Show Rules for fennel and pink fir apples and patti pan

[nickyk]

I'm a show novice and just realised (for Saturday) that i ought to have bought the show rules from the RHS as our schedule just refers back to them.
I want to show some Pink Fir Apple Potatoes: they are knobbly and rather vulgar. Do I have to find boring matched ones or can i enter them in all their glory?
I also want to enter fennel and patti pan in a mixed veg class but can't find ideal sizes for those?
Advice welcome!

[FelixLeiter]

I want to show some Pink Fir Apple Potatoes: they are knobbly and rather vulgar. Do I have to find boring matched ones or can i enter them in all their glory?

The matching ones don't have to be boring. They can still be vulgar and knobbly, they just have to match. Make sure they're well washed and then paint them with milk, is my tip, for a lustrous skin.

[nickyk]

Now there's a challenge! I shall have fun today.
Thank you.

[FelixLeiter]

I shall have fun today.

I hope you do. Showing is a great deal of fun if you go there with the right attitude. Remember it's not the size that matters, but the quality and uniformity, and the presentation. If you can get five exactly matching Pink Fir Apples (yes, I know) then you're in with a very good chance. I got a 1st with some Catriona potatoes at my local show once. They were slightly smaller than most of the other competitors', but I think the judges were seduced by their purple eyes.

Regarding fennel, I don't recall what the schedule states for this but I failed to place with some fennel at a show once because it was considered too big. It was about the size of a Jaffa orange, if that's a useful guide. It is rather coarse for eating at that size, for sure, which is something a good judge should give consideration to. Stringy runner beans, for instance, are definitely a no-no.