Dorset County Show

We headed down to Dorset for the county show where the National Vegetable Society were holding their annual championship and AGM. What a fantastic event it all was, if incredibly tiring to walk around.

We were quite taken with these Alpacas but I don't think they would take to living on the allotment.

Toggenburg Goats

Val was really taken by the Toggenburg goats. Now they may look sweet but let's be honest, goats don't eat anything - they eat everything!! Maybe not the best thing on an allotment.

There's a full report on the show in my allotment diary with many more photographs here: Dorset County Show

Old Agricultural Machinery

At the Dorset show they had a number of display stands for agricultural machinery. The modern machines are Goliaths - tractor tyres are bigger in diameter than I'm tall. However, they had a number of displays of old machinery, when things were on a more human scale.

There was a long row of old pumping  machines and corn grinding machines on show, like old rotovators, they have an appeal of their own.

There's a load more photographs here: Old & New Farming Machines

National Vegetable Championships

The National Vegetable Society had their AGM and National Championships at the Dorset County Show.

It was fascinating and amazing to see the fantastic quality vegetables and displays on show. I can't say it's all good fun, the entrants take this very seriously and have been planning and growing all year just for this.

There's a report with more photographs in my diary here: NVS Championships.

Trailer on Site

The council have reduced the number of rubbish trailers we get each year but really there's not that much rubbish from an allotment site. Just things that have been recycled and reused to the absolute end.

Sadly there seems to be a new trend in recent years to dump green waste in the trailer, which I think is a great shame as it's all good compost material.

Purple Tipi French Beans

Forum member Dave kindly sent me some Purple Tipi French Beans. They're very prolific and have, as the name suggests, startling deep purple podded beans although these do change to dark green when cooked.

We've enough beans for the next decade in the freezer so I'm leaving these for seed.

Neighbour's Cauliflowers Eaten by Caterpillars

This year the big pest has been the caterpillars. Slugs are normal after the cold winter but for some unknown reason, the butterflies were trying to copy the locust.

This patch on the next plot shows what happens when you take your eye off the ball. I've no room to talk, my brassica patch was devasted and apart from some cauliflowers and a couple of cabbages, they've ended up on the compost heap.

Close Up on Caterpillar Damage

I've actually had a few emails asking what's happened to people's cabbages etc. They seem to think it's some sort of growing fault or disease. No it's caterpillars. Look closely and you will see the little devils munching away.

This is a good example of what the caterpillars do to an otherwise good plant.

Lettuce in the Small Greenhouse

I've got some late started Little Gem lettuce on the go in the small greenhouse. Although we think of lettuce as a summer crop, it actually prefers cool weather and can be quite hardy.

These should mean we can enjoy a few leaves in October and November. Little Gem can actually be cooked and used as a vegetable. Very nice with a bit of olive oil and pepper on them.

Me on the plot

I had to provide a publicity photo for a magazine article. Anyway, after much messing around and Val attempting to get my good side (I don't have one!) this is what we came up with.

Me by the compost heaps at the bottom of plot 5 with the cut comfrey in the foreggound.

Tomatoes in the Greenhouse

They're nearly at the end now as the nights get colder and a frost isn't far away. But you can see the tomatoes are still laden and fruits ripening on them.

When they go over, the green tomatoes will come home to store away and ripen over the next few months.

Lettuce and Peppers in the Large Greenhouse

It's looking a little empty now since the large cucumber has gone but I've got a few lettuce in this greenhouse and peppers still standing in the large greenhouse.