Show Prep

It's the Hill Show this weekend.  I have been pretty gloomy about this due to the fact that don't have much in the way of things to enter, with it having been such a difficult growing year to date.

Normally at this point I would have a good choice of what to enter, but not, I didn't think, for this year.  Thank goodness there are domestic classes so at least I can enter a cake or two.

However, things may not be that bleak for two reasons.

Firstly - and this is something to hold onto extremely firmly - everyone else is in the same boat.  If my beans have all been eaten by slugs and have taken three sowings to get anything going at all, then so will everyone else's.

Secondly, when I was at the Hill last night, I saw that the courgettes might just make it - the first little courgettes are on the plants, three inches or so long.

I dug up the first and second early potatoes.  A small crop, but enough to enter in the show, perhaps.  And I also dug up the shallots.  They are a right faff to prepare, but if I have ten the same size, why not?

And if I can't find enough sweet peas to make a vase of nine, that would be poor form.  Then there is the garlic crop strung up in the garage - the bulbs aren't huge this year, but they might be ok.

The fruit cake I made at the weekend looks fine, and smells even better.  I have a couple of jars of green tomato chutney that I made last autumn and I'm baking a lemon drizzle cake tomorrow night.

The peas are magnificent.

And I did pick the first runner beans the other day - they aren't exactly show-bench straight, but maybe I can find enough that look about the same.

The rhubarb is a good standby.

Hmm.

Might be ok, after all...