We had our friendly local autumn show on Saturday. This was my rope of onions, which I am pleased to say won first prize. All of the onions were of a good size, and properly ripened with firm necks, which means that they should keep well. I also won the allotment category for 6 fruit or veg (mine were all veg) in a basket. The biggest joke however were my French beans. I have not picked any for a month - I'm letting them set seed for next year - but I managed to find 6 reasonable specimens, which won! I managed to find two red cabbages, each weighing over 6lb, but the slugs had been at them over the last few days, so they only took second prize in a class of one entry - mine! There are other sections of course, like the Domestic section, where there is always a 'men only' class. This year it was rock buns, where to my eternal shame I only managed 3rd place, behind my arch-rival who took 2nd.
I am of course still picking runner beans. Despite giving many away, making chutney with some, freezing some and eating them nearly every day, there is still a big bag in the fridge. We also have lots of courgettes, sweetcorn, beetroot, cabbages and butternut squash. My potatoes have however been very disappointing. Small crops, and many of them nibbled by slugs. Parsnips are fat but very short, a reflection of our hard ground. Never mind, they will be very good roasted, especially after a frost. Perhaps next year I will have more time (and decent weather) to prepare the ground .... but perhaps not!
