And to the Victor, the Spoils...

Confident in my readiness for the Show, I met mum & big sis Helen at the Hill at 10am to collect the entry cards, & to put in their entries, then I showed them around the plot.

This included the small yield from the potatoes-in-a-bag which I emptied out yesterday with Reg-next-plot & novice neighbour Jody (Helen cruelly helpless with laughter for many, many minutes) & once composed, they left to leave me to dig up the carrots, pull rhubarb, cut the cucumbers, chose a lettuce & cut sweetpeas.

I put those entries in then went home to collect the rest of the prepared items, then back for a concentrated hour staging everything ready for the off. Phew!

With Julie (second best plot)’s husband Phil running a barbecue, the sun shining, & the bar open, the judges were left to get on with it – I sat on the grass in the sun & chatted with Jane & family, other friends & relatives dropping by, fellow plotholders & I even saw someone who was in my class at school & I haven’t seen for some twenty five years.

Once we got the word that the judging had finished, it was time to see what the judges had made of the entries.

I headed first to the Domestic classes with mum & Helen, & we came out with honours pretty even – no prizes for any of our jam, but mum with a 2nd for her tayberry jelly, Helen beating me into 2nd place with her fruit cake, mum picking up a 1st for her plain cake & I defended my marble cake crown. I was very pleased with a 1st with a jar of beetroot & Jerusalem artichoke chutney.

As far as the flower classes went – if wasn’t a huge surprise to be unplaced with my nine sweetpeas – or, indeed, with the geranium plant. In fact, my geranium was particularly notable as being the only plant in the whole class without a single flower in evidence - mine here at the front, far right in the pic.

Better news with the veg classes – my last minute inclusion of three pointy peppers in the Collection paid off handsomely with a 2nd, beating both Reg & Jason (behind retired Maureen) – the two to beat by far. Hurrah!

I was delighted with a 1st for my peas, & dwarf beans along with the lettuce class, & a handful of 2nd prizes for the coloured potatoes, onions (sets), shallots, an odd shaped carrot, & a creditable 3rd for my carrots. A really good haul all round!

Jane’s two did well in the children’s classes too – a couple of 1st & 2nd places – & it was great to see Rhubarb Brian with a clutch awards, & returning allotmenteer Christine picking up a basketful of prizes, including Best Exhibit in Show for her cherry tomatoes – she’s one to challenge Reg & Jason for the cups in years to come…

With all backslapping done with (I ended up with 5 'firsts', 6 'seconds' & a 'third' out of 20 entries), & everything packed away it was back to mum’s with Helen to divi up cake, jams, pickles & veg & to pick over the highs & lows – what a great day!