Horticultural Show

Yet another horticultural show comes to pass. This was the autumn show, by far the nicest as there are so many crops and lovely flowers at this time of year. It is also a bit like a harvest festival feel as people start clearing more traditional crops from their gardens and allotments before the weather takes a turn for the worse. Anyhow, I took 14 first prizes, plus an array of silverware. Three trophies, 1 silver plate and a voucher for £10 towards seeds. The children did well also winning prizes and certificates for their work, plus Jessica won a trophy for the the most points awarded in the year for the under 9's. Here is a selection of my entries.

 

Way to go EJ! You did very well as did Jessica. Everything looks fantastic!

 

And of course, there was the cooking. I won prizes for my damson jam, greengage, bullace and mirabelle jam and my rhubarb chutney. I also won prizes for these.

 

Way to go EJ. Your displays look nice. And your cooking part too, mmmm it looks so good.
again, nice job.

 

Now EJ...what a nice display. I really like to see this sort of thing. I was especially proud of you for winning so many prizes. "Well done" doesn't seem to cover it properly. Your achievement at that show was superlative. Your daughter did great too. I really hope that the gardening thing stays with her. Did your children do any miniature presentations this year?

I almost forgot to mention the fudge. How'd your fudge do?

I thought that your runners looked very decent. A pretty good group of toms as well, from what I could see.
The spuds were also looking good. What kind were they?
I liked your courgette. I am not sure what kind that one is, but personally I lile that shape best. I grow some climbing courgettes and they have that shape, although their colour is a bite darker than yours.
There was an excellent grouping of apples and carrots. Very nice indeed.

In terms of judging, how were the entries judged--in relation to each other or were each individual's entry judged on it's own merit and not in competition with other entrants? I'm not sure that I am being clear about this question.

Anyway...it was such a pleasure to see your accomplishments at the show.

 

Is that peanut butter fudge I'm drooling on my keyboard!! Congratulations to both of you on a job well done
Deanna

 

Way to go EJ! How many first prices were there, by the way? Did you grab them all? I'm proud of you too. And I feel a bit sorry for your competition. I bet they all heave a big sigh of relief if you're not participating. I'm with Eileen on the cabinet idea. You'll have to make a big one, though, with the children following in your footsteps.

 

Thank you everyone....blush blush.

The kids didn't do mini gardens this year, it was 3 choccy brownies, a pizza animal, an animal made out of veggies, a decorated paperbag, and the biggest sunflower head (they were given seeds at the spring show).

That wasn't a courgette Sjoerd, it was a marrow. I didn't have enough courgettes ready due to this inclement weather. Same with cucumbers. In about a week, I will probably be inundated with them.

The toms were the only variety not infected with blight and they were called something like Winsconsin Peach. The spuds I think were Estima but I will have to double check. The runners were enorma.

The judges select the best from all the entries, so there were 8 battenberg cakes for example, each one is sampled, then each receives points for taste, texture, presentation, colour etc. Fruit, veggies and flowers the same. I was very pleased with the runners as lots of people enter that class and mine did have a slight twist to them, but they were by far the longest, and freshest as I had been at the allotment at 6am that morning to pick them.

 

Wow EJ! That looks great, all of it. Congratulations on all your hard work.
Prizes deserved.
Gardengater

 

Thanks for answering the questions, EJ. I didn't realize that marrow was so big.

Say...when entering a runner in a competition, are the judges looking for non-mature beans, or are older and tougher beans acceptable there?

You did really well there. Congratul;ations again.

 

Holy Smokes EJ!!! Fantastic! Congratulations to you and your children on such a wonderful job. By the looks of those pics, its no wonder you took all those 1sts.

And your baking, o-m-g!! Looks so mouthwatering. I have a question, what are the second pic. The filled cookies. And what are they filled with. Okay,,,,how do you bake them....ohh heck whats the award winning recipe! lol.

And the cake, i have made those before, but did you use the raspberry jam, as the "glue" made from your raspberries,,,,ohhh man i should be England as a taste tester, i would be so in my glory, with a huge smile on my face.

Well done, to the whole family!!

 

Well done Emma.

 

Thanks Eric.

Sjoerd, the runner beans have to be as flat as possible. As soon as the bean inside is obvious you start to loose points, so fortunately, because of the wet but mild weather, the beans have grown long and slender without the sun maturing them to soon. The judges snap the beans in the middle, usually one or 2 just to check freshness.

Biita, they aren't cookies, they are eccles cakes. A cake made with a round of flaky pastry, then in the middle you add a spoon of currants, mixed spices, a little brown sugar and a knob of butter which has all been combined together first, then you draw the edges in to make a parcel. You then flatten it and make 3 slashes across the pastry, brush with milk, sprinkle with lots of caster sugar, and bake for about 15 minutes in a moderate oven. Mine were the darkest and the thinnest, which I thought might be a looser, but the lady judge said the fruity filling was by far the tastiest, if only they weren't so thin! It was the first time I had made them and I wasn't sure how flat they were supposed to be....I will know next time and plan to make a christmas spice batch instead of mince pies this Christmas time.