Malvern Autumn Show 2015

It was the Malvern Autumn Show last weekend so I had to go and have a look to me it is one of the highlights of the Horticultural calendar. Especially for the amateur vegetable grower this has one of the best shows in the country and always attracts growers from all over the country.



It was another great show as always there was rows and rows or perfect vegetables and flowers as far as the eye could see. In the Harvest Pavilion this is where amateur growers from all over the country come together under one roof to battle it out to see who wins the sort after red cards.





 One of the bests exhibits for me was the British Trug Championship it is amazing how many vegetables you can squeeze in to a trug and defiantly deserved the title of reserve best in show.

The National Vegetable Society's championships was also taking place in the Harvest Pavilion and the collections of vegetables where superb and showed some almost perfect vegetables.

Over in the good life pavilion not only was there lots of great talks and demonstrations through out the day. It was also where the 20th giant vegetable championships where taking place and there was certainly some big vegetables on display. Three new world records where broken the heaviest leek weighing in at a staggering 10.6kg that's a lot of leek soup grown by Paul Rochester from Sunderland. A 12.9kg cucumber the Queen would only need one of these to feed her guests cucumber sandwiches at her garden party and still have cucumber left over.



But the world record I do not understand is the longest beetroot in the world 7.21m long the reason I do not understand it is that only the first 2 foot is actually beetroot and the rest is just fine root hair. But putting that aside it is very impressive to grow a root to such a length and get it out the ground with out breaking it. 

There was also a few flowers too but it is the vegetables that I am really interested in but there was lots of fantastic flowers on display.

 As well as lots of great fruit it would not be Malvern without the fruit and hops on show.

Can not wait till next years Malvern Autumn Show 24th - 25th September 2016.

Pumpkins Just Keep Getting Bigger

The Weekend saw the UK Pumpkin record be smashed by the Paton twins at the UK Annual Pumpkin Festival in Southampton.

There winning Pumpkin weighed a staggering 1,884lbs it was only 218lbs short of breaking the world record. It measured 17ft round and was putting on 35lbs a day at its peak and watered it with 100 gallons of water a day to get it to swell. There hard work payed off when they received a cheque for £1000 off the sponsors Thompson and Morgan.

Stuart Patern commented  “ We’ve always been confident of getting the world title eventually and it’s brilliant to be installing  a new greenhouse for 2015 on better soil with better drainage and twice the amount of growing space. We should be all set to take on the Americans and the Swiss.”

Thompson and Morgan have committed to sponsoring the even again in 2015 and should the world record be broken on British soil have offered to pay out £10.000 to the winner.

T&M Horticultural Director, Paul Hansord said: “It used to be said that the world record would never leave the US, but if the Swiss can do it, we can do it. Our seed quality just keeps getting better thanks to the Patons’ selective pollination, and UK growers are upping the game every year. I’ve every confidence the Paton boys can bring the title to UK shores in the near future.”

 T&M will be selling seeds from the Paton twins Pumpkin under the variety name Pumpkin ‘Paton Twins Giant’.  It’s a popular line with amateur growers at just £9.99 for two huge seeds with the genetics to become a record breaker.

If you are wanting to grow a big one next year then this is the seed you need to get your hands on.

Getting Squashed

It's that time of year again when the squash and pumpkin harvest comes in from the garden. It's been a good year for Squashes and Pumpkins they just wanted to grow and did not get any mildew till late on in the season. All i had to do was keep them watered and they just romped away particularly the Pumpkins they seemed to grow before your eyes. Like blowing up a balloon although some of them did pop and rot into a soupy mess but luckily they did not all go that way.

Gourds growing over the arch

I grew a lot of gourds this year over our pergola probably too many judging by the harvest we got off them. But they do make great decorations around the house and garden and if dried will last for many years. They can be painted as ornaments and in some African country they use them to eat out off instead of plates they are the ultimate disposable plate.

Gourds and squashes drying in greenhouse.

They are a great vegetable for the self sufficient gardener as they will last months if stored well and can be turned into many dishes from soups to pies. Keep them frost free and dry leave a slight gap between each fruit so that if one dose rot it wont spread to the others. Fingers crossed they will last till way into the spring when we should have some new crops in the garden to eat and we don't have to eat out of the store.

Pumpkin Harvest

Entering the land of the giants

Last weekend was the Malvern Autumn Show which i mentioned in my last post one of the competitions that takes place is The National Giant Vegetable Championships.

457kg Pumpkin grown by David Thomas

The show takes place in the Wye hall at the top end of the show ground where the Floral displays are held. I am always amazed by the shear size some of these vegetables can grow too it is like Entering The Land Of The Giants. Where the Pumpkins are big enough for cinders to use as a carriage and cucumbers so big they would make a Nun blush. Now i was inspired to have a go at growing some giants after visiting the show last year and  although what i grew did well they where no where near big enough. To have a chance of competing with the big boys at Malvern but i must admit after visiting Malvern this year my Pot Leeks would not have  embarrassed me. So with a bit more effort next year should see me placing some monsters on the bench although i am going to hold off booking the folklift and artic lorry until nearer the time.

New world record long beetroot and long parsnip

This year was another good year for new records it is amazing that these growers still keep on managing to grow them bigger and bigger every year. This year saw two world records and one British record where smashed. David Thomas managed to grow the UK's biggest cabbage a whopping 56.4kg. Which is big enough to keep a small town in cabbage for there Sunday lunch.

David Thomas 56.4kg cabbage

But the highlight had to be the two world records Joe Atherton managed to grow a beetroot 667.30cm long and he also managed to grow a whopping 628.10cm long parsnip. 

Heaviest 3 onions 20.20kg grown by Peter Glazebrook
All the results of this years Giant Veg Championships are available on Giantveg.co.uk website. This is also a good site to get all your growing information and also where to get your giant seeds from.

There where many entry's in the Tomato class

Leek 6.2kg by J Dirden

You will need a lot of stuffing to fill one of these marrows

Malvern Autumn Show

Malvern Autumn show has become one of the annual highlights of the gardening year for me and the family. I have been going every Autumn for years now and it seems to get better every year i go.

Medwyns seeds gold medal display

There is always something for all the family even if you are not the slightest bit interested in gardening. There are vintage cars, animals, lots of shopping to be done some great entertainment in the arenas and of cause all the flowers and veg. Some of the country's best Vegetable growers come to Malvern every year to battle it out for the most wanted red card or the ultimate accolade best in show. One class that I'm always impressed with is the collection of five veg and they did not disappoint this year. J Thompson was the winner of this class The collection had some fantastic blanch leeks on it.

Collection's of veg

The Wye hall is always the place to find the best plant nursery s from around the country the amazing floral displays are fantastic. Even if you where blind you would know where you are as soon as you walk in to the hall you are hit by the heady aroma of all the flowers jumbled up into a sent you only get at a flower show. The highlight for me this year was Medwyn's of Anglesey with his gold medal winning display which was also awarded best display in show. The display shows how colorful vegetables can be whether it be from the roots, leaves or fruit and can beat any floral display for colour.

Chrysanthemum display

Now Malvern would not be Malvern with out fruit lots of fruit and there was plenty on offer. RV Roger's from North Yorkshire. Had a lovely display of apples and pears the quality of the fruit was superb and really shows off what good nurserymen they are. The perry pear was being highlighted with the Festival of Perry showing off how good real perry is compared to mass produced pear cider. There was also the annual Apple and Pear show where commercial growers compete against each other to see who has the best fruit this year.

A new addition to Malvern this year was pumpkin carving Simon Mcminnis. Who is said to be the UK's best pumpkin carver was there all weekend carving several pumpkins. It was certainly the best pumpkin carving i have ever seen on the Sunday he was challenged to carve a likeness of Joe Swift from Gardeners World. By the end of the day he managed to get a very good likeness. The only problem i have now is the Girls now want a bit more carved into there pumpkin than the standard triangle eyes and mouth.

Simon Mcninnis Pumpkin carving

My daughter Gwyneth was very pleased to see the Dahlia that is names after her had won first prize. My dad bred this Dahlia many years ago now and names it after my daughter when she was about two years old. It is a water lily type that has become quite popular over the years and is a regular prize winner.

Gwyneth stood next to her Dahlias

Malvern is such a big show and you really do need both days to get to see it all properly there where lots of parts of the show that i never got to see. It would have been nice to have had time to watch some of the entertainment in the arenas and do a little shopping. by 5 o'clock the legs and feet where aching and it was time to go home. Eleanor had already given up while i was talking to Medwyn and parked her self in front of the display next door.

I am already looking forward to Malvern next year and the date is in the diary 26th-27th September 2015 but we still have the spring show before them to look forward too.

 Eleanor had had enough by the end of the day

Taking on the Big Boys at Malvern Part 2

Back in June i announced that i was going to have a go at growing giant veg and Taking On The Big Boys at Malvern in September. Well we where off to a good start the onions, pumpkins and leeks where all romping away better than could be expected. But unfortunately just as the onions where starting to swell they got hit by downy mildew. So unfortunately they had to be lifted which was a real shame as they where doing so well. 
But they had to come out to stop the downy mildew spreading to all my other onions they are drying nicly in the greenhouse now good for the kitchen if not for Malvern.

But the great surprise this year has been the pot leeks they are doing really well and are the biggest i have ever grown. They are growing outside just in a bed that was manured in the winter and have no protection so will not be as big as anyone who has grown them in a tunnel or greenhouse. But they are the biggest i have ever grown so I'm really chuffed to bits with them just hopping that they are still as good in September.

And now for the pumpkins well they have taken over one corner of the garden and we have three lovely pumpkins that are fairly big. Which is great but they do seem to have stopped growing in the last couple of weeks and although they are a decent size. They will be no where near the size needed to get any where close to the other competitors at Malvern we will have to wait and see if they end up at Malvern.
What ever happens i will have a leek at Malvern and may be a pumpkin but we have had great fun growing these giant veg which is what it is all about.
Has any body else had a go at growing some giant veg this year for the first time or going to Malvern with some other entry do let us know.

Taking on the Big Boys at Malvern.

I used to do lots of showing of vegetables and flowers many years ago i did quite well getting many red cards. But due to having all my time taken up by work or not having any where to grow i had almost given up. But now i have the space to grow again although i don't have any more time but after last year i have decided to make some. Last year was the first time for years that i had entered a show for many years it was the local show and i was asked if i could put i few entry's in which i did the best in show that i won has spurred me on to do a bit more this year.

Me at Bristol Show in 2000 with my winning collection of 5 veg

I have grown most things over the years but never had an interest in giant veg until i went to Malvern show last September. Where the National Giant Veg Championships where being held it was like walking in to the land of the giants. The shear size of some of the vegetables was very impressive so much so that i have been inspired to have a go my self and take on the big boys at Malvern this Autumn.

Pumpkin Big Max

Now i don't hold out much hope of a prize card as there will be some stiff competition from several world record holders but i am going to give it a good go. I am growing several giant veg this year the first is a Pumpkin the variety i am growing is Big Max this variety can get to a good size. A although i should have ideally planted Atlantic Giant but i could not get any seed locally when i needed to sow. They are romping away so fingers crossed i should get something descent just need to keep the water on them and feed them weekly.  

Pot Leek Sammy X

The next veg i am growing is Pot Leeks these where rooted from pips in early December and have been grown under lights all winter. They have been planted out now for about a month and are doing well so i'm hopeful of getting something decent.

Onion Peter Glazebrook strain

The last of the giant veg is my Onions the seed came from the World record holder Peter Glazebrook so i am off to good start from the start. Again they have been growing under lights in the greenhouse since December and have been planted out for about  month.

All of the Giant Veg that i am growing although they where started indoors they are all being grown outdoors with no protection over the summer. I do know that most of the big growers grow everything indoors so i have put my self at a disadvantage to the other growers but im going to give it a good go.
I will let you know how they are all growing though the season and fingers crossed i will get some veg to Malvern in September.