MARKHOLE

  NEWS AND VIEWS

                                                                                                                                                                      July 2011

Dates for the Diary

Open Day July 30^th at 10:30

How is your produce for the competition on Open Day coming on? If you wish to compete you must be a member of the Association, so join now. The judge will be looking for variety of material, quality and presentation. The container is too small for marrows, so show courgettes instead. There will no doubt be a separate competition for the heaviest marrow. The smaller vegetables should be shown in groups of three. They should be three of the same size and where possible with the foliage left on. Potatoes of different varieties may be shown with three of each variety exhibited. Lettuce takes up a lot of room, so one of each variety is in order. Currants should be shown on the trusses. Soft fruit needs rather more than three berries, it can sometimes be convenient to display them on a leave of the plant they grew on.

Entries for the scarecrow competition must be set up on your plot by 23^rd July. They will be photographed and the photographs displayed near the hut for viewing and judging on the day. In erecting your scarecrow you may wish to consider what will be in the background of the photograph.

Plates will be provided for the children’s face on a plate. The face is to be composed using vegetables from your plot.

It is time to be planning for next year. You should have an established rotation plan. Brassicas benefit from a dressing of lime. Lime encourages scab on potatoes,  so brassicas should follow the potato crop to maximise the interval between these crops. Your garlic will be ready for  harvesting this month. Select large cloves for next year and keep them in the refrigerator for a month before planting. This process is known as vernalization, as then for the plant Winter has passed and Spring arrived.  Plant the cloves at least four inches deep to ensure large bulbs next Summer. Autumn  onion sets require the opposite treatment. As soon as they arrive from your supplier push the smallest sets into the surface and cover with fleece or mesh to prevent the birds pulling them out before they have rooted. cropping. Reject any large sets.

There is still time to sow peas such as Ambassador broccoli and spinach.

                                                                    Editor Peter Foote