Once you’ve got the basics of vegetable growing under your belt, you might fancy growing for show. Vegetable show growing is a great hobby.
Sometimes it’s just a bit of fun competition on the allotment site or at a village show where the top prize is a couple of pounds and the look on your rivals’ faces when you get the coveted winner’s red card.
John Trim with prize winning carrots at a horticultural show
Once you move onto the major horticultural show circuit, the competition really hits up as you’re against serious growers.
These are people who have years of experience and spend many hours growing the best specimens to be at the peak of perfection on the day of the show.
Growing vegetables for show isn’t, as many think, about growing the biggest. It’s about growing the best example of a vegetable and often the biggest won’t even get a place from the judges.
Luckily vegetable growers are a generous bunch and in this series of articles John Trim shares his knowledge and tips to help you grow the best and get the winning red card at the horticultural show.
John has been growing & showing vegetables for almost 50 years. He is a former National Vegetable Society (NVS) national champion with onions & carrots. He has also won numerous other prizes at NVS & RHS level.
When John is not growing his prize winning vegetables he is either writing or talking about them. He has run courses for those new to gardening through the Countryside Education Trust & as a horticultural lecturer he has given talks to hundreds of garden clubs & societies.
John has also designed two vegetable related gardens for Chelsea Flower Show. In 2007 he was one of the fruit & vegetable judges on the successful BBC 1 production The Great British Village Show which was presented by Alan Titchmarsh.
This is part 1 of a 3 part series of articles, growing potatoes for show - introduction & best varieties, on growing prize winning potatoes for the show bench by John Trim, Fellow of the National Vegetable Society, show judge and horticultural ...
This is part 2 of a 3 part series of articles, growing potatoes for show - cultivation of show potatoes, on growing prize winning potatoes for the show bench by John Trim, Fellow of the National Vegetable Society, show judge and horticultural lecturer. ...
This is part 3 of a 3 part series of articles, growing potatoes for show - harvesting & showing, on growing prize winning potatoes for the show bench by John Trim, Fellow of the National Vegetable Society, show judge and horticultural lecturer. ...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his onions. In this article on growing onions for show, he reveals the secrets of selecting and developing the best strain to get you the winner's red card at the show.
To grow show...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his onions. In this article on growing onions for show, he reveals the secrets of growing 250 gram exhibition onions to get you the winner’s red card at the show.
This class of onion i...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his onions. In this first of two articles on growing large onions for show, he reveals the secrets of starting large exhibition onions to get you the winner’s red card at the show.
This i...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his onions. In this first of two articles on growing large onions for show, he reveals the secrets of cultivating and staging large exhibition onions to get you the winner’s red card at...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his carrots. In this article on growing long rooted carrots for show, he reveals the secrets of cultivating and staging long rooted carrots for exhibition to get you the winner’s red ca...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his carrots. In this article on growing stump rooted carrots (normal size!) for show, he reveals the secrets of what variety, where to grow and compost mixes for stump rooted carrots for ...
Show grower John Trim has won the national championship with his carrots. In this second article on growing stump rooted carrots (normal size!) for show, he reveals the secrets of sowing, cultivation, harvest, preparation and staging for stump rooted ...
Runner beans are a favourite crop for the allotment or the kitchen garden. In fact they are probably the most cost effective vegetable you can grow. Champion Show grower John Trim runs us through the details of growing runner beans for the show bench....
Champion show grower John Trim runs us through the details of cultivation of exhibition runner beans for the show bench in this second article of three on show growing runner beans.
This is Part Two of Three Parts on Exhibition Runner Beans:
Planting...
Champion show grower John Trim runs us through the details of pick and staging of exhibition runner beans for the show bench in this third article of three on show growing runner beans.
This is Part Two of Three Parts on Exhibition Runner Beans:...
Champion show grower John Trim reveals the secrets of growing trench celery in this first part of a two part article - all to get you the winner’s red card at the show.
There are two main types of celery, self blanching and trench. The latter gr...
Champion show grower John Trim reveals the secrets of growing trench celery in this second part of a two part article – the first part of Growing Trench Celery covered varieties to grow, sowing and initial cultivation.
Planting out and soil pr...
Champion show grower John Trim reveals the secrets of cultivating and staging long parsnips to get you the winner’s red card at the show.
There is a wide range of parsnips to choose from when it comes to show varieties. ‘Gladiator’ is still ...
Champion show grower John Trim explains the process of vegetative propagation of blanch leeks which is a fairly advanced technique but this step by step guide makes it easy to understand.
Visitors to the top shows are often amazed at the quality...
Champion show grower John Trim reveals the secrets of growing top quality exhibition peas to get you the winner’s red card at the show. The humble pea is probably our most popular vegetable after potatoes and most home growers will have a row o...
