Been a while but busy nonetheless

Been a while since I posted but things are moving on the allotment.
Just a word first about my second year growing veg for show. First of all, it would be unfair to blame the weather for my performance this year. If I,m honest, I have learned lots (again) and I think it will stand me in good stead for next time. I grew long carrots for the 1st time and was fairly pleased with them and although I didnt make it to an NVS event, I did produce a set which won locally. I`m currently building a new greenhouse for next years long carrots, and the stump bed is finished and filled with sand in the polytunnel.
It was all a bit of a rush this year so I`m pleased I got the jump on things and started to prep early.
See pic of the long carrot greenhouse base below.
Onwards !

Whats the marrow ?

I harvested one of my large ! marrows this morning. It had stopped growing so I thought I would cut it.
I just weighed it on next doors bathroom scales and it`s a measley 31 pounds. I had high hopes for this seed but it hasn`t produced. Back to the drawing board.
It`s Harrogate next week so I`ll be pulling the last of the long carrots and hoping I get a decent set. The plan is to zoom down after work on Thursday, do the staging and then get back up to Cumbria pronto cos I need to be at work at 6 the following morning. Then we are going to go down on Saturday to the show, back home and a 40 mile charity bike ride on the Sunday.
I`m gonna be knackered by Monday !

Lets get ahead of the game

I grew my stump carrots in containers this year and they were so rubbish I pulled all of them before the St Bees show. I emptied all the sand into a dumpy bag and decided to get ahead and build the stump bed for next year. It was easier than expected actually and I got it finished over the weekend and a couple of days this week.
A bit more prep to do on it and it`s ready for the sand to go back in. Then I`m moving onto the long carrot house / tunnel / greenhouse type thing. Not sure how it`s going to look yet but I`ll post photos when I get started.

St Bees show

 Top tray. I got a bollocking for the parsnips !

Some pics of my local show which was held last weekend. There was some great stuff on display despite the crap weather and a good turnout also. The flower exhibits were fantastic and my favourite was the Gladioli dispaly from Mark Hewertson shown above.
I entered a few classes and managed 3 red cards for top tray, parsnips and long carrots. The carrots won best veg exhibit in the show which was really pleasing. It means I`m doing something right. The parsnips were a bit ropey but I fancy a proper shot at them next year. I emptied out the containers for the stump carrots and I`m gonna start to build the stump bed for next year. This is going to be a blockwork bed with room for a bout 60 stumps. I`m also going to build something to house the long carrot barrels in for next year. I`m gonna call it a greenhouse but it will have open sides with a wind suppressing membrane and a plastic top. I think it will help to protect the carrots but will have good ventillation.Not much else to report ! I have a few long carrots left which look really good and a lot better than the set which won at St Bees.

It`s Showtime !

This time next week I will have staged my exhibits for a local show at St Bees in Cumbria. This was the 1st show I entered last year and remember crapping myself when I walked in the place. There were a few old codgers giving me the eye and probably wondering, "who the bloody ell is THAT !" But I ended up winning a couple of classes and it`s given me the confidence to take it more seriously this year although it`s been hard with the crap weather.
We have an NVS judge this year so I`m looking forward to some honest appraisals of my stuff. More pics of the show to follow.

Holidays, Olympics and Carrots (in that order)

Just back from a brill holiday cruising in the Baltic (which was bloody warm as it turned out) with my two favourite people. Had a fab time and visited loads of interesting places including Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and St Petersburg. Got back just in time to see her Maj jumping out of a helicopter to open the games. She`s a tough old bird !
The lotty was a bloody disgrace after 2 weeks away but I managed to get things sorted in a couple of days but it`s been a difficult 1st year of having a proper go at things. My stumps have been a bit crap actually and loads of them have gone to seed. The long carrots have done better but I would say they are a month behind what they should be.

I have a local show in a couple of weeks so I`m gonna do my best to bench something but I might have to be a bit creative to say the least !

Polytunnel Woes

"You can put it together in a weekend" said the blurb but it took a couple of weeks. An hour here and there is just no good !
Just the plastic to go on now and I can have a good tidy up of the plot.

Everything is doing ok apart from the red baron onions, another one or two seem to bolt every visit to the allotment. The long and stump carrots have loved the upturn in temp over the last month and finally seem to be doing something.