Kitchen Garden Forum

Can anyone help please - I am going to show some of my veggies at a local show next weekend. I have only shown once before so I really don't know what I am doing. The articles in KG (last year?) were really helpful but I have a few more questions.
1. Leeks - do you cut off the roots for showing (I can't find an article on leeks although no doubt there was one). Also, it says to display on a board 1 foot by 2 foot. Do you just lay them flat on the board? I seem to recall seeing leeks displayed with the board standing upright. If that is what I need to do, how do I attach the leeks?
2. Collection of four vegetables in a box. Do you have to use veggies that are listed in another class or can you use anything at all. e.g. I have some French Beans which I would like to use but there isn't a class for them. Also, how many of each veggie do you put in - and what is a parsley dressing? Do you just scatter some parsley around?

Please can you help?
Thanks
Haggis

P.S. Vegetable Marrow class - can I use a courgette which has grown too big? I have never really been sure about the difference between a courgette and a marrow.

I have just been at our local show today, the leeks all has the roots on, washed, they were not necessarily on boards, some growers brought cloths, others just laid them on the table, none were upright although i have seen this at bigger shows on a black cloth covered board. On the four vegetable class there were varied offerings, but i think you get points for different veg, more for some than others and its better to choose high point items, something like spring onions or french beans I imagine would be of a low points value. The general mix seemed to be of leeks, carrots, parsnip, potatoes, onions, celery, cauliflower and beetroot (4 from those)Maybe if it says in a box, you should use a box? Good luck! Mandy

Haggis, in the case of your leeks, I would wash the roots carefully, remove any damaged outside leaves (I think they call them 'flags' in the Show business), tie the leaves loosely together with raffia or green string twice and then lay them on the board of the required size, probably having covered it with black cloth first (you can of course use this board every year).
In the collection of four vegetables, I would pick four vegetables which are different to each other, say, a root, a 'fruit' (tomato, aubergine. pepper), a brassica and, say, leek or a particularly good onion or garlic. I would not use any other decorations like parsley because that might be construed as another vegetable and therefore 'not according to schedule'.
For the marrow, an overgrown courgette is fine, they are the same really.
Good luck!
For future use, the RHS publishes a good guide to showing your vegetables which is very detailed but in any local Show, as long as you follow the schedule, you are usually fine.

Thanks for the advice - I'll give it a go! Feeling a bit of a twit just now - have just dropped a tray of poatatoes which I was saving for the show and every one bar one got skinned in the fall. Think it's the nerves - my wee boy starts school tomorrow and I am really in a bit of a state.There will be tears tomorrow - and it won't be from him!!

Dear Haggis, hope all goes well with the showing, and also with your Sons first day a school.

I'm sure everything will be just fine.

A tip I was given by a show judge, offer to do stewart for your local show.
Then accompany one of the judges as he or she is judging the exhibits and you can ask what he/she is looking for and why one exhibit is better than another!

They are usually only too happy to explain and pass on any tips!

Anyway, good luck, the bug is catching, and sometimes fatal!

You can straighten runner beans and keep them crisp by picking a few too many than you need for the show, wrap them in kitchen paper, put greensticks on the outside like splints then bind together with elastic bands, leave over night and display the best four or five next day, they will be straight and also stay crisp for the snap test.

Also not all village shows have judges that know about growing veg. So its all a bit of a lottery sometimes, but fun also.

CoMpO

Thanks for all of the advice folks. The show was great fun and I picked up a few cards. I think that most of the exhibitors were like myself - doing it for a bit of fun. There was one man who evidently did a lot of showing - his stuff was in a different class. He was really friendly and chatted about how he grew his veggies. Can't wait until next year... I think I have got the bug!

Dear Haggis, Glad you enjoyed your first show so much, and congratulations on picking up a few cards.

Might see you at some of the national shows in a few years time.

Hello haggis,

Well done!

For next year try and find out what varieties the successful pro's were growing and try them!
Some vegetables are good for showing others are good for eating.
On the show bench, it is nearly always the same varieties that pick up the red cards,so grow them!

Cheers and good showing!

Hi Haggis
It sounds like you now have the bug Its a great buzz.What did you put into the show?Where did you get?
I was thinking ,if you have an allotment you could get lots of help in showing, off other plot holders,im sure they would be only too happy to help.They are very helpfull on our plot,showing how to dress your veg e.t.c.
once the digging season is over,then its time too sit down on those cold winter nights and plan what you are going to grow next year

Dear Grock, i would have never taken you for an exhibitionist.

Just shows, you never can tell.

i have showed quiet a few of my attributes off...and won prizes

We have put things into our local village show for more than 20 years and always enjoy it. As members of the society which runs the show and the local horticultural society, we try to make sure that there are good numbers of exhibits for the visitors to see (well, that's our excuse anyway), but it's still good fun to come away with some (non-cash) first prizes. One year we got the prize for the most points in the show and received a £40 voucher for a local horticultural merchant. That was great.

Because we have classes for preserves, baking, photography etc as well as vegetables, flowers and pot plants, it's not too difficult to prepare things well in advance, so there isn't such a mad rush on show day.

Hi Grock,
I did best with my leeks -don't even know what variety they were. The last few years my leeks were more like spring onions but this year they just grew and grew. I washed them well and put them on a black board and they looked great. Got a first for my peas too. Have to admit that it was a very small show with only a handful of entries in each class!

Not much hope of getting help at my allotment. There are only 6 plots, two of which are vacant, two are half-worked, one belongs to a community group (only ever there on Mondays) and my plot. I really miss the old boy who used to have the plot next to me. He darnk like a fish, smoked, swore a lot and blitzed the place with chemicals but he was a real character and a fund of knowledge. He popped his clogs on the plot a few years back. Can't think of a better way to go......