow naturally but cordons are grown on one stem tied to a cane. These varieties produce side shoots between the leaves and the stem. These should be removed when they are large enough to handle. If plants were planted in April they should be growing well and at this stage now.

You should keep greenhouse doors and ventilators open during the day now. A free circulation of air is needed to prevent a build up of disease. Also keep the temperatures down by applying shading. There are various shading materials but I use Coolglass painted on the outside of the glass. It lasts all season and is easily wiped off on a dry day at the

end of the season.

We should keep our eyes open for pests which will be increasing now the weather is warming up and take appropriate action.

Aphids can appear on a whole range of plants if you spot them when they are few in number you can squash them but if there are a lot you may have to resort to spraying.

If this is the case, make sure you choose a product recommended for this purpose and follow the instructions on the bottle.

Another troublesome pest is carrot fly which lays its eggs near the base of the plants and when the maggots hatch they burrow into the carrots. They are attracted to the carrots by smell so don’t leave any thinning’s lying about and be careful not to damage any plants which will give off the scent. I think the best method of prevention is to grow them with a physical barrier round them and above such as fine netting to prevent the flies getting to the carrots.

Another thing you can do is to grow resistant varieties such as “Resistafly” (Suttons, Marshalls, Shelleys, Browns and Fothergills) or “Flyaway” (Dobies, Robinsons, Shelleys, Medwyns, Browns and Fothergills).

June 2018

Lettuce planted between rows of runner beans and sweet peas

28 simplyvegetables

Most of the vegetables mentioned for sowing last month, except perhaps for the tender ones can still be sown this month, and particularly those for winter use. Don’t forget what I said about sowing in small batches to avoid a glut. One that I didn’t mention last month is salad onions for winter use such as “White Lisbon winter hardy” (most suppliers). There are varieties of radish for winter use as well such as ‘Black Spanish’ (Suttons, Robinsons, Shelleys and Browns), ‘China rose’ (Shelleys), and ‘Mantanghong’ (Dobies).

Chrysanths should have been planted last month but there is still time if you didn’t plant them then. Also you may still have some brassicas ready for planting from later sowings. The main problem with brassicas are cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs on the plants. When the caterpillars hatch they soon start devouring the leaves.

You can keep looking for the eggs on the underside of the leaves and squash them.

However, I think the best way is to stop the butterflies from getting to the plants by putting a net over them and round the sides supported on a framework of canes. Another pest of brassicas is the cabbage root fly which lays its eggs close to the base of the

plants and the maggots when they hatch feed on the roots. You can buy discs to put round the base of the plants to protect them but it is very easy to make your own.

You may have risked planting some of the tender vegetables, dahlias, and other half-hardy flowers at the end of last month but this is the main month for planting them now that the risk of frost is hopefully past.

I grow both runner beans and climbing French beans on structures of 8 foot (2.4 metres) canes in double rows about 3 feet (0.9 metres) apart with the canes 9 inches (23cm.) apart tied to horizontal canes along

Annual beds planted

Dahlias ready for planting

the top with shorter canes across the two rows and diagonal ones between the rows to strengthen the structure. The canes on this type of structure are upright but you can have them sloping and crossing at the top and just one horizontal cane along the top. The space between the rows is not wasted because I sow and plant salad crops between them. If you haven’t room for a structure like this you can have, say, 6 or 8 canes in a circle and tied together at the top.

I grow sweet peas on the same structure as the runner beans which attract pollinating insects. These, of course, are hardy so are planted earlier and are growing by the time the beans are planted.

You should carry on earthing up potatoes as they grow and spray them to prevent blight.

In the fruit garden it is a good idea to protect the strawberry bed with a net to keep birds off the ripening fruit. Also fruit bushes and strawberries will benefit from a feed with a high potash content to help ripen the fruit. This is also the time to prune plums and cherries if they need doing because you shouldn’t do them in winter when other fruit trees are pruned due to the risk of silver leaf disease. You only need to cut out any diseased, damaged or crossing branches.

In the greenhouse you can still plant cucumbers if not done before and continue

Annuals ready for planting

to remove side shoots from cordon grown tomatoes. You need to continue keeping your eye open for pests. As I have said before, aphids can make their appearance on a wide range of plants at any time and they multiply rapidly. Blackfly are a pest on beans and on broad beans in particular. Removing the tops of the plants helps to prevent their appearance. I mentioned carrot fly last month and if you are sowing carrots now, take note what I said then.

If you planted early potatoes in April, they may be ready for harvesting. Obviously they will grow bigger if left longer but just dig a few up to see if they are big enough. You don’t need to harvest them all at once, just harvest some and leave the rest to grow bigger.

Runner beans and sweet peas with lettuce between the rows

Dahlia bed planted

simplyvegetables 29

A First Hand Account of the NVS Judging Exam 2017 NVS Judging Exam

by Thomas Carpenter It was June 2017 and I was preparing for my first major show as Show Secretary of my local horticultural society, At the age of 22 I am probably one of the youngest ever to hold this position. The hall had been set up and the exhibits had been staged and were ready for judging. Our judge for our Summer Show was Peter Cranfield. Peter had lots of complimentary things to say about the standard of the show given that we are a small village society. Over lunch I told Peter that I was in training to be a horticultural judge with the Essex Guild of Horticultural Judges. It was then that Peter mentioned he would be helping to run the annual National Vegetable Society judging exam in October and asked if I would be interested in giving it a go. Soon after the show I emailed Peter expressing my interest in taking part.

The next few months went by and I thought little of the exam. For the first time I attended Gardeners World Live in Birmingham. While I was there I visited the stand run by the Midlands Branch of the NVS. It was there that I bought the now old version of the judge’s guide to have a look through. I thought it would come in handy for the judging exam later in the year. Other than that I had almost forgotten that I had signed up to attend the exam day. It was just after our Autumn Show that I received an email from Emily Plumb confirming that I wanted to take part in the judging exam. I quickly wrote back confirming that I would be in attendance. This timely reminder spurred me into action and I quickly dug out my judge’s guide that I had bought on my visit to Birmingham. I spent the next few weeks with the guide in my jacket pocket of my suit. On the train to and from London every day I would revise every page.

The judging book had replaced my normal reading material of Simply Vegetables or the Gardeners World magazine.

Before the exam on the Saturday there was a seminar run at the exam venue on the Friday evening. This was run by Peter Cranfield and Ian Clemens. We were told that a seminar before greatly improve the pass rates of candidates taking the exam and now I can see why. The whole evening was very informative and laid out the format of the day. It also gave us the opportunity to work through a past paper together and discuss the answers. It was also good to meet the 30 simplyvegetables

other candidates and help each other with anything we did not quite understand. It also helped to calm the nerves and build confidence in the content I had been studying for the past few weeks.

I could not believe that the exam day had come round so quickly. It felt like it was only yesterday that I had spoken to Peter about the exam at our Summer Show. The first part of the exam is a written paper. This contains a mixed bag of questions some multiple choice, some two mark questions and then some longer six mark questions. Of course all based on the NVS judging guide. This was the last exam based on the old style judging guide. From 2018 the new 2017 edition of the judging guide will be used to form the base of the exam. There were 100 marks up for grabs and the pass mark was 75. It felt like a long time since I had last sat in an exam hall with an exam paper!

Having warmed up with the written paper it was now time for the main event. The practical exam requires you to take the knowledge in the judging guide and then apply it to judging scenarios. The room had eight classes laid out with five entries in each class. The vegetables included potatoes white and coloured, cauliflowers, carrots and onions. At the top of the hall there were two five vegetable collections labelled A and B. At the other end of the hall there were three vegetables all with faults that had to

be identified and named. At first I was quite intimidated by the classes. Most of the exhibits were of a very high standard. Some had come down from being entered in the Westminster show the week before. If I am honest I had never seen let alone judged vegetables of such quality on the show bench! Each class you had to write down the top three exhibits as well as the entry in last place. At first I found it rather strange to be asked to identify the exhibit in last place.

This was because at a normal show you would not be asked to do this. However, on reflection, I realised this ensures that exhibit faults are correctly identified and marked down accordingly.

The two collections had the exact same kinds of vegetables carrots long, cauliflowers, onions, potatoes and leeks. All of these vegetables are 20 pointers and so the maximum points potentially would be 100.

Having said this no collection is ever going to be awarded 100 points! To assist you a separate exhibit of potatoes had been pointed and the marks revealed to us. The idea behind this is to give you an idea of the level of judging. The task was to point up the collections and then put them into first and second place. I believe that this was the hardest part of the exam as the collections were of a high quality. At the local shows

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that I attend I had never seen collections with five different kinds of vegetables exhibited. But again the task required diligent application of the knowledge from the judging guide. To pass this part of the exam you needed to find first and second and then there was a margin of error either side on the total number of points given to each collection.

The three diseased and damaged vegetables at the other end of the hall were a leek, a parsnip and an onion. All had some faults that we had to correctly identify and name. Some of these faults were obvious just by looking at them. Other faults became clear once the vegetables had been more closely inspected.

For example, the onion had Botrytis alli with the common name being neck rot. This fault became obvious once the neck of the onion was checked as it was all soft. Correct identification of the diseases and faults all counted towards your final marks.

We had to wait for everyone to finish before anything could be announced. To give us an idea how we had done the placings of the eight vegetable classes were read out. Having just completed a two hour written and then a two-hour practical exam it was safe to say by the end of the day I was exhausted. At the same time, it had been a thoroughly rewarding experience and a day that will live long in the memory. It was fantastically well organised and run event and I thank all the NVS members who contributed. I went away feeling that I had given it my best but that I would not have passed the practical as it was tough and I had never judged to such high standards before. Having said this, I was determined to use the experience to stand me in good stead to have another go at some point. Also in my mind was that there were eight people who took the exam all of whom had many more years’ experience of growing, showing and judging than I had. We were told that the results would be announced by Christmas at the latest.

In the weeks that passed I had almost forgotten all about the exam and that the results would be coming through the post.

One day my mother sent me a text telling me that something interesting had come in the post. I asked her to open it for me and to my amazement inside was a certificate, letter and badge informing me that I had passed both parts of the exam and I was now an NVS qualified judge. At the age of 22 I believe that I must be one of the youngest ever to take the NVS judging exam let alone pass it. I honestly could not believe it as it was completely unexpected but wonderful surprise I was inspired to write a piece for Simply Vegetables about my experience of the judging exam having seen my name published in the Winter 2017 edition. The main goal of my article is to give readers a first-hand account of the day and what you can expect to be faced with. What I really want it to do is to encourage others to give it a go. To keep the shows going up and down the country we need more people to become judges. If you have ever thought of judging, then have a go at the exam in October this year. What is the worst that can happen? It will be a fantastic experience and I guarantee that you will be a better grower, shower or judge for the experience. The exam is always the first Saturday of October so get in touch with your local DA and find out where the 2018 exam will be held. I promise that you will not regret it!

Ed – Thomas sets a fine example above so please follow this example and have a go at the exam this October it will tax your brain and you will learn from the experience

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National Vegetable Society Privacy Notice At the National Vegetable Society (NVS), we respect the privacy of our members and visitors to our websites. This Privacy Notice describes how we collect information, what we do with it and what controls an NVS Member has.

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In this notice, references to the National Vegetable Society or to ‘NVS’, or to ‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘the charity’ are to the National Vegetable Society which is a registered charity, Ref No. 1088979.

The National Vegetable Society (NVS) was founded in 1960 and we are passionate about growing vegetables and our members include some of the foremost vegetable growers in the UK. We want to improve our members’ knowledge of growing vegetables by many means e.g. simply meeting other growers to share tips and advice or through our local District Associates and Branches where talks are given.

The NVS’s objectives are; a) To advance the education of the public in the cultivation and improvement of vegetables. b) To advance the knowledge of and further public interest in vegetables by the publication of information, by exhibition, by stimulating research and experiment and by awarding prizes open to public competition.

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Caption Competition Thank you to everyone who taxed their brains to come up with witty captions for the photo that appeared in the Autumn issue of the magazine.

Here are a couple of the entries...

Runners-up: ‘Not Very Serious’ – Mr R Spooner, Sussex ‘Such is the size of the prize money won by the Sussez DA, Marion enlists the help of armed police to get it safely to the bank’ – Ian Clemens, West Sussex

r! e n n i W

‘Ok, where’s the aphid?’ – William Hill, Essex ‘Marion attracts unexpected attention for some of her ‘pot’ plants’ – Ian Clemens, West Sussex

‘Now that’s what I call ‘Crop Protection’ Neville Day, Wiltshire simplyvegetables 33

Phlox Mildew

Mildew

By Derek Brooks FNVS There are many species of this disease and each one attacks its own favoured type of plant or those closely related.

Broadly speaking there are two main typesPowdery mildew and Downy mildew.

Powdery mildew This is characterised by a white powdery growth in patches on the surface of the leaves. In bad attacks it can also spread to the underside of the leaves and stems of the plants. Leaves may become distorted. It can attack ornamental plants and also fruit. If fruit trees are affected the fruits will not develop properly and remain small. There is a specific type of mildew that attacks gooseberries called American gooseberry mildew.

In the case of vegetables, we are concerned with peas, beans, cucumbers, marrows, courgettes, turnips and swedes.

The disease normally starts when the soil is dry, yet the atmosphere round the plants is moist. It is important, therefore to keep 34 simplyvegetables

the soil well watered, and if the plants are in a greenhouse or polytunnel, avoid overhead watering. Remove infected leaves as soon as you see them and spray the rest of the plants with fungicide to prevent the disease spreading.

Downy mildew This is characterised by yellow patches on the surface of the leaves accompanied by a grey or white fungal growth on the underside.

In bad cases the whole leaves may wither and die. It occurs mostly in wet conditions and affects a whole range of plants. In the case of vegetables, it is common on beans, brassicas, lettuce, onions, peas and spinach.

Young plants are more susceptible to this disease than mature plants but it does affect these as well. With lettuces it starts on the older leaves so remove these as soon as the disease is seen. If the infection is bad the whole plant may be unusable. With onions, unless the disease is checked it may spread

down to the bulbs causing them to rot.

Chemical control When the disease is first spotted the thing to do is remove infected leaves then spray the rest of the plants with a fungicide. Fungicides will not cure leaves that are already infected but they will help to prevent it spreading to other plants.

At the time of writing the following are available for the control of powdery mildew tebuconazole with trifloxystrobin which is sold as Bayer Fungus Fighter Plus. This can be used in greenhouses on cucumbers and related crops. There are also other products that contain a fungicide and insecticide that can be used on vegetables but you will need to look at the container label to check on its use. Another product widely used by members is SB Plant invigorator which is said to give some control. However, don’t forget what I have said in other articles that products available to amateurs are constantly

Lakeland (D, M, F) Clarion (Sh, B, F) Leeks Oarsman (T, M, Sh, B) Pumpkins Honey bear (B, F) Squash Delakates (F) Broccoli and calabrese Parthenon (D, S, Sh, Me) Samson (D, M, F) Swedes Marion (U, M, R, Sh, F) Invitation (D, S, Sh, B, F) Cabbage Brigadeer (T, sh)

Cucumber Mildew

changing. These two products are still available at the time of writing. There are other surfactant types products that may also give some control of powdery mildew.

Downy mildew is more difficult as at present there are no chemical controls available to the amateur gardener. The best controls are good hygiene and removing infected plants / leaves as quick as possible and growing the plants so they are not stressed by drought or similar problems.

Resistant cultivars Another thing we can do to prevent these diseases is to grow resistant cultivars. I have been looking through seed catalogues to see which cultivars the suppliers claim to be resistant. I can’t find any beans that are claimed to be resistant but there are plenty in other vegetables particularly lettuce and peas. There are too many for me to list them all so I am just going to tell you the cultivars that are most readily available and sold by several suppliers.

Indoor cucumbers Carmen (D, T, R, Sh, B, F, Me.) Bella (T, B, F.) Louisa (B, F, Me.) Passandra ( D, R, Sh, F.) Outdoor cucumbers Burpless tasty green (most suppliers), Marketmore (most suppliers) Courgettes Tosca (D, Sh, Me.) Best of British (T, B, F, Me) Melons Outdoor wonder (T, M.) Antalya (B, F.) Onions Santera (most suppliers) Toughball (Sh, B, Me) Kamal (D, S, Sh) Lettuce Viala winter gem (D, S, T, B, F) Amaze (D, S, M, B, F )

Sprouts Bosworth(T, Sh) Cascade (Sh, B) Spinach Amazon (S, T, M) Reddy (D, S, Sh)

First early peas Kelvedon wonder (most suppliers) Twinkle (T, Sh, F) Avola ( T, Sh) Mildew does not normally arrive till later in the summer so if first early peas are sown early they can be harvested before it arrives.

Second early peas Greenshaft (most suppliers) Jaguar (Sh, B, F) Maincrop peas Ambassador (most suppliers) Peas (other types) Shiraz (T, M, R, B, F, Me) Oregon sugar pod (most suppliers )

KEY TO SUPPLIERS D=Dobies Sh = Shelleys S=Suttons Me= Medwyns, U=Unwins B= D.T.Browns M= Marshalls F= Mr Fothergills R=Robinsons

New Pests and Diseases I have already included two articles on newish pests of fruit and vegetables in this edition of Simply Vegetables and whilst doing some reading over the Christmas break saw the two disease below mention so thought I would bring these to your attention whilst in pest and disease mode. They are not a major threat at present but could become so if they are not monitored and controlled promptly and correctly The first one is Lettuce wilt and root rot which is caused by a fungus called Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactuae (a bit of a mouthful!). Many of you may have heard of Fusarium as it is a fairly common disease causing problems in carnations, peas, tomatoes, stored potatoes and in turf. Although the turf disease has now been renamed Michrodchium just to confuse things! Some of you may be keen growers of Gladioli and Narcissi for exhibition and they are both attacked by a form of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp., one being f. sp. gladioli and the other being f.sp. narcissi.

Lettuce wilt and root rot was first found in the U.K. in October 2017 in Lancashire which as our Lancashire members will know is a big commercial lettuce growing area especially on the moss peat soils.

The pathogen (fungus) was identified as ‘Race 4’ which is a particularly aggressive strain of the fungus with no known treatment or variety resistance available at present. I believe the disease has been found in Eire in recent years.

The only method of control at present is good hygiene which applies to all greenhouse lettuce crops as it helps to reduce the incidence of Botrytis disease.

The second disease I think you will have read or heard some publicity in the garden press or on the TV or radio. It is a bacterial disease called Xylella fastidiousa which has not yet reached the U.K. but is steadily heading in this direction across Europe. It is important to spread the message so that gardeners are aware of it and report it as soon as it is seen so that precautions and preventative measures can be taken to reduce its spread.

As far as I know it does not attack vegetables but it does attack a very wide range of woody plants including some fruit and herbs and also including some herbaceous perennials, shrubs and some trees and more susceptible species are being added to the list. Also some plants carry the disease but do not show symptoms or effects; the bacteria then spreads to susceptible plants.

We still have a lot to learn about this bacteria and research is being carried out in Italy, Spain, France as well as the U.K. to find preventative and control measures. Meanwhile do not import any plants from abroad and do not bring any plants back from your holidays especially if from Southern Italy or some of the other Southern European countries.

Having spread some doom and gloom I will end on a slightly more cheerful note; recent research on earwigs, that the keen dahlia and chrysanthemum growers amongst you will consider a pest, has been found to have a major role in controlling the populations of aphids, scale, codling moths and pear sucker in orchards. So in future leave them to feed on your pests!

simplyvegetables 35

Getting Started in the Greenhouse – part 9

by Kelvin Mason FNVS Grapes Having covered a number of vegetables many which are actually botanical fruit like the tomato and pepper we will now look at growing some plants that are classed as fruits. Over the course of the next three issues I will look at growing grapes, melons, strawberries and a couple of tree fruits peaches and nectarines in greenhouse / poly tunnels.

Grapes have been grown in greenhouses in the U.K for over 200 years; the vine at Hampton Court being one of the most famous and is the largest and oldest vine in the world. It was planted in1768 by Capability Brown and is a black dessert type called Black Hamburgh. Many owners of stately homes would grow vines in their vinery (a type of greenhouse developed for growing grape vines). It would usually be their Head Gardener who did the actual growing and there was fierce rivalry to produce both the earliest and best bunches of grapes. First prize at the late summer shows in particular the RHS Autumn show held at Vincent Square were highly sort after by both the Head Gardener and their Lordships!

Although grapes are often grown on their own in greenhouses other crops can be grown with them providing they can tolerate some shade. The main problem is the vine is usually grown in the roof space and this blocks out some of the light reaching crops underneath. With the correct pruning the light levels can be maintained at a reasonable level. I have grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers under a vine and still achieved good crops although not of exhibition quality, they are perfectly edible. I have to admit I now have two greenhouses and grow the tomatoes and peppers in one house and the vine along with cucumbers and melons in the other.

If the vine is trained and prune correctly as well as restricted to no more than three rods (this will be explained later) this will allow a reasonable level of light to plants grown underneath; or grow plants that thrive in semi shaded situations.

Vines can also be grown outdoors in the Southern half of the U.K and in a warm and sheltered area further North. The grapes used to make wine are grown outdoors and there are a number of vineyards in the southern counties now. In this article I will look at growing dessert grapes for eating.

The dessert grapes are cultivars of Vitis vinifera that have been bred or selected over

many years and which are sweeter than the wine grape. They are natural climbers and support themselves by tendrils produced along the stems. Grape vines can be grown in both cold and heated greenhouses but these days owing to the cost they are usually grown in cold greenhouses and polytunnels.

If really early grapes are required these are better grown in slightly heated greenhouses so that they start into growth early and flower earlier and they should also be early cultivars.

If living in the Northern half of the U.K it is possible to get good yields of grapes from greenhouse grown vines.

Vines can be planted either outside of the greenhouse and the stem trained through or under the greenhouse base or planted in the greenhouse border soil. If planted inside it may crop slightly earlier as the soil temperature will warm up quicker. Mine is planted outside and it does not seem to make much difference although my greenhouse is in a sheltered spot.

If planted inside it will need more frequent watering and higher amounts especially when the fruits are starting to swell and grow otherwise they will crack like tomatoes. Also if planted outside it leaves most of the border soil available for other crops.

Vines can live and crop for many year, the Hampton Court vine is still producing fruit even at 250 years old. In recent years it has had between 500 to 700 bunches of grapes weighing between 280 to 300kg. As they will crop for such a long term good preparation is well rewarded and well worth the effort.

Check the pH of the soil, vines prefer 6.5 to 7.0 so apply some lime to raise the pH if required.

Double dig an area of at least 1m2 and add some organic matter like farm yard manure, compost or bark and mix it with the soil. If the soil is poorly drained dig out 60cm deeper and backfill to a depth of 45 to 60 cm with hard-core or large pebbles. If it is possible to drain the area do so as vines do not like it wet.

When planting, position the vine at the far end of the greenhouse if possible so that it can be trained the full length of the roof unless you have a wide greenhouse. If planted at the gable end the vine stem (called a rod) is trained along the ridge of the roof.

Vines are usually brought container grown so once the area has been double dug take out a hole slightly larger than the rootball, add a handful of either Growmore, Blood, Fish and Bone or Vitax Q4 fertiliser and mix it in the soil. If you have some Mycorrhiza the roots can be dipped into a paste or some powder /granules sprinkled into the planting whole.

The Hampton Court vine is still producing fruit even at 250 years old

36 simplyvegetables

Pruned rods

Put the vined into the hole, backfill it and firm with your feet. Firm each 15cm layer and check the depth is correct – it should be with the top of the rootball just covered by soil.

Water the vine, if it was dry soak it in water for half an hour before planting. Planting should be carried out between late autumn and winter but not when the soil is frozen or waterlogged. If planting outside then thread the main stem into the greenhouse under the base if a metal base or through a hole if a brick or wooden base; ensure the hole is large enough as the stem will grow quite large over the years.

If growing more than one vine space them out 1.2m apart, having said that I have one vine that easily fills a 2.4 * 1.8m greenhouse.

When the vine is young support it with a cane

and train it up in the direction it is intended to grow. To give permanent support install some thick wires horizontally along or across the roof depending on which way the vine is being trained. The wires should be 25cm apart and it is recommended they are 30cm from the glass; if closer the leaves can be scorched by bright sunlight. My wires are less than 10cm from the glass and I only get occasional scorch but that may be because part of the greenhouse is shaded by next doors Christmas tree! I have three wires along the greenhouse, one in the ridge area and one along each eave of the roof. Fix the wires securely as they will need to hold a fair amount of weight when the vine is full of leaves and fruit in late summer.

To keep the vine under control and get good consistent yields they need regular pruning each year and also through the summer. The vine will have a main stem (rod) or a couple of rods if you wish. The aim is to build up a number of spurs along the rod, these produce laterals (side shoots) on which the flowers and fruit are produced. The laterals are pruned back each winter so that just the rod remains.

When the vine is first planted prune it back by two thirds and remove any laterals. Allow the top bud (or a lower bud if better) to grow in the spring and train it in the direction required. Only allow one shoot to grow in the first year, pinch out any laterals that grow. During the first winter tip back the rod by a third and then in the summer train the top bud up to the ridge of the greenhouse if producing a vertical rod or to the end of the greenhouse if a horizontal rod. Train 2 to 4 horizontal rods if required once the rod has reached its full length. As indicated above the rods can be trained vertically up to the ridge or horizontally along the greenhouse. Choose the method that will make best use of the space and allow you to

fit in other crops. Each rod should produce a good number of spurs which produce the fruiting shoots.

Once the vine is established prune back the tip of the rod to keep it at the correct length and cut back all laterals to one bud after leaf fall. This will leave you with a single stem with a number of spurs along it. After pruning (which is normally mid-winter) untie the rod and allow it to hang down roughly horizontally, the end may nearly be touching the ground. This is to encourage even bud breaking along the full length of the rod and not just the end four to five buds, which will lead to these becoming dominant owing to apical dominance.

Once the buds start to break retie the rod back to its normal position on the wire. Allow each or most laterals to fruit, they may not all produce flowers but many will. When the buds start to break there may be two or three laterals grow from each spur. Select the best one (usually the biggest) and remove the other two.

Prune back each lateral to two leaves beyond the fruit truss and only allow one lateral shoot to each spur; rub out any extra laterals. Each lateral should be tied to a horizontal wire but be careful not to break them as they are very brittle.

During the summer pinch back any sub laterals to one leaf and any laterals without fruit prune back to five leaves. This will need repeating throughout the summer as vines are vigorous growers and soon become a tangled jungle – I speak from experience!

Prune back the top / end growth when it reaches the top or end of the greenhouse.

After harvesting the fruit usually in September / October depending on the cultivar and season reduce the laterals by half. Then after leaf fall commence the winter pruning again.

When the buds start to break there may be two or three laterals grow from each spur

Grape vine in greenhouse

simplyvegetables 37

Aftercare Unless growing early grapes the vines does not require any heat even if it is a cold winter and in fact the greenhouse should be ventilated on warm days. In early spring the buds will start to break and the laterals grow; at this time aim for a temperature of 10°C to 18°C, if it goes over this ventilate.

The temperature will vary depending on the weather and on cooler day’s ventilation will not be required. During the early growing period damp down the greenhouse to increase humidity and spray the vines with water up to flowering. Do not spray in sunny weather as this will cause leaf scorch. Keep the atmosphere dry during flowering as this encourages pollination.

To ensure a good flower set some hand pollination helps although it is not essential.

To hand pollinate either gently shake the flower trusses or gently partly grip the truss and slowly pull your hand down; this moves the pollen down the flower. Do the hand pollination at mid-day as it is warm and the flowers will be fully open. Other methods of pollinating the flowers include tapping the rods to shake the pollen or using a fine paint brush or rabbits tail.

If the roots are outside the greenhouse they will only need watering during dry spells, if growing in the greenhouse border soil they will need a good soaking in the spring when growth starts. Repeat this a week later to ensure the soil is moist and then mulch the root area with well-rotted manure, compost or bark to a depth of 75mm. vines growing in the border soil will need a good watering once or twice a week depending on the weather. When watering always give a good soaking. Once the grapes start to ripen consistent watering is important to prevent the berries splitting.

Grapes make a lot of growth over the 38 simplyvegetables

summer as well as the fruit so need a good supply of nutrients. Start to feed when growth commences in the spring, a slow release granular fertiliser can be used or use a liquid tomato feed weekly. I tend to feed mine twice a week when I feed the other crops in the greenhouse.

If you get a good pollination it will be necessary to thin the bunches of grapes otherwise they will be over crowded which results in Botrytis disease or very small grapes.

Use a pair of scissors to thin the grapes (special grape thinning scissors are available).

First remove some of the inner grapes in the bunch to leave about 5mm between each grape giving it room to grow. Do the first thinning in early summer while the grapes are still small and it is easy to see what you are doing. A second thinning may be required if the berries are still too close together. Take care not to touch the remaining grapes when thinning as this will damage the bloom which

will lead to the bunch being down pointed at a show if they are exhibited. If just for personal consumption this is not important.

Cultivars Black Hamburgh – also called Black Hamburg is a very good cold greenhouse grape with good crops of large black grapes.

This is the famous Hampton Court vine.

Muscat Champion – a red berried midseason cultivar which sets freely.

Lady Hutt – a vigorous white grape with a n excellent flavour and again mid-season.

Buckland Sweetwater – an early good flavoured amber coloured grape producing large bunches and is suitable for the smaller greenhouse.

Foster’s Seedling – an early good yielding and juicy grape of good flavour.

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simplyvegetables 39

Growing less common cultivars of some top fruits

by Gerry Edwards FNVS Quince

Despite the increased interest in top fruit that has been evident for the last ten years or so - happily spurred on by organisations such as Common Ground and Brogdale Orchards - there seems to still be a considerable ignorance of the existence of top fruits other than of the most popular apples, pears and plums sold by the supermarkets. This is a real shame as there is an exciting heritage of top fruit - in both older and modern cultivars - in the UK alone - and surely names like Black Worcester, Catshead, Knobby Russet and Winter Banana conjure up images worth a closer examination? Having said that I can assure you that an exotic name and an interesting history doesn’t necessarily promise good flavour!

So why not grow some of these less wellknown cultivars of top fruit? The first reason surely is to simply try growing - and possibly eating - something which you won’t get a chance to do otherwise! The second, and to my mind equally important reason, is to prove that some of the non-commercial varieties of top fruit are at least equal and if not, better, than the current commercial varieties. The third reason, in many cases, is to sample fruits of a completely different age to the present and a good final reason is to show to friends, neighbours and relatives what they are missing, and this could particularly apply to some of the more curious cultivars!

The selection that follows ranges from the very old indeed to the very modern and includes some wonderful flavoured fruit and one or two that are pretty horrible taste wise!

All of them are easily grown in the garden 40 simplyvegetables

providing that the recommended dwarfing rootstock is used although ripening of some of them may not be possible in a cold part of the UK or in a cool summer.

We are fortunate in the UK as there are several good specialist growers who list a large number of different cultivars of top fruit and who may be willing to bud or graft that special cultivar if you have been unable to find it anywhere. (Of course, If you feel ready for an adventure why not have a go at grafting or budding yourself? It is usually possible to obtain budwood and graftwood from top fruit collections providing you ask for permission or friends and neighbours who are growing cultivars that you would like to grow yourself.)

I always prefer to start off with bare rooted trees planted in November and December as this will allow the tree roots to settle in the ground before the bad weather starts. It may be that you can only obtain your preferred cultivars as pot grown but this is not a problem if you plant them carefully and do not disturb the root balls particularly if you plant them in the growing season.

Whether planting bare rooted or pot grown trees there are a number of very basic rules you need to follow to ensure that the trees get off to a good start. Clear areas where the trees are to be planted of annual and perennial weeds and when digging planting holes make sure that you fork over the bottom of the hole thoroughly and work in

some well rotted compost. When planting bare rooted trees spread the roots out and carefully backfill the hole gently shaking the tree to ensure that all spaces are filled up with soil and firming down occasionally. Plant the trees at the same level that they were grown in the nursery and this is immediately evident when looking at the stem of the tree.

With pot grown trees carefully fill around the rootball firming down occasionally with the top of the rootball ending up just a fraction below the surface.

You will need to support your trees either at an oblique angle along bamboo canes tied into a support structure in the case of cordons or using short stakes in the case of bush grown trees. Except for trees grown as bushes on M9 you should be able to dispense with the stake after a few years when the tree is well anchored into the ground.

In the first year of growth you need to make sure that the trees develop a good root structure and you can make this happen by pinching off all flowers so that the tree cannot fruit and by regular watering particularly in times of drought. Remove all weeds that are growing around the tree in the freshly disturbed soil as these will compete for limited water resources.

As they are the most widespread top fruit grown in the UK I will start with apples and these are best grown on the rootstocks MM106 or M26 although they may succeed

We are fortunate in the UK as there are several good specialist growers

on M9 on the best soils. All can be grown as cordons (which will allow you to grow a greater number!) or as small bush trees.

Adam’s Pearmain is a fine dessert apple that came into prominence in the nineteenth century and was commercially grown for a time. It is easy to grow and crops well producing late keeping apples that develop a rich, nutty flavour. There have been recent attempts to reintroduce this commercially but unfortunately with no real success.

Catshead is a very old English apple that has been known since the early seventeenth century and is more than likely to have been around well before then. It is so called because looking at the apple side on it is said to resemble that of a cat’s head! It is a good latish keeping cooking apple which was very popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and will cook to a firm puree. It can be grown well in the garden and will crop well in a good year.

As the name suggests Calville Blanc D’Hiver probably originates in France. It is a very old cooking apple having been recorded as early as 1598 and like Catshead it is probably much older. It is ideal for apple tarts and was highly esteemed in Victorian times for this very reason. It will ripen from around the end of November and will last well into the New Year; however, it needs a warm summer to ripen well.

Claygate Pearmain was discovered growing wild in Claygate, Surrey at the turn of the nineteenth century and has been a highly regarded dessert apple ever since. It has a strong, rich, aromatic flavour and was grown widely in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It will be ready to eat from just before Christmas and will last until around February, but it can be a little shy cropping and will not do well in a cool summer.

Nevertheless, in my opinion this apple should always be found a place in the garden!

Cornish Gillyflower was also discovered at the turn of the nineteenth century but this time in Cornwall. It quickly developed a very strong following for its intense, rich and aromatic flavour and was considered to be one of the very finest dessert apples by the Victorians. Although it is a good late keeping apple it can be a fairly light cropper and to my mind does not always merit garden

Ashmeads Kernal

space; nevertheless, it is suited to areas of heavy rainfall where it will do well and not succumb to scab.

Decio is thought to be very old indeed possibly having originated in Rome in the fourth or fifth centuries AD. Whether this is true or not is very hard to prove but this apple became very popular in Italy from the early sixteenth century onwards. Possibly the best reason for growing this dessert apple in the garden is its considered antiquity rather than for the fruits which are relatively small in size although they develop quite a good flavour later in the year. It is a New Year apple as it will not fully ripen until January.

Golden Spire is a cooking apple which was found in Lancashire in the mid nineteenth century. It is a very attractive apple being very golden and tall in profile and looks good hanging on the tree. This apple is also known as a cider apple and its flavour when cooked does taste sharp and slightly cidery.

It could be grown in the garden ornamentally, but I would suggest that unless there is space for many other better apples this one is best left out of a collection! Nevertheless, it is a good apple for the exhibitor although it will not keep much after the end of October.

Herefordshire Russet is a newly introduced dessert apple having been bred by Hugh Ermen in 1994. It is a good and reliable cropping apple which is in season from October to December and has already achieved a reputation as an outstanding flavoured russet with a flavour like that of Cox’s Orange Pippin. It is a good apple for the garden as it is disease resistant and not too vigorous in growth.

Horneburger Pfannkuchen as the name suggests is not of UK origin but of German origin. It is a very large cooking apple of fairly modern origin and is widely grown in northern Germany. Whilst not as acidic as Bramley’s Seedling it is nevertheless a good cooking apple and well worth trying in the garden and will be in season from October to January. It is a very good cropping apple and good for exhibitors.

The name Knobby Russet describes the fruits of this variety very well as the russet skin of the apple is covered by knobs and lumps and frankly is best grown purely as a curiosity! I find the flavour of this apple to be particularly horrible but there are no doubt connoisseurs of it somewhere! It is a fairly reliable cropper and will surely become a talking point if you grow it! If you wish to try eating it will ripen in December and should last until March!

Red Devil is another dessert apple raised

by Hugh Ermen (this time in 1975) and is ideal for growing in the garden as it is reliable and good cropping and as its skin is largely bright red which makes it very attractive on the tree. It has a good fruity flavour and the flesh is stained pink which makes it very popular with children. It will ripen early on - late September - and should last until December.

I have no idea why Winter Banana has banana in its name - as I have never, ever

detected a banana taste - but it is a good winter dessert apple which will keep well into March! It originated in the USA where it was discovered in 1876 and became very popular for its sweet and juicy flesh. However, it does need a warm climate to develop its flavour well and in the UK will only do well in long warm summers or in sheltered positions. It is perhaps best grown for its curious name and considered to be a bonus if it ripens well.

Wyken Pippin is a fine old dessert apple which has been known since the early eighteenth century. It is not a particularly large apple, but it is packed with a real fruity and sometimes aromatic flavour and was considered to be of the highest quality in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It crops relatively well and is well worth growing in the garden particularly as it will be perfect for eating at Christmas. In recent years much interest has been revived in this apple due to its quality.

Pears are widely available on the rootstocks Quince A and Quince C and will do well with either of those below.

Black Worcester is a cooking pear that has been known in the Worcester area since the sixteenth century. It is considered highly possible that this pear originated in France where it had been growing for many years before importation into the UK. It is even suggested that this pear may go back to Roman times although this may well be wishful thinking! It is quite a large stout and fairly attractive pear having a dark russety skin which crops relatively well but as its main use is as a stewing pear it is perhaps not worth growing in the garden except where there is a lot of space and it can be grown as a large standard tree. It is said to become edible in late March, but I have not found this to be so!

Double de Guerre is another cooking pear and was introduced to the UK from Belgium around 1835. It is a good and reliable cropping pear which produces medium large fruits which are attractive hanging on the tree as they are yellowish brown and nearly all covered with a dark purplish red flush.

This pear has always been considered to be one of the best cooking pears but again it does not easily find a place in a small garden unless cooking pears are a particular favourite! It will ripen slowly from December but not sufficiently to be edible!

Medlars and Quinces are becoming increasingly popular although more for their very attractive flowers than their fruits. The fruits of both are well worth collecting and they are highly esteemed by many. Medlars can be treated in two ways - letting them rot (!) until the flesh can be scooped out and eaten at which point they can taste very nutty. This rotting process is called “bletting”.

Alternatively, just before the medlars start to rot they can be used to make medlar jelly which is a perfect accompaniment to roast lamb. Although it is said that quinces have been used as tent deodorizers in the desert due to their distinctive aroma - by cutting the fruit in half - the best use of the quince is in

I have no idea why Winter Banana has banana in its name - as I have never, ever detected a banana taste

simplyvegetables 41

marmalades and other preserves as they are usually too astringent for eating uncooked!

Both medlars and quinces are best grown as bush trees in the garden and can grow quite large even if using dwarfing rootstocks, so it is essential to give them plenty of space to grow in.

Iranian Medlar was introduced into the UK by Keepers Nursery and it is of a type of medlar widely grown in Iran where it is a traditional and popular late autumn and early winter fruit. Although it is smaller than most other medlar cultivars it is considered to be one of the best flavoured. This is a good garden fruit as it grows compactly with a bushy growth habit.

Quince Sobu probably originates in Turkey where it is one of a number of commercially grown quinces. The fruits are very large, greenish yellow when ripe and unusually long pear shaped which makes them very attractive hanging on the tree. It has a quite sweet, fine textured flesh which keeps its shape when cooked. The tree is compact with a spreading growth habit.

Quince Isfahan is of a very high quality and comes from the ancient city of Isfahan in Iran which is famous for its quinces. The fruits are quite large and pear shaped which turn lemon yellow when ripe and look superb hanging on the tree. Unlike the majority of quinces Isfahan can be eaten uncooked although I do not really recommend this!

When cooked it will keep its shape and will turn pink or even deep red in colour. The tree is quite vigorous and upright which means that it will require regular attention in small gardens. Unfortunately, it is slightly susceptible to scab which makes it unsuitable for the wetter parts of the UK. Hopefully I have whetted your appetite with a glimpse of our wonderful heritage of top fruit and that you have been tempted into growing something a little different in

Medlars

your garden - if so I am delighted because the only way that knowledge will spread about the less common cultivars of fruit is by actually seeing them and tasting them and what better place than in the garden!

However, before you order anything may I suggest that you have a good look around this autumn and winter - perhaps by visiting the RHS Fruit and Vegetable Competition at Westminster on the 2nd and 3rd October 2018 October where you will see (and perhaps be able to taste) a wide range of fruits or by visiting places such as RHS Gardens Wisley and Brogdale Orchards in Kent during their October Apple Festivals where you will be able to see (and again possibly taste) a huge range of cultivars. If you are unable to get to any of these there

is more than likely an Apple Celebration somewhere near you which you can visit and admire the wide range of top fruit that they have put together.

One word of warning, however - collecting different cultivars of top fruit can be very addictive as I have found out to my cost! I now grow around 300 different cultivars of top fruit which take up a fair amount of space much to the despair of my wife!

Other Less Common Top Fruits to consider: • Apple - Ashmead’s Kernel • Apple - Pitmaston Pineapple • Apple - William Crump • Pear - Beurre Hardy • Pear - Santa Claus • Medlar - Large Dutch

IS VEGETABLE SHOWING A SPORT? While growing vegetables is a livelihood for some farmers and market gardeners, for most people vegetable growing and exhibiting is a hobby, but could it be considered a sport? Many people would dismiss the notion as nonsense, but Vegetable showing has a lot of the attributes of a sport.

A sport is defined as an athletic activity, requiring skill or physical prowess of a competitive nature.

When the word sport is mentioned images of Mo Farrah running in the Olympics or Manchester United playing Liverpool come to mind. The mini marathon runners and kids playing football in the park are also engaging in sport, there seems to be no similarity between what they do and what we do. A sport like Archery is an example of an activity that was originally something people did to feed themselves and their families, but is now considered an Olympic sport. Vegetable growing is closer to what happens at Old Trafford or Anfield on a Saturday afternoon than Archery.

42 simplyvegetables

As a sport it ticks all the main boxes.

1. Its physically demanding - Ever try digging a 200 square yard plot with a spade on your Saturday afternoons?

Wayne Rooney only has to travel over the surface of the ground with a ball.

2. Competitive - Wherever you live there is a show somewhere within commuting distance where you can bring your produce to engage in a contest with a rival to see who gets the bragging rights, and like United v City the local derbies are the best, the difference is Sky TV haven’t come looking for the rights yet.

3. Demands skill and preparation - plenty of skill here, digging, making drills and ridges, watching out for diseases, fighting pests, presentation.

4. Competitors practice sportsmanship - At shows when competitors are setting up they wish each other luck and shake hands after the event.

Many years ago when televised sport began, producers put a lot of thought into what would appeal to viewers. The criteria used in selecting sports that would suit television were: that it should involve a skill, there had to be a competition where the participants could display their skills and finally there had to be a possibility that the participants could get physically hurt!

TV executives initially decided on Football, Boxing, Horseracing and Show jumping as their staples.

Vegetable growing and showing requires a lot of skill and there are plenty of opportunities to engage in contests. The possibility of getting physically hurt? The Honorary President of our Irish DA, Harold Lawlor was telling us in his talk at Tullamore Show this year that he injured his back at Christmas while cleaning out his large barrels for growing carrots!

by Michael Gordon

Growers Profile John Goodall FNVS

John’s been married to Pauline for 53 years and they have 3 children, 4 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren (plenty of scope to continue the growing tradition then). As well as vegetable growing John keeps a few banties (small Chickens) in the back garden for fresh eggs.

He lives in South Normanton, Derbyshire and is a retired painter & decorator. He has a Fellowship of the NVS and has been a member of the NVS for 25 years and is the current Chairman of the North East Derbyshire DA. Mick Shipley carried out the following interview with John...

Who was/is the most influential person for you in gardening?

“My dad always thought and said a bit of gardening was good for you, so I went off chasing footballs, cricket balls and women (not always in that order). I really should have listened to my dad more!”

Where do you grow your vegetables?

“I’m lucky enough to have a large back garden, so I grow all my vegetables on my own garden” When did you first start growing vegetables?

“I first started to grow vegetables about 60 years ago (showing my age a bit there)”.

What made you start growing vegetables?

“I grew up in the era when growing your own vegetable was very important to everyone, so I just followed suit and haven’t looked back since”.

When did you first start showing vegetables?

“My very first show I entered was at our local Chapel Show many, many years ago”.

Your first exhibit was?

My first exhibit was a plate of potatoes (can’t remember the variety). They were dug up and placed on the Show Bench, I was proud as anything. I didn’t know you were supposed to wash them before staging them though. If I’d washed them I’m sure I would have won”.

Favourite garden tool?

“My dad always kept reminding me that I should never walk around the garden without a hoe in my hand. It’s something I still try to practise today”.

Best purchase for the vegetable plot?

“Without doubt AreoMesh to beat the dreaded carrot fly”.

vegetables that had been staged and the fantastic feeling I had when I got my first ‘Red Card’”.

Most disappointing John Goodall FNVS moment when showing or gardening vegetables?

“When you pull what you think and looks like a top class beautiful looking carrot, you then wash and inspect only to see the tell tail signs of the dreaded Carrot Fly. Believe me, it’s surprising how far you can throw a carrot when you are really annoyed”.

Most difficult vegetable you find to grow?

“For me its celery, very hard work and time consuming. I’ve had limited success with celery but nothing special”.

If you could, what would you change or add to your plot?

“I’ve never had a poly-tunnel. It’s one of those things you want but keep putting off and managing with what you’ve got.

I think for me now it’s a bit late in the day for a tunnel”.

Any future ambitions?

“To keep boring & coring for as long as I can”.

Any other hobbies/pastimes?

“I’m an avid old coin collector, I know I spend too much time at antique auctions looking for old coins. Pauline says it keeps me out of the pub, well if Pauline’s happy with that then I’m happy too”.

John, thank you very much for your time. “Happy Boring & Coring”.

Most enjoyable part of growing vegetables or gardening?

Taking in all the fresh air and exercise you want and the best bit is its free”.

Most dis-likable part of gardening?

“The laborious task of cleaning up and clearing the garden at the end of the season when it looks like a right old tip”.

Favourite vegetable to grow & why?

I don’t think there is anything more pleasing on the eyes than a good set of long roots, for me its Long Carrots”. See John pictured with his winning root veg.

Least favourite vegetable to grow and why?

“I’m not particularly good at growing brassica’s, but unfortunately for me the Lady of the House insists I grow them”.

What do you like most about showing vegetables?

“The challenge of growing top class exhibition vegetables to compete at the top shows against the very best growers and the friends and memories I have from all around the UK”.

Most memorable moment showing vegetables?

“Walking into Royal Hall, Harrogate and seeing all the awesome

National Championships Our National Championships will this year be held, by kind permission of The North of England Horticultural Society, at the Great Yorkshire Show Ground as part of The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on Friday 14th September to Sunday 16th September 2018. We are extremely grateful to Marshall’s seeds for sponsoring this event.

We are also grateful to DT Brown for sponsoring two new classes at the championships, they are one dish of four Subeto Globe Beetroot and one dish for the heaviest Pepper Gogorez (both lots of seeds will be supplied in the SV magazine). Neither of these classes will be included as part of the championships.

Schedules for the North of England Championships, the Onion, leek, Carrot and Potatoes Championships also including a giant class for Vegetables can be obtained from North of England Horticultural Society Telephone 01423 546158 or e mail info@flowershow.org.uk

simplyvegetables 43

Diamond-back Moth (Plutella xylostella)

by Kelvin Mason FNVS I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we are being invaded by a new pest that will be as bad a pest of Brassicas as the cabbage white butterfly; 2016 saw a large invasion of the adult moths from the continent and they have been found over large parts of the country. This moth has invaded the U.K before and has not really got a hold as it does not over winter very well over here.

During 2016 there have been a number of invasions over the summer starting in May with a very high peak in mid-July. Last year it was seen from the south west of England right up to the Orkney Islands and it is believed their numbers are in millions rather than thousands. With the effects of climate change and milder winters this pest could become a major pest in the U.K. Milder winters are likely to allow it to overwinter, although our wetter winters may not be to its liking!

It feeds on most Brassicas and is a bad pest on oilseed rape which I know many of you will not grow but it will transfer over from rape plants to brassica vegetables on allotments and in gardens. Not only is it a faster breeder but also a voracious feeder causing serious damage to plants.

So what do we know about this moth, well it is one of the most studied pests in the world as it has spread to every continent, causes over $4 billion of damage a year (yes that is 4 billion dollars) and was the first crop pest to develop resistance to DDT (for those of you who remember this pesticide!). It has also developed resistance to some strains of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticide which is one of the newer biological controls of caterpillars. As this pest breeds at a rapid rate it has developed resistance to many of the modern chemicals so control is not easy.

The diamond-back moth migrates over fairly large distances often carried by the wind, hence its ability to migrate to the U.K. Because of this ability it is the most widespread moth in the world. Interestingly the moth is considered to be a weak flyer and in a field will only fly 13 to 35 metres in a crop, but can be carried on the wind 400 to 500 kms overnight.

So what does this pest look like? The adult is about 9mm long with a wing span of 12 to 15mm; it is not a large moth. It is ochre-tinged with white scales and flecked with small black dots. The upper edge of the wings is nearly white with a dark brown margin. When the wings are folded there are some diamond patterns formed which gives the moth its name diamondback moth.

The eggs are very small (0.44 * 0.26mm) 44 simplyvegetables

Source: Flickr, Author: AJC1

are oval in shape and yellow or pale green in colour. They are laid in clusters of 2 to 10 eggs on the leaves or sometimes the stems.

The eggs will hatch in between 4 to 20 days depending on the temperature; quicker in warmer weather.

The larva (caterpillar), which cause all of the damage, are 10-15mm long when fully grown and have a pale green to pale brown head with a green body; which can be tinged pale yellow with small white patches where hairs grow. They have 5 pairs of prolegs with a pair of prolegs at its posterior end that give it a V shape when viewed from that end. If the caterpillars are disturbed the will wriggle violently backwards and often drop off the plant where they may be suspended by a silken thread.

The final part of the moth’s life cycle is the pupa which starts off a pinkish or yellowish colour but slowly turns brown and is about 5 – 8mm long. The moths emerge from the pupa in late May and are often not noticed then One of the reasons it is a major pest is that it can have 3 to 6 generations a year and as these generations increase in size they build up to major populations by mid to late summer.

The caterpillar starts by gnawing through the leaf creating many holes so that the leaf looks a bit like a doily. They start on the outer leaves but then move onto the centre of the plant and unite the leaves in a silken web.

As well as extensive damage they also leave frass on the plant which needs removing before it is picked and eaten.

Control of this pest is not easy as mentioned above it has developed resistance to a large number of chemical pesticides.

If you are happy to use chemicals the ones that are believed to give good control include the Bacillus thuringiensis which is often sold as Bt. There is another control on the market but as far as I know is not available to amateur gardeners. The pyrethroids were recommended (and still will be in older garden books) but the moth has wide spread resistance to these forms of chemical now; and in fact they can make the situation worse because they kill some of the predators and leave the moth.

Other methods of control include hand picking the eggs and larvae if you have the patience and squashing them. Or if you are using fleece or mesh barriers to cover your Brassicas to prevent damage from the cabbage white this should prevent the diamondback moth getting to your crops and laying eggs; just make sure it is a small mesh

and it is held above the crop so the moth cannot lay its eggs through the mesh onto the leaves.

If you think you have had plants attacked by this caterpillar last year keep an eye open for any silky cocoons over winter and squash them, also next May look out for any moths emerging and take precautions quickly or better still cover your crops as soon as you plant them.

Research is currently being undertaken to find other chemical and bio-pesticide controls including the use of pheromone traps which may be useful for control in gardens.

If you have had problems from the diamondback moth, please let us know so that we can see how bad a problem it is and it may help the scientists monitor its presence.

I originally wrote this article last summer but did not need it then but recently saw an article stating that for the first time ever the Diamondback moth has been found wintering in the U.K. This is bad news as it will mean that the populations could build up quickly in the spring and it could become as big a problem if not bigger than the cabbage white caterpillar. According to the report I saw eight caterpillars had been found on crops in two fields in the South West of England. These have been collected and are being kept outside to see if they survive. At the time of typing this (early February) we are having a bit of a cold spell which may finish them off, but if not and the weather turns mild for the rest of the winter the pest could become established.

Growers were advised to inspect their crops, particularly the underside of the leaves where the caterpillars are often found along the mid-rib. If you find any please report this to dawn.teverson@ahdb.org.uk At present research is being carried out to find the best methods of control; for the amateur gardener this is likely to be mesh or fleece. The moth has resistance to many chemicals and this is likely to get worse so some form of natural or biological control is likely to be the best way forward.

If I get further information on this pest I will keep you informed, but do consider taking precautions especially in the Southern half of the U.K.

Spotted Wing Drosophila I thought I would do an article on the spotted wing drosophila (a type of fruit fly) as it is becoming a major pest of fruit. It has become a big problem to commercial fruit growers and sooner or later will be a problem to amateur growers if it is not already. I have not heard of any problems yet but do not live in a main fruit growing area.

You may not have heard of this pest as it is a recent introduction to the U.K. It was first seen and recognised in Kent in 2012 at East Malling Research Station and it has already spread to all the main fruit growing areas; even the raspberry growing areas in Scotland. So in five years it has spread to most parts of the U.K and also Ireland, that is pretty impressive by anyone’s imagination!

The fly originates from Japan and South East Asia, it first spread to the USA and then across the Atlantic to Mainland Europe before arriving here, you could say it has done a world tour! You may be thinking I do not grow fruit so it will not be a problem; one of the crops it attacks is tomatoes (yes it is a fruit!).

So what do we know about this pest?

Fortunately, its arrival was anticipated and also with it being seen at East Malling it has meant that a lot of work studying the pest has already been carried out.

For those of you that like the technical detail it’s Latin name is Drosophila suzukii and it is related to the fruit and vinegar flies often seen in the U.K. The adult fly is between 2 to 3mm in size, the body is tan in colour with dark bands across the body and they have large red eyes. The main point of identification is that the male has a black spot near the end of each wing; hence its name. The larvae are 4 to 5mm in length and translucent white in colour, it is these that do the damage by tunnelling and eating inside the fruit.

One reason they have become a major pest quickly is that they have a wide host range and attack a number of fruit crops including: blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, cherry, fig, kiwi fruit, nectarine, peach, plum, raspberry, strawberry, grapes and tomatoes. Other crops it will attack include apples and pears if the skin has been damaged, apricot and gooseberry. As it has such a wide host range there is often fruit available for the flies to attack.

They also have adapted and will live in a wide range of habitats including urban areas, gardens, hedges and woodlands so achieving 100% control is unlikely.

As well as the fruit crops listed above they will live on the following hosts: wild blackberry, wild cherry, dogwood berries, hawthorn, honeysuckle, Mahonia, mountain ash (rowan), nightshade, rose, sloes and snowberry. Late in the year they will use holly and ivy as a source of food.

The female fly uses her ovipositor (at the rear of the fly) to cut into the fruit in a sawing type action and lay her eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the inside of the fruit which can collapse losing their shape and also leak out juice.

The adults will become active in the spring once the temperature rises above approx.10°C, mate and the female will start laying eggs in fruit that is ripening. The adults will live for 20 to 30 days and the female can lay over 300 eggs. It is possible that there can be up to 15 generations a year so the pest population can soon build up to critical levels. The eggs hatch into the small larvae inside the fruit and feed on the fruit before pupating inside the fruit, they will occasionally pupate outside the fruit.

The life cycle is then repeated through the year.

The populations increase steadily over the spring to high levels in July/August and will not peak until December. It will continue attacking a range of fruit over the summer and then the fly will then move to other hosts in hedgerows and woodlands for the winter. The next spring the population will start to increase in mid-April increasing as the summer progresses.

Fortunately, we now have a number of control methods that can be used against spotted wing drosophila and more will be developed over the next few years. The current methods are set out below, to make sure that the fly is kept at a low level it will be necessary to use a combination of methods and repeat them throughout the year.

1. Trapping – there are a number of makes of trap available, these are mainly pheromone traps which attract the flies into them and they cannot escape. The traps are hung in the trees / bushes about 0.5m above the ground. How many traps are set will depend on the size of the area needing protecting, but 2 to 3 traps will cover a large area up to a hectare. They need setting up in March ready for the early first generation of flies. The bait will need changing through the year so that fresh pheromone is

added to keep attracting the flies.

There are a number of traps and bait available as they are improving them each year. They will come with instructions on how to use them.

2. Flotation test – if you have concerns that fruit may be infected place it in a bowl or large container of water and infected fruit will float. This should be removed and place in a sealed polythene bag so that when the flies come out of the pupa they cannot escape and will rot in the bag.

3. Insecticides that will control flies and aphids are likely to control Drosophila flies but it will require repeated applications and you need to be aware of the harvest interval as many chemicals cannot be used just before harvesting the fruit. Products containing the active ingredients Lambda-cyhalothrin give good control.

4. Dispose of over ripe and waste fruit away from your fruit growing area as the smell of the rotting fruit will attract the flies and the females will lay eggs in the fruit. Any waste fruit should either be sealed in polythene bags until well-rotted or dug into the soil 20cm deep. Once it is rotted it can be dug into the soil.

Keep your eyes open for this pest as it is likely to get worse over the years especially in the major fruit growing areas of Kent, Norfolk, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and even possible the major raspberry growing areas of Scotland.

Source: Flickr, Drosophila. Author: Katja Schulz

MOLE FREE? YOU CAN BE! Tel: 01543 459655 www.anti-mole.com simplyvegetables 45

Clarification of Special Competition’s for 2018 You may recall that that past few years have seen the NVS hold a number of new one off special competitions supported by our sponsors. Previously, these have included the Montello Tomato Competition in 2016 sponsored by Marshall’s (held in Malvern & hosted by the Midlands Branch).

If you recall, free seeds were provided in the Spring 2016 edition of your SV magazine.

2017 saw the further development our sponsorship in this manner with the introduction of the Satelit French Bean competition, again, sponsored by Marshalls but this time held at every Branch Championships throughout the Country providing you with a greater opportunity to enter the competitions. The free seed was supplied in your Spring 2017 edition of your SV magazine. Some branches also held “the longest chilli” competition in 2017, sponsored

by Autopots, Canna & Shield which was a certainly great success in Scotland with 79 entries.

2018 has now brought you two new unique competitions; Heaviest “Gogorez” Pepper competition , sponsored by Marshall’s with free “Gogorez” seed and details provided in your WINTER edition of your SV magazine (Page 31).

This competition will be hosted by every Branch alongside their Branch Championships. (Please note as the Northern Branch are not hosting their local Branch Championships this year (as they are hosting

the National Championships) they will hold their Heaviest “Gogorez” Pepper Competition at Harrogate at the same time as the National Championships. Competition details have been added to the National Championship show schedule but will not form part of theses championships as far as scoring/ points and prizes are concerned. Prize Money for this unique standalone competition at each Branch is 1st £75, 2nd £15 and 3rd £10.

We do hope that you have a go at growing this pepper and importantly provide valuable feedback to Marshalls on this new variety using the feedback form you received. It’s a sweet pepper so should suit most tastes.

“Subeto” Globe Beetroot Competition (plate of 4), sponsored by DT Brown, this is a new competition with free seed supplied within this Spring edition of your SV. This competition will be hosted by the Northern

NVS National Championships 2018 – Change to the Chairman’s Challenge Class As you may be aware, each year when we hold the National Championships, the host Branch chooses the veg type for the Chairman’s challenge Class. This is the only class that changes each year. (e.g. Kohl Rabi was chosen back in 2017). Please note that our hosts for 2018, the Northern Branch, had originally chosen Globe Beetroot for this class, however with the introduction of the special “Subeto” Globe Beetroot competition in conjunction with DT Brown , the Northern Branch felt it was right to choose a different veg type. To this end, the Chairman’s Challenge Class for 2018 will now be Small Fruited Tomatoes.

Tomato Sugar Pum Raisin F1 This bright red Cherry Tomato (Solanum solanacea) is a revolution in tomato breeding and is new and exclusive to Dobies’ Rob Smith Range.

It can be eaten straight from the vine or left to dry out naturally on the stem and picked as a sweeter raisin. The ‘sun-dried’ tomato plant produces long trusses of bright red, semi-plum shaped fruit. Probably the sweetest tomato you will ever grow. Deliciously sweet picked fully ripe like a normal tomato, or fruit will start to ‘dry’ on the plant without splitting or dropping, getting even sweeter, with the texture of Italian antipasti tomatoes. Vine dried, wrinkled fruit can be stored in jars of olive oil.

Grafted for vigour, it’s best grown in a greenhouse but can also be grown on a sunny patio.

Supplied as Grafted Super Plug Plants (3 for £9.99 Code 249794) and Grafted 10 cm Potted Plants (£14.97, Code 249798).

46 simplyvegetables

Fiona Shenfield / Gareth Cameron

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Branch at Harrogate, alongside the National Championships (but will not form part of the championships as far as scoring/points and prizes are concerned). This will be a standalone one off competition for a plate of four Globe Beetroot and DT Brown believes this new variety can rival Pablo. The Prize Money for this competition is £150, with a 1st prize of £65.

We wish you luck in growing this new variety of beetroot before it becomes available to the public. Again, any feedback you have on growing details would be very beneficial, so we would appreciate your feedback.

Many thanks to our sponsors for these two new exiting competitions and good luck everyone!

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simplyvegetables 47

Scottish Branch Chairman’s Thoughts Hopefully as you read this we will be having glorious Spring weather! As I am writing there is about 4-5” of snow lying which although looks beautiful is a no go for us gardeners.

One of the beauties about growing vegetables is the ability to dream of the next 6 months or so- whether it is for a garden full of fresh veg or a coveted ticket at your favourite show. So I hope you all have a great growing season this year. Preparations are also under way for the Gardening Scotland weekend - this year we are trying to change the stand to provide more information and help, and to try and get a Premier Gold Medal which has just eluded us in the last few years.

On a personal note I received some sad news the other week.

Pat Comrie who was the person who started me out on the exhibition trail passed away. I think the modern word now is a mentor and Pat was certainly that but was a friend who passed on all his advice and the wealth of knowledge he had in his own unique way. He was also one of those growers who could turn his hand to anything, growing dahlias, gladioli, chrysanthemums, vegetables and lots more - all to the highest standard. He will be sadly missed and my condolences go to Moira and her family. Hearing this sad news just makes you realise how important your friends are to you, and I for one am fortunate enough to have made some fantastic friends by being part of the NVS. So enjoy your growing and just as importantly enjoy the friendships you have in 2018 and beyond.

North of Scotland D.A. – NoSDA Since the last edition of Simply Veg we have been working away quietly up here in the Frozen North. In November we had a very informative talk from the Scottish Branch Chairman Mr Ian Stocks. Ian covered his methods of growing quality celery. We then had an open discussion on judging and the new judges’ guide. This proved to be a lively discussion and provoked a lot of debate and helped members become more aware of what judges are looking for when evaluating a class.

Our hardworking Treasurer Mrs Rhona Begg then arranged, collated and oversaw our annual order to Clydeside Trading Society (CTS). This really is a life line for exhibitors this far North as CTS have a wide range of quality composts, fertilisers and also stock Keith Singleton’s exhibition mixes from Cumbria. As a D.A. we submit a bulk order and receive a 20% discount.

This is then delivered to Bruce Begg’s workshop near Tain and members pick it up from there.

As our D.A. membership is so wide spread with members some 100 plus miles apart the collation of this order is no mean feat.

The North of Scotland D.A. held it’s AGM 8th Feb 2017 along with our annual slide show presentation of the “2017 show season in the North” from John MacKay. This was well attended with 16 members. As always John’s presentation is very well received and again provoked lively discussion and a fair amount of good hearted “leg pulling”.

The only real change that has occurred from our AGM is that our Secretary has changed from Dave Mercer to Peter Fitch. I would like at this stage to record all the hard work that Dave has put in over the past 5 years as he was without doubt a real driving force in the inception and setting up of our D.A. Unfortunately, Dave was This years visit is on Sunday 8th July unable to attend the AGM and so was unable to Brooklands Garden, Crocketford, to receive, in person, the heart felt appreciation Dumfries and Galloway DG2 8QH. from the “body of the kirk” for all his hard work.

Directions: Turn off the A712 At the time of writing this and looking forward, Crocketford to New Galloway Road the D.A. has 3 more meeting & talks; 27th Feb one mile outside Crocketford at Composting by D Munro, 27th March preserves the Gothic gatehouse (on the right

by H Fitch (will have been completed by the travelling north). After lunch we will time you read this article) and tentatively 24th be visiting Joe Proudlock and Eric April Premier Hydroponics. Our summer visit Craik`s gardens. The visit will start at will be to DA member David Munro’s garden 1030hrs. with a formal garden still to be confirmed.

Hoss Martin, Chairman

Garden Visit ‘18

Dates for the Diary 2018 April 5th

Dundee & East DA –Talk. Shallots – Frank Taylor (Craigie Road Allotment Society Hall, Dundee. Thursday @ 7.30pm) April 7th CTS Open Day (Clydeside Trading Society Ltd). www.ctsgardensupplies.co.uk) April 24th Tentative – NOSDA - Talk by Premier Hydroponics May 3rd Dundee & East DA Garden Visit May 19th Scottish Branch Committee Meeting (Auchterarder @ 1.00pm) June 1st to 3rd Gardening Scotland, Royal Highland Showground, Ingliston.

July 8th Scottish Branch Annual Garden visit - Brooklands Garden, Dumfries and Galloway Aug 31st to Sept 2nd Scottish Branch Championships@ Camperdown Park, Dundee Sept 14th to 16th National Championships @ Harrogate (NVS AGM on the 14th)

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Scottish Branch – 200 Club Following on from the Scottish Branch members receiving a 200 club entry form within the Autumn edition of their SV magazine, I am delighted to say that 2018 has seen us welcome a higher number of new 200 club members. Gareth Cameron, our Sponsorship Manager says we are well over the 200 mark now, which bodes well with 50% of revenues going towards the branch funds and 50% going towards prize money. Thank you so much for your support.

By becoming a 200 club member, your number(s) is entered into our monthly prize draw, 10 months of the year (Jan to Oct inclusive). 200 club membership costs only £5 per year.

Our initial 2018 prize draw was completed for January, congratulations to first prize winner Ronnie Jackson and Kevin Nicholson, our runner up.

By the time you read this edition, we will have also drawn February and March’s too, but our SV deadline for this edition was Feb 9th. You can check out the results on our website if you can’t wait till next quarter.

It’s never too late to become a Scottish Branch 200 club member (and you don’t have to be a Scottish Branch member to join) and you can do so by filling in your entry form and sending it to Gareth Cameron or if you don’t have one, please just give Gareth a shout and he will help you out. (Gareth’s contact details for your information mail: 2 Dyke Nook, Yeathouse Road, Frizington, Cumbria CA26 3QL, Telephone: (01946) 811797 or email: garethattheplot@hotmail.co.uk

Scottish Branch Seminar – November 2017 It seems a long time since the short days and cold weather when annual Seminar was held at the Pentlands Science Park.

The science park provides us with a great auditorium for presentations & talks, excellent floor space allowing stations for order pickups from Arthur Provan assisted

by Margaret Provan and Alistair Gray, membership renewal with Fred Stewart, assisted by Jean Thomson, joining the 200 club with Gareth Cameron and to host many companies stands creating a hive of activity.

The canteen area also provides us with a spacious eating area to relax & have yet more discussions and planning for 2018!

Many thanks to Jim Williams for helping us obtain the use of this venue.

Once again, we had a very full and busy day with the expectancy of learning, sharing, seed swaps and purchases.

With old friends and new attending, including several from South of the border, it was great to see so many like-minded individuals enjoying their day out.

Whilst the audience of over 100 people settled down for the day they were treated to Powerpoint “slides” from Gardening Scotland 2017 followed by photos from the annual garden visit to Craigfoodie House & gardens followed by visits to the gardens of Bill Duff, Alistair Barnard and Ian Simpson. (articles on these events were in the Autumn ’17 edition of your SV Magazine) The 2017 programme of events kicked off with a warm welcome from our Chairman, Ian Stocks which was firstly tinged with sadness at the announcement of the loss of our dear friend Bobby Jones. Bobby as you know, was always on hand selling raffles tickets

at the Seminar amongst other things.

Ian then moved on to the joy of presenting three very well deserved NVS awards.

Firstly an NVS Fellowship award was presented to Alan Yates.

• Alan joined the NVS in 1994 and became a Scottish Branch Committee member in 2003.

• Alan passed his Judges exam in 2003 and has been judging in his local area for many years.

• Alan has judged the Scottish Branch Championships in 2008(Gourock), 2012 & 2017(Kelso). Alan has also judged at the National Championships on two occasions in 2006 (Pembroke) & 2015 (Dundee).

• In addition to his Committee and Judges work Alan regularly helps out at Gardening Scotland, representing the NVS and answering questions from the public.

• Alan also gives talks in his local area on the pleasures of vegetable growing, promoting the NVS. Secondly, NVS prestigious gold medal awards were presented to both Les Craib and Neil Drummond for their service to the NVS. • Les joined the NVS in 1990 and subsequently became a Scottish Branch committee member in 1995.

• Les became a qualified NVS judge in 1997 and judges at all levels including National level.

• Les has also provided vegetables, set up, and pre judged the exhibits for

Alan Yates with his Fellowship Award

Les Craib with his Gold Medal

• • •

•

• •

•

the Judges Examinations.

Les regularly organises and gives lectures at local and DA level.

Les joined the Dundee & East of Scotland DA in 1993 and became Chairman in 2013.

Les joined Forfar Horticultural Society in 1963 and became a committee member in 1964. Les took over as Chairman in 1981, a position he held until 2017.

Les has represented the Scottish Branch on the committee of the Dundee Flower and Food Festival for the past ten years and helps set up and man the numerous stands in Dundee and at Gardening Scotland.

Neil joined the NVS in 1985.

Neil became a Scottish Branch Committee member in 1992 and has attended every meeting since. (round trip of 350 miles).

Neil has been the Master of ceremonies at the Scottish Branch Seminar for many years and helps set up the Judges exam each year it is held.

Neil Drummond with his Gold Medal

simplyvegetables 49

•

Neil passed his Judges exam in 1997 and judges at all levels including twice at National level.

• Neil also mentors new and potential judges to aid them in passing their Judges exam.

• Neil has been lecturing on growing veg for over 30 years and carries out 20 lecturers a year throughout Scotland.

• Neil was instrumental in setting up the North of Scotland D.A. in 2013.

• Neil also grew plants specifically for stands / sales and Gardening Scotland for many years to support Branch & DA’s.

Congratulations go to Alan, Les & Neil, we are proud of you.

No rest for Neil as he then went on to host our Seminar (Neil has been our Master of Ceremonies since 2004, when he took over from George McSkimming), thank you Neil.

Now to our key speaker for the day; I’m delighted to advise that our audience was well entertained and educated by Mick Poultney who travelled up from the West Midlands to provide a talk on “A Year on the Allotment” sharing his gardening and composting expertise.

Mick also gave us an insight into his hugely busy life where teaching kids about veg growing and giving back to the community is high on Mick’s agenda. Mick’s unique style of presenting held the audience’s attention and I think he could have done so all day.

Thanks to Mick, we learned numerous hints and tips that he shared with us…. I now know you shouldn’t put onions, oranges or lemons in the compost if you want worms!

Thanks for that Mick.

Midday and I think I gave my quickest presentations yet to get us back on track, providing the audience with results from the Scottish Branch Championships, the National Championship results & the regular slot “The Scot’s abroad”, sharing the successes of our Scottish Branch Members. These presentations provide details of results, photographs of entries and information on veg varieties that were in the tickets.

IMPORTANT during this I reported that the 2018 National Championships Chairman’s Challenge Class was Globe Beetroot. This has since been changed to

Small Fruited Tomatoes due to the additional special Globe Beetroot Competition, sponsored by DT Brown which will be held at the same time.

Next… Lunch and an hour for everyone to eat, meet people, chat, pick up orders and visit stands, renew memberships and much more. This is the busiest lunch time I have ever seen. Thanks go to our busy Committee members who work hard behind the scenes in preparation and during the lunch break keeping everyone fed and watered and ensuring our visitors are all looked after.

Our trade stand area was buzzing with the following Companies & products we learned about. Here’s a quick A to Z on the great support and interest there was in the foyer in Nov ’17.

Airpots Airpots have been a great supporter of the Scottish branch and with top growers such as David Metcalfe of the Northern Branch having great success using them. The air pots (with the holes in the sides) are made of recycled plastic and help the roots air prune and encourage development of healthy fibrous roots which means your plants can take up more nutrients and water Auto pots Auto pots had on display various propagators they have developed and it caused quite a bit of interest with the growers. AutoPot displayed their simple to use automatic watering systems that can be used either as a hydroponic system or as a traditional soil irrigation system. Indoor growing and greenhouse crops can be produced with ease. No more daily watering, No power / timers / mains water required, Simply gravity fed from a tank / water barrel Canna Nutrients Canna brought to the Seminar their various lines of nutrients; Terra, Aqua, Coco and hydro, additives which you add alongside the main nutrients to improve plant health and yield.

CANNA TERRA is a line of nutrients and substrates which are specially developed for growing plants in peat based potting mixes.

CANNA COCO is a line of nutrients and substrates which are specially developed

for growing plants in coco. CANNA AQUA is a user-friendly range of products for recirculating systems. With these systems the drainage water doesn’t flow away but is reused. CANNA HYDRO is the nutrient for cultivating plants in systems in which the drainage water is not returned to the nutrient tank but drains away Clydeside Trading Society (CTS) Garden supplies CTS is one of the main Scottish Distributors for horticultural supply companies, commercial, wholesale and domestic gardeners. The stock and sell a wide variety of products, from composts and fertilisers, to chemicals for garden pests, pots, canes, fleece etc. This was their first visit to the Seminar and feedback was very positive.

Ecothrive Gareth Hopcroft has been a great supporter of the Seminar and lots of growers are using Charge. Charge is a soil enhancer that prolongs the fertility of your potting mix by adding a balance of long-lasting nutrients composed entirely from the droppings of beetles.

Growmax Water Suppliers of watering systems for both hydroponic growing and gardening. The Growmax water systems included a range of products including filtration systems, filters, pumps and accessories to support watering requirements of your plants.

Keder Greenhouses Keder Greenhouses are manufacturers, designers and installers of high specification greenhouses for the commercial grower or the enthusiastic gardener and had erected a greenhouse in the Trade Stand area for our members to see.

Maxibright Lighting Maxibright brought along their product range of Mk3 PL2 and Mk3 PL4 propagation lights which come complete with a highly reflective aluminium reflector insert to eliminate hotspots and ensure young plants receive an optimum level of diffused light. Designed with hanging locations and bolts for jack chain to allow easy end user set up.

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competition. Premier are also learning about veg growing using different methods whilst helping promote the NVS in their Broxburn shop.

Remin Volcanic Rock Dust The benefits of the nutrients in volcanic rock dust on sale is useful in a number of areas, from top dressing, compost improvement, a compost activator to aid compost production and also a tonic for wormeries. Rock dust has been shown to work well with soil conditioners, animal manures and plant foods.

Shield your yield The shield products give us a different way of controlling aphids and fungal problems by using the power of essential oils. From plant washes, to a diffuser using essential oils, to their new product Bacoff. Shield Bacoff also uses essential oils to kill fungus and bacteria in your growing area and has had a great response with our growers.

Moonshine Nutrient Enhancer Moonshine is a nutrient enhancer that works at a cellular level by stimulating their natural defences, encouraging explosive root growth and development. This helps the nutrient uptake to be more efficient, improves the plants stamina that makes the overall health of your plants stronger and improves yields. It’s also 100% biodegradable making Moonshine nutrient enhancer safe for humans and the environment.

The Nutrient Company Growth Technology’s nutrient solutions are formulated with accuracy, manufactured with care, and are designed for high performance.

Various Ionic plant nutrients were on display to cater for various growing methods from Hydroponic, using Coco Coir and Greenhouse growing.

Premier Hydroponics Gavin Thompson and his colleagues are great supporters of the NVS and do lots of work for the benefit of the Branch and the promotion of hydroponics and alternative methods of growing. A big vote of thanks also goes to premier for specially growing our chilli plants last year for the longest chilli

Xtreme Garden Xtreme Garden promoted a They have a line of premium biologicals, to support increase in crop yield & quality while also improving moisture & nutrient management results.

Xtreme Garden mycorrhizal fungi & beneficial microbes allow your plants to embrace what is available to them & unlock the full potential of your garden.

Xtreme Gardening combines new technology with results from millions of years of natural evolutionary design, allowing us to provide gardeners with the pure biology needed for superior plant growth.

With Xtreme Gardening beneficial microbes, gardeners are no longer limited by chemical fertilizers and are able unlock their plants’ true potential while reaching new levels of production.

Combining cutting-edge technology with the results of thousands of years of evolutionary design, allowing them to provide gardeners with the natural biology needed for exceptional plant growth.

Mills Nutrients Mills work in the field of bio-mineral plant nutrients, utilizing both synthetic and organic sources to optimize growth rates, yield, flavor, and aroma. Tested in soil, coco-coir, and hydroponic systems; in sterile systems or with beneficial biologics and can be used by in professional greenhouses and with hobbyist growers alike.

Dundee & East of Scotland D.A. The Dundee & East D.A. held their Annual General Meeting at the end of January.

Please note that, as previously advised during the November DA meeting, Grant Cathro stood down as Secretary and Treasurer. Les Craib, Chairman has thanked Grant for his many years of support.

The AGM proceeded and has confirmed the following new positions; Les Craib has taken on the additional role of Treasurer for the DA and David Nelson has taken on the additional role of Secretary for the DA. The DA is looking forward to its next scheduled activity which is a talk by Frank Taylor on the subject of growing shallots on Thursday 5th April @ 7.30pm.

Lunch over and back to the auditorium, where Ian Stocks gave an interesting talk on growing tomatoes using a 15 litre Autopot system in his 12foot by 8-foot greenhouse with 7 pots on each side. Ian’s talk ranged from propagation using root riots, the regular checking of Ph and EC (Electrical Conductivity) measurements through to getting a set of tomatoes on the show bench.

Unfortunately, Steven Brooks was unable to attend to do his talk on Nano Technology. (refer Gareth’s article on this topic in the Autumn ‘17 edition of your SV Magazine), however we owe a great vote of thanks to Gareth Hopcroft, of Ecothrive who stepped in and gave a talk on unravelling the complexities of Coco Coir including explaining it’s good water retention capabilities, the amount of air it has and its ability to hold nutrients. We also now know that it’s good to use a liquid fertiliser with coir and that an increase air within the growing medium improves the root system.

Now... on to our Tea break and last chance for chat and a visit to the Foyer before the final event of the day. Brought back after positive feedback we re-introduced” Ask the Experts”. Our panel of speakers were joined by Alistair Gray and were bombarded with numerous gardening questions plus problems to solve and provide their experience and guidance for the audience.

Almost done and a fantastic raffle draw with many top prizes from our friends and sponsors including a wonderful Christmas Hamper...and honestly, it wasn’t a fix that I picked out Ian’s winning ticket! But we did, at least do an extra draw for my “... Parsnip in a Pear Tree” Christmas cake though (hope the winners enjoyed it). Thanks go our raffle ticket sales team, including Linda Stock’s good friend who gave us a lot of help and support on the day.

Phew, what a great day...and I’d like to thank all our hardworking committee members who work non-stop in the background preparing for the day, preparing orders, making up hundreds of rolls, helping out at the stands, working relentlessly during tea breaks and lunch time, cleaning the canteen, membership and 200 club renewal, raffle ticket sales and countless other things I’ve no doubt forgotten to mention...well done everyone...here’s to this years!

Fiona Shenfield Scottish Branch Secretary

Words of Wisdom ‘Knowledge is knowing a Tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad!’

Quote by Miles Kingston, shared with us

by Fred Stewart, thanks Fred. simplyvegetables 51

EASY EASY

to

to

USE USE

E AESAYS Y

to to

US U ES E

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RO O TS RO O TS

INSTANT INSTANT

STIM STIM ULATE ULATE SS RORO O TS O TS

STIMSTIMULATE ULATE S S

H H P LPALNATNHT EHAELAT L T

TEA TE A

PLANT

Northern Branch INSTANT INSTANT Chairman’s Thoughts

H H PHLEAANLTT H E A L T

TE TE A A

Not much doing on the allotment during these winter months.

The usual poor weather has been colder than normal with periods of snow and hard frost, so the bugs that affect us during the growing season should hopefully be less in number. The need for artificial lighting is still there for the earlier crops, to supplement the gloomy days.

As my report is read there will have been some changes to some of our officers. A massive thanks goes out to our retiring secretary, John Croot who has steered us through the last ten years of national and branch shows. He will be a hard act to follow.

Another good round of thanks must go to our retiring membership secretary, Sheila Lewins who has provided good service to members old and new over the last five years. Sheila will now be replaced by our retiring news editor Michael Osborn who has himself done a sterling job. David Allison will step into Michael’s shoes as news editor.

Northern Editors Report This will be my last edition of SV as Northern Editor at the Northern Branch AGM next month I will be handing over to David Allison while I will be taking over from Sheila Lewins as Northern Branch Membership Secretary. I would just like to thank to thank Sheila for all the work she has put in over the last five or years I know she has found the IT side of the job quite challenging but she has made a superb job of it. Thanks Sheila.

As I write this report in February snowflakes are fluttering down and the forecast for the coming week is more snow and very cold night temperatures hopefully when you are reading this in April we will be into much kinder weather and temperatures.

I have enjoyed my five years as Northern Editor the time has really flown, as many of you who read the Northern Newsletter regularly will know I have a passion for the Flora and Fauna around the allotment and I hope through my reports and articles I have prompted people to think and consider the wild life. It is so important that we maintain a balance with nature and avoid using chemicals as much as possible.

We are very lucky on our allotment as we are right on the edge of the countryside, in fact we look right across at Pendle Hill famed for its witches in the 1600’s. We seem to live quite happily with a good range amphibians in our pond, newts, frogs and toads, although it is not an ideal mix having newts and frogs as the newts predate on the tadpoles. But that’s nature, it usually finds its own balance when left alone. The other predator for the tadpoles are the Dragonfly/Damselfly nymphs which spend their first few years in the pond before they mature and crawl up the stem of one of the water plants and emerge into the beautiful insect with two pairs of iridescent wings. I just love to watch them fliting around the pond on sunny days. (My picture is an Azure Damselfly) So enough of my ramblings for today, I would just like to close by thanking everyone who has helped and supported me over the last few years putting the newsletter together I hope you have all enjoyed reading it.

Michael D Osborn FNVS

Our NVS championships at Harrogate are now being finalised and by now we will have received our packets of seeds of chilli Gogorez and a new globe beetroot Subeto. Two additional classes to our championships will be sponsored by Marshall’s seeds for the heaviest chilli, and by D.T, Browns for five of the new beetroot.

Three new road shows are to be held this year at Oldham, Colne, and at the large garden centre in Ambleside and we will also be doing the usual displays and road shows at Chorley, Derbyshire, Tatton Park, Southport, Stanley, and maybe a new one at an allotments in Blackpool. You are all very welcome to come and join us on these days! Good growing.

David Metcalfe Chairman Northern Branch

NVS Lancs DA Report The DA’s New Year round of talks began with an excellent talk by David Allison FNVS; on new varieties, trials, tests and varieties which have fallen by the way side. If you get opportunity, it’s great talk to have at your DA. We are in the early stages of planning for our exhibits which this year will be at Chorley Flower Show and Southport Flower Show.

Chorley is a relatively new show; I think in its 4th year now. It really is a cracking show, smaller than Southport or Tatton but equally as good. I feel its well worth a visit and brilliant value for money.

This weekend just gone (3-4 February) saw me taking a trip up to Robinson’s, “Home of the Giant Onion;” to buy some seed potatoes and onion sets – Rose de Roscoff – has a pink blushed flesh. It’s a French heritage variety I saw on their display at Chorley 2017, so I thought I’d really like to give them a go. Some wild garlic tubers and a couple of chilli plants also caught my eye at the nursery. I’m behind again with getting seeds in so these plants are a plan B. The weather isn’t looking to great again either, so always good to have a back up I’ll probably have another go at some of the unusual varieties I grew last year. See if I can do anything any better or have more success.

Coming up at the DA, Ian Simpson with growing broad beans, runner beans and peas 12 April. Please see our facebook page for full details - https://www.facebook.com/NVSLancs/

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simplyvegetables 53

East Yorkshire District Association A record audience of some 50 people attended our October 2017 meeting when Hilary Dodson, Chair of the Northern Fruit Group, gave a presentation on Growing Fruit in the North. Hilary’s talk focused mainly on apples and pears and enhanced by her use of potted examples to show the effect of pruning.

She also brought along examples of various apple cultivar fruits for people to try. She grows 150 different varieties of apple, 20 of pears and 20 of plums in her Otley garden. Commercial apples are all produced by growing desirable varieties on certain rootstock which has the prefix M (for East Malling Research Station) or MM for Merton Malling. Some numbers are more vigorous than others and the rootstock selected determines the size of the eventual tree. M9 is said to have brittle roots which means it can blow over easily without strong staking supports. Hilary said that rootstocks should be not less than two years old before grafting on the variety desired. The tree will then require a further three years of growth in order to produce a decent crop of fruit.

Branches allowed to remain vertical will grow rapidly upwards whilst branches which are kept horizontal will make little growth.

Shaping a tree by allowing the branches to grow at about 45 degrees will strike a happy medium of containing growth and producing fruit.

Hilary also discussed the merits of summer and winter pruning. Summer pruning encourages fruiting whilst keeping the same overall tree size, whereas winter pruning allows the tree to grow and opens up the centre to avoid tangling of branches. The trick with summer pruning is to wait until the terminal bud has formed fully. Pruning too early will promote soft new growth which may suffer frost damage and lead to a lack of fruit.

One thing I had not realised before (although it’s obvious when you think about it) is the appearance of the occasional apple tree along road verges in the middle of nowhere.

The answer, of course, is discarded apple cores thrown out of passing vehicles!

Early fruiting apples will not keep and should be eaten straight away before they turn soft and mushy. Late maturing apples, on the other hand, should be stored over winter in order to allow the characteristic sweetness and flavour to develop before eating them.

Family trees, featuring two or more varieties growing on the same rootstock, are quite common now but Hilary said to avoid any Bramley variety as it was a very vigorous

grower and tended to take over the whole tree. Pears tend to grow more vertically than apples and, therefore, the side branches need to be shaped to about 45 degrees in order to encourage fruiting.

Question time covered a range of subjects related to diseases and pests. Lichen growth denotes good clean air and mosscovered bark is not a problem provided it does not occur at ground level. Methylated spirit applied with a paint brush is good for killing woolly aphid because it removes the waterproofing layer from the surface of the insect. Winter Tar Oil Wash, in common with other phenolic compounds used for insect and fungal control, is now banned from use. Hilary has achieved success with alternative garlic-based washes as well as soap/washing up liquid sprays. Hilary does not favour the use of grease bands to protect her fruit trees from caterpillar attack as, in her experience, too many earwigs are caught and she considers these to be useful predator insects for eating aphids.

She prefers to use Pheromone traps which are available for both Codling and Plum moths.

Some 40+ persons attended our November 2017 meeting when Adrian Read gave a presentation on Growing Onions for showing which was based on his talk given at the August Vegetable Masterclass weekend organised by the NVS in North Wales. Adrian does exhibit his produce but is perhaps better known for putting together vegetable exhibition stands at Harrogate and other major venues. He claims to have collected 32 Gold Awards from the 50 or so exhibitions he has put together, so far.

He used to use 400W sodium lights for 12 hour periods (24 hours during the first three weeks) but is now of the opinion that LED lighting emitting dark red and blue wavelengths is both cheaper to run and more effective in terms of producing firm leaf growth. He also argues that keeping any form of artificial lighting on for more than 16 hours a day is both unnatural and unnecessary. During the early growth stages of growing onions he likes to keep a minimum air temperature of 50ºF and uses bottom heating set at 55ºF. In order to improve the chances of creating uniformity in shape and size, most growers now use pips produced from the mother bulb, rather than

sowing from seed. This mirrors what leek growers have done for many years. He is a great believer in providing adequate watering to his growing onions. Bottom heating can easily dry out the compost and cause root damage, sometimes unseen.

Rather than risk overfeeding his beds with nutrients, he prefers to use slow release fertiliser and grows cauliflowers immediately after his onions have been lifted in order to mop up any excess potassium and phosphorus in his polytunnel bed. He also uses Keith Singleton potting compost in the intermediate pot stages. He claims that a polytunnel can become very hot without adequate ventilation and mentioned an electrical heat extractor available from Northern Polytunnels that appeared to be very effective. He prefers to use a breathable surface membrane on his beds to suppress weed growth (chickweed in particular) rather than black and white polythene sheeting. Too much moisture retained can cause botrytis to form on the growing bulbs and foliage, As an added precaution, he uses Viresco Soluble as a one-off application two weeks after planting out his onions, followed up by monthly sprays of Viresco Foliar thereafter.

He also favours the use of Hortiboost (an amino acid growth stimulant) and Horticron (a slow release Nitrogen fertiliser).

During Question time, Adrian recommended the use of Perlka when growing cauliflowers since it appears to help growth as well as minimise the impact of any club root fungus present in the soil. The cauliflower variety shown in his slide was Concept. In the case of both pink root and white rot infestations he suggested that soil sterilisation was the only effective method that could be used to eradicate these diseases.

A record number attended our January 2018 meeting which combined the AGM with a short talk by local member Anne Augustyns on how she grows her Gladioli.

She fell in love with gladioli when she visited Harrogate Show for the first time, just a few years ago, and now grows 350 plants on her allotment. Anne has managed to win five cups and trophies at local Yorkshire Shows with her gladioli so far although she claims to be a mere novice! She plants her corms in April/May staggered at two week intervals

Adrian Read is Chair of the North Yorkshire and South Durham DA

Anne Augustyns’ talk on gladioli provided additional interest to our AGM

Hilary Dodson is Chair of the Northern Fruit Group

54 simplyvegetables

Question time covered a range of subjects related to diseases and pests

and plans to have blooms ready for her first Shows in July. The ground is rotavated and given a light dressing of Growmore fertiliser.

Corms are then sown 3” - 4” deep and 6” apart with rows planted at 12” intervals. The plants are staked from the beginning in order to keep the stems growing upright in the open windy conditions experienced on her allotment site. She uses a commercial taping machine and aims to tie a band beneath the first bud leaves although one of her favourite varieties Rotary does not really need staking, in her experience. She does not grow under cover but is currently investigating how best to build some protective framework in the future as she recognises that perfect blooms can easily be destroyed by wind and rain. She does not spray or use any form of pesticides since she has not experienced any thrip damage to her blooms, so far.

Anne has tried growing a few gladioli in containers under cover but found that the resulting blooms were rather stunted and of insufficient Show quality.

Anne buys quality corms of recognised provenance from Great Western Gladiolus rather than cheap, shop-bought and massproduced varieties. Her favourite varieties are Esta Bonita, Bonfire, Rotary, Amsterdam, Careless, Cream Perfection and Flevo. Some varieties such as Amsterdam retain their vigour for several years but, generally, she likes to buy new stock each year, preferring medium-sized corms rather than the largest available size. After blooming, her corms are lifted in September/October. She snaps the old stalks off rather than letting them die back naturally and then allows the lifted corms to dry off in a cool greenhouse.

Generally, for showing purposes, Anne looks for stems that exhibit a third of blooms fully open, a third half-open and a third in bud, borne on straight spikes. She will cut 20 stems from which to select the best six for staging on each Show day which is the reason why she needs to grow so many plants each year. She used to cut her stems on the morning of the Show but now cuts them two or three days ahead and keeps them cool and dark and in buckets of water in her garage.

Stems are cut on the slant, rather than straight across, in order to maximise the surface area available for water take-up. Anne’s normal and easily recognised method of transport to the Shows is a small, two-seater yellow sports car. In view of the somewhat restricted storage space available, she has designed special corrugated sheet trays to accommodate and transport her stems which are laid flat in the bottom of each channel with the cut end of each stem enclosed in a small plastic bag of water. So if you see a small yellow sports car parked at your next Show, you will know whose it is!

At the end of February we look forward to Keith and Janet Abel’s presentation on A Year In Our Garden and, in March, we welcome Geoff Wilson from North Yorkshire and South Durham DA who will talk about Slugs And Snails. Our April meeting will see the return of Julian Davis, Head of Agronomy at Stockbridge Technology Centre, to talk about Innovations in Growing Vegetables.

Reports on all these events will feature in the next edition of Simply Vegetables and further details of our 2018 programme can be seen on our website http://nvseyda.btck.co.uk

The photograph shows the DA Committee as elected on the night. From left to right; Mick Shipley, John Goodall, Eric Hind, John Ramsell, David Thornton, Geoff Butterworth, Eric Smith, Charles Cooper and John Croot.

North East Derbyshire DA (NEDDA) NEDDA held its AGM on Wednesday 17th January 2018. The elected positions were filled as follows: Chairman; John Goodall FNVS Secretary; Geoff Butterworth FNVS Treasurer; John Croot FNVS Show Secretary; David Thornton FNVS, At the time of conjuring up this report Geoff Butterworth was in the process of finalising the speakers and activities for the year. The following are forthcoming speaker & events for 2018 to be held at Pleasley Miners Welfare, Chesterfield Road. NG19 7PD 18th April; Mike Osborne - In the footsteps of Ernest Shackleton.

16th May; Julian Davies (Stockbridge Technical Centre, Selby) - Composts 20th June; Sally Smith. Matlock Derbyshire - Creative ways of growing organic vegetables.

Our planned speakers and visits for the rest of the year will be published in the next edition of Simply Veg. NEDDA will be putting on vegetable displays, promoting the NVS and offering cultural advice at the Derbyshire County Show 24th June. Unfortunately the Bakewell Show at which the DA puts up a vegetable display will not be running this year. It is planned that the show will be back again next year as normal after a one year break. It’s been discussed that Bakewell could be holding some sort of vegetable/gardening event/ exhibition in early August but at the moment the details are a bit sketchy.Last year the DA Roadshow attended 4 events to promote the NVS and encourage new member to join, hopefully we will have similar successes again this year with the Roadshow. NEDDA’s 40th Open Vegetable Show will be held on Sunday 2th September 2018 at the Village centre, Glapwell, Derbyshire S44 5LW. For further details contact either the DA, Dave Thornton or Geoff Butterworth.

Westmorland & North Lancs As I write this report in early February we are looking forward to our next talk which is growing quality vegetables in a small garden by Neil Muirhead. Also to come we have David Matthewman on sweet peas and on the 10th April John Bebbington on allotment gardening month by month.

At our A.G.M. in December we elected a new Chairman in James Park, John standing down after doing sterling work guiding us through our first 12 years as a D.A. At our social evening following the A.G.M. we had pie & peas followed by an excellent trifle made by Lynne, the landlady of the Club Inn followed by slides from the shows.

Our Coffee Morning & Plant Sale will be on Saturday the 12th May at the Memorial Hall, Burton-in-Kendal and we are all looking forward to making this a success.

For the summer months a coach trip, organised jointly with Lancashire D.A. is being planned, which should be of great interest to all members.

Everyone is welcome to our meetings so please come along if you can. For further information on any of our events ring Jim on 015395 61053 or email jim.robinson45@ hotmail.co.uk Jim Robinson simplyvegetables 55

Manchester DA Report Following the AGM held in December we are pleased to report that Manchester DA has a new Chair and Secretary - Sandra McNichol and Noelle Ryder. Gill Painter kindly agreed to remain as Treasurer.

On behalf of the DA Sandra would like to extend our thanks to Kevin Knowles and John Woods for all their years of hard work and commitment. Kevin was also Show Secretary at Poynton Show and John coordinated many gold medal winning displays at Tatton Show.

Between them they have clocked up numerous awards on behalf of the DA and countless hours representing the DA as well as promoting the NVS. We wish them both good luck for the future and a good rest from all of their roles and responsibilities.

West Yorkshire DA On Saturday the 23rd September the DA held its annual show as part of the Leeds Paxton Autumn Show, held at Paxton Halls, Kirkstall, Leeds. As well as veg this show includes classes for flowers, pot plants, baking and photos.

One of the best shows for a number of years, well supported with some quality vegetable exhibits.

In the vegetable section there were 17 exhibitors who entered a total of 118 exhibits. The best supported class was the ‘dish of fruit’, with 13 entries which was won by our secretary Dorothy Ambridge. Well done Dorothy. The NVS sponsored class was won by John Smiles for his dish of 8oz onions and Keith Houseman won the NVS medal for his carrot exhibit.

Our November meeting speaker was David Peel with his illustrated talk entitled ‘Spuds and me’ which was attended by 80+ people. It was a very enjoyable evening with David explaining in great detail the art of growing potatoes for showing.....’his’ way.

Then to everyone’s surprise the second half of his talk was to give us all a demonstration on how to wash/clean the potatoes for the show bench. No secret potions required!!

Our December meeting was our AGM and social evening, plus something different. A nice festive evening with David Allison showing some pictures from around the shows which he has either exhibited or judged at.

Our January meeting was mostly taken up with a question and answer evening, where the audience had their chance to question our panel of ‘experts’ (Peter Ridsdale, John Smiles, Steve Bundy, and David Peel) on anything gardening. David Allison completed the evening with a slide show.

As always our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 8pm at Leeds Paxton Horticultural Halls, 186 Kirkstall Road, Leeds LS5 2AB. Everyone welcome, free admission, raffle and refreshments for all.

David and Olive

2018 Manchester DA Meetings April 3rd Leon Skorczewski Orchids April 28th Plant Sale- Northenden Hive (replaces May Meeting) June Trip The road to Myerscough date tba July Tatton Show preparation meeting August 7th David Metcalf Exhibition Leeks September 4th Mini Show October 2nd Gareth Hopcroft Growing Under Lights November 6th AGM/Quiz/Social/refreshments December No meeting January 2019 No meeting Manchester DA meetings take place on the first Tuesday of the month at Hough End Centre, Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton, M21 7SX, 8pm For more details:Follow us on Facebook: Manchester DA, National Vegetable Society Email: nvs@manchester-da.co.uk Website: http://manchester-da.co.uk/

Cheshire DA Report The Cheshire DA AGM was held in January where we received the news that John Woods was resigning his position as Secretary, Kevin Knowles had previously advised the DA that would not be standing again as Chair.

Unfortunately there were no members at that meeting prepared to step up at the meeting so Kevin kindly agreed to remain as temporary Chair until a replacement could be found. Sandra McNichol remains Treasurer.

2018 Cheshire DA Meetings February 19th John Bebbington A Year on the Allotment March 19th tba April 16th David Metcalf Vegetables My Way May 16th Plant Sale/fundraiser June Trip The Road to Myerscough date tba July 20th tba August 15th tba September 19th Mini Show October 15th David Allison - Innovations in breeding and growing techniques of fruit and veg.

November 19th AGM/Quiz/Social/refreshments December - No meeting January 2019 No meeting Cheshire DA meetings are held at Grappenhall Ex-Servicemen’s Club, Chester Rd, Warrington WA4 2QG on the 3rd Monday of the month @ 8.00pm For more details:Follow us on Facebook: Cheshire DA, National Vegetable Society Email: nvs@manchester-da.co.uk Website: http://manchester-da.co.uk/

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Midlands Branch Chairman’s Report Well the growing season is well upon us, hope the weather is picking up a little for you!!

At the end of last year, the West Mids DAs speaker was Gerry Edwards, talking on ‘Growing Fruit’ very well presented and informative, there was a good turnout and at the end of the night saw the retirement of Mick Poultney from the Chair, which Mick formed back in February 2013. I stood up and thanked Mick for forming this DA and all his hard work to make it work for them and said it would still continue under the guidance of the new co-opted Chair, until the AGM Mr John Guest. I wished Mick well in all he has done in the past and best wishes for the future. Thank you Mick.

Just come back from the Shropshire Potato Day, took the grandchildren with me. I tried to get all the seed potatoes Mark wanted, but got way-laid joining in the kid’s tables and where true to form all the local NVS members came to the surface for the first time since Malvern Autumn Show and with FREE tea and coffee, well you can guess what happened, we must have chatted for an hour or so, catching up on what each other had done, colouring with the children, potato quiz etc, when I got to buying the potatoes they had sold out of Winston. When I got home Mark was not amused. Ha ha!!

When you read this I will have already made up my mind and informed members at our Branch AGM that I will be continuing as Chair for one more year only. I have been Chair for five years now and feel it is time to stand aside for someone new to come along with new ideas and to keep the Branch fresh and be able to keep moving us forward.

See you all soon!

Sandra By the way, the tunnel is filling up fast and yes the paths are being swept. I have allowed Mark half a dozen barrels at the one end for some long carrots and parsnips aren’t I good!

West Midlands DA The last meeting of the year was held on Thursday 27th November 2017, at Fairfield Church Hall and the speaker for the evening was Gerry Edwards. The digital pictures of his set up at home were first class. He covered the size of apple and pear trees that suited different grounds, and varieties suitable for our area, the Midlands. Questions were later covered and, all in all, it was a very good evening.

Gerry then presented the prizes from the mini-show held in August. This meeting was the last for our Chairman, Mick Poultney. Sandra Hall wished Mick well for the future. Sandra then went on to say that a Chairman was needed to carry on until the AGM in February and John Guest said he was prepared to stand in. The meeting in February saw Mark Hall giving a talk on growing in containers; more on this in the next issue.

Newent Onion Show (Gloucestershire) Saturday 8th September 2018 Memorial Hall, Newent Doors open 10:30am Further details and show schedules onionshow@newentonionfayre.net Chris 01531 822905 www.newentonionfayre.net

Bucks DA Having written at length in the last issue, there is little to add this time, only to remind members that the 2018 venue is the Community Centre, Church Street, Wingrave, HP22 4PD. Talks start at 7.30 pm.

Talks are free to NVS members.

Guests are very welcome – just £3 payable on the door.

Simply Vegetables Binder Store your magazines away.

Each binder holds 12 magazines.

(3 years worth)

£5.00 To purchase contact: Sandra Hall FNVS, Midlands Branch, on 01952 541396

Midlands Branch Sponsor Plaques 2018 awarded to...

Newent Onion Show Saturday 8th September 2018 Newent Town Centre, Newent, Glos GL18 1BZ www.newentonionfayre.org.uk For further information contact; Chris Comer 01531 822905 Coors Gardening Club Branston Village Show Monday 27th August 2018 Branston Village Hall, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. DE14 3HS For further information contact; Mr K, J, Bunting. 01283 548153 West Midlands District Association Thursday 30th August 2018 Fairfield Village Hall, Stourbridge Road, Fairfield, Bromsgrove, Worcs. B61 9LH For further information contact; John Guest 01562 754452 or johnguest123@ hotmail.com Bucks County Show.

Thursday 30th August 2018 Weedon Park, Nr Aylesbury, Bucks www.buckscountyshow.co.uk For further information contact; alison@ buckscountyshow.co.uk Tibberton & District Horticultural Society Tibberton Show, Saturday 18th August 2018 Taynton and Tibberton Village Hall www.tibberton-gloucestershire.org.uk For further information contact: Robert Heigham; rheigham@yahoo.com simplyvegetables 57

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Midlands Branch Championships –Tickets There appears to be a rumour going around that exhibitors will have to pay for tickets for admission to the showground this year.

This is definitely not the case and the same procedure will apply this year as has been operated in previous years.

Exhibitors will receive, through the post, a car pass from the Show Secretary, which will allow them admission to the showground to stage their exhibits.

Admission with car passes is allowed up until 6.30 am on the Saturday, although obviously exhibitors would arrive well in advance of this time.

Once exhibits have been staged, exhibitors will be given a wrist band for each day, Saturday and Sunday, which will allow them admission to the showground. There will be no charge for these.

On occasion, if some exhibitors do not turn up for whatever reason, we may have some spare wristbands which we can then give to spouses/partners, but these cannot be guaranteed and are issued on a first come, first served basis.

As far as I am aware, this is the same procedure with any show, only the exhibitor receives a free pass.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

June Davies, FNVS Branch Secretary

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58 simplyvegetables

Judges’ Exam The Judges’ Exam this year will take place on Saturday, 6th October, 2018, venue to be confirmed.

If you would like to become a National Vegetable Society Judge and would like more information, please contact our Chair, Sandra Hall (01952 541396, Email: noddy.crudgington@ outlook.com) or Secretary, June Davies (01531 822750, Email: june.davies03@btinternet.com.

Southern Branch Chairman’s Report Well this will be my last report as Southern Branch Chairman.

By the time you will be reading this, the Southern Branch AGM will have taken place and hopefully there will be an able successor in office. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Southern branch committee for all their efforts, and support over the past 2 years and I am sure that they will continue the good work under new leadership in the coming years. I have been eluding to our impending move north over the past few editions of SV and recent news of my clever daughter Emma, receiving two unconditional offers from university interviews, means that one of the final pieces of the jigsaw has been put in place. By October both of the kids will have flown the nest and we will be free to start the next chapter of our lives, buying a smallholding and start living the “Good Life”. With the impending move there is of course a bit to do on our current home to prepare it for market so this is what I will be concentrating my attentions on for a good part of this year and putting growing, showing and NVS activities on the back burner.

Before stepping down from office, there are a few things that I would like to follow up on.

Despite being early in the year, we are already planning the judges’ exam for 2018. In order for this to go ahead we will need at least 5 candidates to participate. The event in October last year, kindly hosted by the Essex DA, saw another six judges gain their stripes (badges). Hearty congratulations go out to all who passed.

The 2018 exam will be held on Saturday October 6th but the location has yet to be decided. If you are interested in finding out more and/or taking part in the exam, then please contact me or any other member of the Southern Branch committee.

The other area I would like to cover is the affiliated societies who have been awarded the NVS plaque as a trophy for the winning exhibit in one of their open classes. This year’s awardees are:

• •

Billingshurst Horticultural Society for 5 potatoes.

Cheam and Cuddington Horticultrural Society for Patti pan squashes.

• Honicknowle Allotments and Gardens Association for potatoes, 3 red and 3 white on separate plates.

• Yealmpton Allotment and Gardener’s Association for 10 cherry tomatoes.

I wish all of our plaque winning societies well for their 2018 shows and hope that their benches are heavy with exhibits on the day.

Tonight promises to be the coldest of the winter so far and in the south we are expecting the temperatures to fall down to -4. For once I am not overly concerned as I have little in the greenhouse or poly tunnel that the frost could spoil. One place where these sort of temperatures do bring challenges is my garage. It becomes so cold that paint doesn’t dry properly, so I am having to perform decorative duties, painting doors etc. in the warmth of the main house, which is altogether a more satisfying arrangement.

Despite my deviation from horticultural exploits this season I do hope to be visiting some of the shows and undertaking my share of judging commitments. I have the fullest agenda this summer since qualifying as an NVS judge and having added the NDS judge’s qualification to my portfolio last August, I am finding that Sundays and weekdays are also now being filled on the calendar. I look forward to catching up with some of you at the various events in 2018 before heading up to the wilds of Shropshire. I wish you all well for a successful growing season in 2018.

Well as a famous comedy duo used to end their show, “well its good bye from me” but hopefully there will be a “hello from him or her” from my successor in the next edition.

Ian Clemens FNVS

Surrey District Association Keith Hine

Chairman: Keith Hine Treasurer: Louise Clubley Assistant Treasurer and Publicity: Derek Learwood Secretary: Sally Coleman Event Secretary: Beth Otway

At the AGM held on 17th February, Patricia Barrett and Neil Hope stood down as Co-Chairman, both having served for over 11 years in various DA Officer Positions.

Keith Hine has been elected to take over the role of DA Chairman. Neil will stay on the Committee as the interface with the RHS for various events held at RHS Locations in the Surrey/London Area.

During the forthcoming year, as well as the DA meetings listed below, it is anticipated that the Surrey DA will potentially participate in the following events at RHS Wisley in late May/ June (Children’s week May 31st-June 3rd), Plant Societies Weekend June 16th/17th, RHS Flower Show Sept 8th/9th and Taste of Autumn October 17th- 21st. We would be

grateful for any assistance DA members could provide in either manning our Stand or in providing Plants for sale to raise funds. Please contact Beth Otway beth@otway.com if you feel you can contribute in any way.

On Tuesday 10th April 2018, Peter Almond will be joining us for a talk entitled ‘The Two Hour A Week Allotment’ at 8pm at Redhill Methodist Church, Gloucester Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1BP. Thursday 10th May 2018, at 8pm, we will be joined by Paul Barney, the owner of Edulis Nursery for a talk entitled ‘In Search of Unusual Edibles’ in the Lovelace Room of East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue, East Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey KT24 6QT.

Thursday 11th October 2018, Ian Clemens will be joining us at 8pm, for a talk about growing giant veg, entitled ‘Land of the Giants!’ in the Lovelace Room of East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue, East Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey KT24 6QT. This meeting will also include our ‘mini-show’.

Thursday 8th November 2018, Writtle College Lecturer Michael Abel will be joining us at 8pm, for a talk on ‘Growing Vegetables’ in the Lovelace Room of East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue, East Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey KT24 6QT.

On Sunday 22nd July 2018, at 2pm, we will be visiting Bardsey, a private two acre garden which features a productive fruit and vegetable garden, bog gardens and a natural pond, and a meadow within a parterre. There is a bee hive, bug hotel, chickens and ducks. This garden is opening especially for the NVS. Places for this visit must be booked in advance, please contact Beth Otway beth@otway.com to book your place. simplyvegetables 59

Essex DA

Sussex District Association

Essex DA held their annual AGM back last November, where we discussed our thoughts on how the past year had gone, things we wanted to keep the same and things we wanted to change. Our longstanding DA Secretary, Pat Eves, unfortunately handed in her resignation just ahead of the AGM after over 10 years, seeing the DA from inception to where we are today. We just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Pat again for all her hard work over the years.

The Essex DA programme for 2018 will be as follows: • Sunday 8 April – Sherie Plumb speaks on “A Year in our Garden” • Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April – Spring Plant Fair at RHS Hyde Hall • Sunday 13 May – Dave Gillam speaks on “Growing Dahlias” • Sunday 15 July – Mini Show • Sunday 14 October – John Branham and Jim Thompson speak on “Exhibiting and judging vegetables” • Sunday 18 November – AGM If you would like any further information about the Essex DA or any of our events please contact Emily on emily.plumb@ btinternet.com or 01621 741787.

Chairman: Ian Clemens FNVS, Vice Chairman: Paul Dalby, Treasurer: Brian Jeffries FNVS, Secretary: Marion Neden

Kent DA

Thursday/Friday/Saturday 7/8/9th June SOUTH OF ENGLAND SHOW – Exhibition stand and plant sales. Plants and helpers wanted please.

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month from March until October, no meeting in July.

• 11th April Alan Wright is giving a talk on Growing Chrysanthemums • 9th May Carol Passey with a talk on a walk in the park.

• 12th/13th May Plant sale at Tonbridge Football club, opens at 9am on the Saturday and 10 am on the Sunday.

• 13th June, Lotte Shaw on ‘’Tax care and Toy Boys’’ • 6th/7th & 8th July we are at the Kent County Show with our first stand of the year with the Kent Federation of Horticultural Societies.

Everyone is welcome at our meetings More details are available from the secretary Gordon J Francis FNVS on 01622 710486 or email gordonjfrancis@googlemail. com or off of the NVS website.

I am pleased to report that following our AGM in January, our committee remains the same for 2018. Our current chairman will be standing down at the 2019 AGM so anyone who fancies taking over leading the DA going forward, please make yourself known to any member of the committee. We have now finalised our programme for 2018 and is as follows: Ashurst Village Hall, Ashurst, West Sussex BN44 3AP. B2135 between Steyning and Partridge Green.

Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm. Ashurst Village Hall Talk by Dr Steve Millam, ‘The Potato: Past, Present, Future.’ Dr Millam is a lecturer in Horticulture at Brinsbury College and was part of the breeding team responsible for the development Anya and Mayan Gold.

Sunday 18th March, 11am - 4pm, Ashurst Village Hall.

Southern Branch AGM, refreshments, followed by 1pm Talk by John Bebbington FNVS “From back bedroom to allotment and back again” 2.30 Talk by Sherie Plumb FNVS, Chairman Essex DA, “A year in our garden” Sunday/Monday 6th & 7th May Spring Show at Ardingly, NVS Promotional stand and Plant Sales. Helpers and growers wanted please.

Wednesday 9th May, 7.30pm, Ashurst Village Hall Gardener’s Questions and answers evening. Panel: Barry Newman FNVS, Jean Griffin and Ian Clemens FNVS.

July 18th 2.30pm Outing to Arundel Castle Gardens. £10 per head, please confirm to Secretary if you are interested.

Wednesday 12th September, 7.30pm Ashurst Village Hall Our own MINI Show. Lots of entries please! Ask secretary for schedule.

Saturday/Sunday. 6/7th October Autumn Show and Game Fair, South of England Show Ground, Ardingly NVS Promotional Stand and display. Helpers and produce please.

Wednesday 14th November, 7.30pm Ashurst Village Hall Talk by Dr. Chris Cockel. From the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew on ‘Crop Wild Relatives’.

There is a pressing need for agriculture to adapt to climate change, and learning more about wild relatives of crop plants could help us achieve this. Collecting and protecting the wild relatives of the world’s most important food crops to safeguard our future food security in a changing climate.

Wednesday 9th January 2019, 7.30pm Ashurst Village Hall AGM followed by Talk TBA

Devon District Association Chairman: Don Cockman.

Treasurer: Allan Terry FNVS. Secretary: Dave Wickstead.

The AGM was held on the 16/1/18 the previous AGM minutes of 2017 were read.

The accounts were presented by Alan Terry & accepeted by the members.

The election of the groups officers was to be commenced, at this time AlanTerry informed the group that he would be standing down as the Treasurer as he has done this task for many years & he felt someone else should take on the position. The group thanked Alan for the many years he has performed this

60 simplyvegetables

task. The Chairman Don Cockman was relected for this position, Dave Wickstead was relected for the position of Secretary. Joe Wallis voluntered for the position of Treasurer & was duly elected.

The dates for the meetings in 2018 were agreed as 17th April, 19th June, 18th September, 20th November & 15th January 2019 for the AGM. It was suggested that for our meetings as we are struggling to get any speakers that we would use a DVD player to show DVD’s on growing vegetables, fruit & flowers.

Tony Evans agreed to hold an open garden evening on Saturday 2nd July more details would be announced at the next meeting.

Hants DA Chairman: Jim Townsend, Secretary: Alison Clarke, Treasurer: Ann Brown

The Hants DA 2017 events calendar was brought to a close by our AGM in December and as usual, the meeting was very well attended. We had appealed for new committee members and were delighted that Eric Pickard came forward to fill the vacancy of Hants DA trainee show secretary. Ted had suggested it would be good for someone to learn the ropes alongside him for the 2018 Hants DA annual show, with a view to taking over for 2019. In addition to Eric, the incumbent committee were happy to stand again and were voted back into office, no doubt leaving everyone else relieved to have dodged the bullet for another year.

We would like to renew our invitation for new blood for the committee though, as ‘newbies’ often bring an injection of innovative ideas and a fresh outlook. In the meantime, we welcome Eric and look forward to working with him.

Our first event of 2018 was the Hampshire Potato Day in Whitchurch. We love this annual gathering. It pulls a big crowd and is a great place for the NVS to have a presence.

Luckily, the organisers are always keen to have us there and we are very pleased to attend. Most people stop at the stand to ask veg related questions although this year it seemed our ‘celebrity’ chef was the biggest draw. There is a new face on the MasterChef circuit and it looks suspiciously like Nigel Gould. Alternatively, perhaps that should be Crimewatch, as he did a magnificent job passing off Barbara’s feather light cookery samples as his own. His charming sales patter certainly encouraged the sale of numerous copies of “Getting Started Cooking with Vegetables”. He succeeded in selling me one and I rarely cook!

It was good to meet Graeme Bowyer who visited the stand. We had a lively but

Nigel and Graeme

Ted modelling potential new NVS t-shirt

amicable debate about the rights and wrongs of removing excess exhibits from a dish, following the publication of his and other letters in SV magazine. Neither changed the other’s opinion so we happily agreed to disagree and parted friends.

Potato Day was particularly successful this year thanks to Barbara for cooking goodies to promote the cookbook, to Bob Marsh for helping out and donating plants and to Ted for his dahlia tubers, all of which proved a real money-spinner.

For our March seminar we are very excited to have BBC Radio Solent’s gardening expert Wolfgang Bopp talking on ‘The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens’ along with Graeme Wagstaffe, back by popular demand, talking this time on ‘Greenhouse Crops’. We have widely advertised the event, so hope it will result in bumper ticket sales. If this magazine arrives in time, do come and join us on 10 March 1.30pm at Wellow Village Hall, address below. More details on the NVS website. Tickets £5 available from Ann on 01794 301444.

A hopeful request to our local members, if you are sowing seeds, please sow a few more for Hants DA. Our Plant Sale in May is extremely popular and its success is down to the very kind donations of plants we receive from our members and friends.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our forthcoming events and always extend a warm welcome as well as some form of refreshment. Many thanks to the ladies who help with the catering at our events. We very much appreciate the contribution of Heather, Barbara, Ann, Elsie, Margaret and Gaye and hope they will keep up the good work, as our male members are very backward at volunteering for tea duty and even slower at washing up!

5 May - Plant Sale 10am-1pm 12 June - Longleat Kitchen Garden – Matt Simpson 8 July - Garden Visit 1.30pm Cricketers View SO20 8BU 24-26 July - New Forest Show & Southern Branch Championships 9 Sept - Hants DA Show 1pm 9 Oct - Sweet Peas – Jim MacDonald 13 Nov - Seed Production – Dave Thornton 11 Dec - AGM +

Next Meetings: 10 April - Exhibiting at RHS Shows – Barry Clarke

Unless otherwise stated, we meet at Wellow Village Hall, Buttons Lane, West Wellow, Romsey, Hants SO51 6BR. The Hants DA events programme and show schedule are available on the NVS website www.nvsuk.org.uk

NVS Southern Branch Championships (Incorporation the New Forest Open Show) 24th, 25th & 26th July 2018 The Showground, New Park, Brockenhurst, Hampshire SO42 7QH Schedules will be available to download from www.newforestshow.co.uk or by telephone 01590 622400 or by Email info@newforestshow.co.uk Previous years entrants will be sent a hard copy.

Show secretary Mr Gerald Vale 29 Havering Road, Romford, Essex, RM1 4QT gerald.vale@btinternet.com 01708 723013

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Welsh Branch Chairman’s Thoughts I wish all members a healthy an prosperous New Year and the best of luck for 2018 in the garden.

2017 war a very busy one for the Branch, and myself. Our Championships were held again at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, and were a great success with entries up again for a third year. Congratulations to all the successful exhibitors and also those who did not win.

This year the Branch Championships will be back at St. Fagans National Museum of History Cardiff. It will be held in The Atrium (main entrance hall). as part of St Fagans Food Festival.

Congratulations also all the Welsh members who were successful at the National Championships at Malvern, it was a huge success, thanks to the Midland Branch for the welcome to myself as a judge, and to Gill my wife.

Congratulations to all who were granted awards at the AGM. for their dedication and services to the N.V.S. Fellowships were awarded to Sue Mc Call, Andrew Jones, Rob Holmes and Anne Wiffan.

Gold medals were awarded to Ivor Mace and Emlyn Thomas, two longstanding and highly respected members.

On a personal note, on the Wednesday after the National Championships I was admitted to hospital for knee replacement surgery, and at the time of writing this report, recovery Museum of Welsh Life is going well, but no gardening yet.

We are now looking forward to our AGM in March, and it would be nice to get some new committee members. If anyone is interested, please contact myself or any one of the existing committee.

In April we will be attending the RHS Show at Cardiff, followed by the Royal Welsh Show in July, please drop in and see us for a chat.

Cardiff Show

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2017 Show The Welsh Branch display was awarden a Large Gold Medal.

Manning the stand were Cecil Townsend, Jim Thompson and Alaw Jones

Welsh Branch News The Welsh Branch will have an information and plant sale stand in the Discovery Marquee at the RHS Cardiff spring show on Friday 13th to Sunday 15th April. Please come along and say hello.

We will also have a stand at the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th July. There is a very well contested vegetable section at the show, but don’t forget entries have to be in more than a month beforehand.

Our own branch championships will be held at The Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagans, St Nicholas. Cardiff on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September. We are very excited to be holding our show in the new building at the entrance of the museum. Catering facilities will be in the new building. Entry to the museum is free with a £5 car parking charge. This will be waved for exhibitors.

Irish Branch This summer’s Show Season in Ireland will have a couple of new incentives for exhibitors to aim for.

The NVS in Ireland are presenting a new trophy to Tullamore Show for the most points in the 11 potato classes at the Show, full details of which will appear in the Tullamore Show entry forms.

This is in addition to the Michael Walton Memorial Shield, which is presented to the exhibitor with the most points in the vegetable classes. The Bord Bia All Ireland Potato Championship and the Bridge House collection of Vegetables will continue at Tullamore as in Previous years.

Moate Agricultural Society have announced they will be staging a new Quality Onion All Ireland Championship at their show later in August, details set out below.

New Irish Onion Competition for 2018 The Quality Onion All Ireland Championship Sponsored by: Moate Agricultural Show Society Prize Fund: €400 The competition requires a dish of 5 onions of any variety.

The onions may be grown from either seed or sets. A special qualifying class will be held at selected shows around Ireland.

Two exhibits may qualify for the Final, if the Judges agree that the standard is high enough.

The Competition will be judged as follows: Condition/Quality: 25 points Uniformity and Shape: 25 points Size/Weight: 10 points Colour: 10 points Overall presentation/attractiveness: 10 points

(Above) View of Potato classes at Tullamore Show in 2017, which we are donating a trophy for in 2018.

(Left) One of our long standing members Tom Maher judging at Mountbellew Show in 2017. Also included in picture Paula Gavin Broderick, show steward

Special New Beetroot Competition for 2018 For many years Beetroot Pablo F1 has been the exhibition variety par excellence. A consistent winner at local and National Championships, it’s been almost impossible to beat (no pun intended!) until now…

D.T. Brown the mail order vegetable and fruit specialists, have long been friends of the NVS and are often on the lookout for varieties that will perform well on the showbench. This year, their seed buyer Rachel (who many members will have met at shows in the past) has uncovered a new variety that she thinks will rival Pablo.

Beetroot Subeto F1 is a high quality variety producing uniform, spherical fruits of intense, deepest crimson. It has excellent resistance to fungal diseases and scab, leaving a smooth blemish free skin that’s bound to turn heads at judging time.

Tim Jeffries, D.T. Brown General Manager, says: “We think Subeto F1 has a real future on the show bench, but don’t just take our word for it. We’ve enclosed a packet with this edition of Simply Vegetables magazine for NVS members to try themselves. What’s more, I am pleased to announce a special competition for members to exhibit Subeto F1 at the NVS National Championships at the Harrogate Autumn Show this year.”

The competition has a prize fund of £150 with prizes of £65 for first place, £35 for second, £25 for third, £15 for fourth and £10 for fifth place. The class is for a dish of four beets and as all members will be using the same seed, this removes any advantage members might have growing different cultivars.

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The competition is free to enter, so why not give it a go?

For more details, look out for a schedule in your edition of Simply Vegetables.

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