RHS Gold Medal at Tatton Park For Crewe NVS Chairman

Gold Medal

The chair of the Crewe & Nantwich District Association of the National Vegetable Society, Mr John Carver, is also in the Northern Branch and they are exhibiting at the RHS Flower Show, Tatton Park. He rang me this morning to say they have gained a gold medal.

It’s hard to believe the amount of work that has gone into this – growing a range of vegetables to be at the peak of perfection for the end of July in itself is not easy. Then the days of long hours assembling the stand and building the display.

An RHS gold medal is no small achievement ? a quantum leap from getting a first in the village show. Well done!

First on the plot.

I can’t normally say I am first on the site in a morning. I’m still asleep when some hardy souls are down there at 6am. Last night I went down around 6.30pm to water but lots of other people showed up and as more people connected their hosepipes, the water pressure fell and fell. Eventually my sprinkler stopped rotating and sat there dribbling.

So back home at 9pm leaving them to it and back to the empty site at 11pm equipped with a torch where I connected the hose to soak the potatoes on plot 29 and the sprinkler on the potatoes on plot 5.

Back round just after midnight to switch them off, so technically I was first on the plot this morning!

Today they are predicting another super hot day ? but some rain on Thursday, thank goodness.

Allotment Forums

I go onto the forums each day but resist the urge to post on every thread ? otherwise it will just be John’s questions and answers ? after checking the member list and deleting some dubious characters who obviously only join to push their products, I settle down for a good read with my tea.

It’s funny how things have changed  – the perception of allotments is still, to some extent, the flat capped old boy but the reality is that there are lots of women and younger women on the allotments.

I know some of the very old boys are quite nonplussed by this change – there are women in the club!

Do find it sad that some male partners are showing no interest – although, in fairness, my wife has little interest in vegetable growing. She does look after the garden well though. Even there I did the hard jobs (in the sense of physical hard) because I am stronger. I don’t want to get into trouble with the feminists, but usually men are better muscled.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to some sociologist writing a paper comparing modern allotment women with primitive tribes where the women do the growing and the men do the odd bit of hunting!