Season 2013

I was lucky enough to win in the raffle12 HDN Shallots at the NVS Scottish Branch seminar last Saturday.  On close inspection they had all started to shoot so after taking advice from the forum I decided to plant them up today along with 4 of my own shallots.  As I have not yet ordered up my Levingtons compost I decided to try and mix my own, levingtons give you the analysis of their composts on their web site.  I purchased some of B&Q general purpose compost which is 59% peat this I mixed with shredded peat I had then sieved out the rubbish.  I then added N,P&K  along with some lime to ensure the pH was correct and Perlite to aid drainage.

I had also discovered that a number of the top Shallot growers dip their shallots in a fungicide prior to planting to protect against any nasties so I gave them a dip in Rovral.  I was slightly disappointed to discover that some of the shallots I won were suffering from soft neck rot so after careful inspection I had 7 to pot up along with 4 of my own.  I have labelled the 7 differently from my own and it will be interesting to monitor their progress through out the growing season.  All the shallots are in 13 cm square pots in my unheated greenhouse.  The season begins.  

NVS Scottish Branch Seminar

On Saturday I attended the Scottish Branch of the NVS annual seminar at Penicuik.  This is my second seminar and it was a very well run and informative day.  Not only did I meet up with a number for fellow grower but also caught up with friends from through out Scotland and  England it was great.  The main veg speakers were Dave Metcalf (Mr Pendle Improved) himself and Eric Craik (on growing a collection) Both men were very informative and if I manage to remember a 10th of what they told us I'll be doing well.  Mr Barbour of JBA seed potatoes gave a great talk on the challenges of the commercial potato grower.

I also met a couple of very nice ladies who are thinking of taking up growing veg for showing and as I said to them on Saturday go for it and by joining the NVS and the members forum there is a wealth of knowledge which is given freely by some top growers, which no doubt helped me greatly this season.

It was great to see Neil Muirhead, Helen Vincent and my fellow islander Niall Currie along with a number of fellow members/growers from further North than me.

Pictures from Dufftown 2012 Show

Hi folks sorry I've not been posting much but like most folk I've taken a wee break to re charge the batteries and get ready for 2013. But before I start I'd like to post the only three pictures I've managed to retrieve from the ether.

Below was my plate of Harmony which won best plate of potatoes

Here is my board with Blue Belle and Harmony which won the Andrew Rugg trophy for best mixed collection.

This was my Parsnips "Polar" which I was very happy with. So its on to the planning for 2013.  On the 17th of November I'm off to the Scottish Branch (NVS) seminar in Edinburgh.  Its nearly 4 hrs from my home but I went last year and it was a great day.  Hopefully I'll meet up with fellow bloggers and NVS forum users and pick up some useful tips from the speakers.  Which I'll post later in the week.