How did I get into gardening? As with many things, (my height, my love of
Monty Python &
Queen, & my colour blindness) it comes from my family.
My Mum & Dad are both keen gardeners & my Dad is King Of Veg. I think for him it started as a combo of financial necessity & sanity break, but over the years his dedication & ability have become legendary amongst family & friends.
I was recently at my folks for my Dad's birthday party, so I took some pics to show you all, & to show myself that, whilst veg plants
are needy, if you look after them they will look after you.
Maximise the space
Dad's garden is bigger than ours (veg plot of... erm... about 12m x 15m I think) but he also cannily makes the most of what he's got.
 |
Runner beans up front,
courgettes in the compost at the back,
& blackberry management over the fence |
Runner beans
I used to help my Dad put up the runner bean canes in early summer. One year, we could hear my Mum laughing all the way back in the kitchen. What? Turns out that whilst I was still shorter than my Dad at that point, my legs were already longer than his. Seems it wasn't only the beans that were climbing...
Courgettes
On holiday in Switzerland the other year, we saw folk growing pumpkins on top of the cowpat compost heaps. Apparently they love the heat and aren't bothered by the high nitrogen levels that would burn many other plants. So it was interesting to see Dad doing the same this year with his courgettes. I've not seen him do this before - always learning, always evolving.
Blackberries
Brambles are so invasive. There's a large bush that runs along the edge of the arable farmland to the South of my folks' garden. Many people are amazed that Dad tolerates this invasive bully of a weed on the other side of his fence. But blackberries are tasty, & Mum makes a mean apple & blackberry crumble, so why not manage them? Fair point.
Banter
My Dad & his neighbours have an annual veg competition. It's run along the lines of an RHS show, &
by-and-large to those guidelines, but it's mainly about the banter: year after year of wind-up, gloating, goading, snooping... they love it.
Onions
There are many categories the growers can enter, but the 2 onion classes (Heaviest 3; & Heaviest Single) are the ones they all want to win.
 |
| Biggest Onion is the blue riband event at the street growers annual show |
The 50p is to give you some scale... & that's one big onion.
Beetroot
Dad's been growing beetroot since the early days. He & Mum used to pickle jar after jar, but over time they stepped away from the vinegar & we all started to appreciate the fabulous natural taste of the beetroot itself.
 |
| The beets are looking canny hefty too |
Since he's been competing, Dad has split his sewing. His primary concern is still tasty fresh veg, so that still makes up the majority of his plot. But he now sews competition varieties too, alongside the kitchen ones.
However, his fellow competitors agree that growing for size alone misses the key point veg growing - great taste.
Tomatoes
One of the 1st taste categories they introduced was Tastiest Tomatoes. Last year I know lots of folks suffered terrible tomato times, but we've had plenty of sunshine this Summer so I hope everyone else's look as juicy as these:
 |
| Soooo many tomatoes |
The toms get pride of place in the greenhouse, although there is room too for capsicums & cucumber. Rather than plant these guys straight into the ground, the pops them in large containers instead. He's also rigged up an irrigation system, with each plant getting its own dedicated little showerhead. Certainly seems to be working.
Pest management tips & tricks
 |
| Brassica row: Cabbages, sprouts & purple sprouting |
As we were chatting, one of my Dad's friends asked for advice on how to get such great cabbages. He had 2 tops tips.
Rhubarb for club root
Once you have the
club root fungus in your soil, it can be nigh impossible to remove. This usually means the end of your cabbage growing capers, but Dad said he had recently received a top tip that was working for him: chop stems of rhubarb into the bottom of the cabbage trench. Reading the
RHS page, I wonder if the rhubarb changes the pH of the soil? Worth a shot I guess.
Spray for cabbage insect pests
Dad knows I'm not keen on traditional chemical pest treatments so asked me to cover my ears as he said it. The butterflies even found my kale seedlings in the greenhouse this year. It must be a massive pain in the arse to clear all the eggs off every leaf of every plant by hand. We each make our choices, but I know the chemical path is not for me, & given how lazy I am, I guess I won't be growing any cabbages any time soon.
Carrot crèche
Dad will admit however that chemicals aren't always the answer. Sometimes a physical barrier is the best defence, hence the fleecy play pen for the carrots.
 |
| Carrots play pen |
As you might know, carrot plants are quite pungent little things - if you ruffle the leaves with your fingers they give off quite a strong scent, and the carrot root fly can smell that from a long way away. However, they fly low to the ground. So, if you wrap them in fleece like this, you both reduce the risk of creating carrot perfume clouds as you wander around your plot, and you have a physical barrier that stops any of the little miscreants getting in to punch holes into your lovely roots.
New kids on the block
Part of the fun of gardening is trying out new stuff, & there are several plants Dad grows now that he didn't when I left home nearly 25 years ago.
Corn
I love the look of sweetcorn plants. They're fabulous - statuesque, unusual & tasty too. All good.
 |
| No elephants to measure corn height against |
Dad has 2 rows, this one was by the greenhouse sheltering from the wind. This is exactly what our neighbour did the other year - a row of corn between his greenhouse & the
stinky dog cage.
Rainbow chard
Dad has tended to grow quite traditional fare, but after his asparagus success I think he's really starting to think outside the veg box. Mind, this one might've been Mum's idea...
 |
| The yellow stems of the rainbow chard |
Sunflowers
Flowers?! In the veg garden?! My, things have definitely changed...
 |
| Bringing all the bees to the yard |
I think I remember Dad saying these had been started with the grandkids, but it has to be said that the row of sunflowers makes a lovely line of sentinels marking the boundary between Mum's flowers & herbs & Dad's veg.
Grapes
Mum & Dad love a Summer holiday in the Med, & who can blame them. It was understandable too that they would want to bring a bit of that sun soaked gorgeousness back home with them.
 |
| This Is England. I kid you not. |
The vine is on a pergola over a patio that gets sun all day long & catches the sunset too. It's also against the neighbours' tall boundary wall, so the bricks catch what heat there is & feed it back to the vine as the day fades.
The vine has taken quite a few years to get established, but there are some things you just can't rush.
If you do just 1 thing...
As you might imagine, it was lovely to wander around taking snaps of Dad's garden, remembering old stuff, checking out the new.
Some of Dad's oldest friends were at the party, & one of them is just getting into veg gardening. Dad's advice?
As it's been since before the dawn of our species.
The oldest ways are the best, eh?
Update
Cos this post was about family stuff, I sent the link to family folk. My Aunt has an allotment & today she sent me a photo of her
Patty Pans. I do like these spacey squash varieties, & given how well the courgettes grow in our garden, I think I'll add these to my Spring seeds shopping list.
 |
| My Aunt's visitors from Outer Space |
Update #2
I saw Dad recently. After berating me for "sharing his secrets" with you, I got some of his results from the annual weigh-in:
- Heaviest 3 beetroots - Won!
- Heaviest 3 carrots - Won!
It helped that the favourite, & eventual overall winner, left his carrots at home...
- Final position overall - 3rd
Every year there's some controversy - a bit of drama is all part of the banter for them.
Where's the champ?
This year's overall winner wasn't present when the results were revealed. Why did he miss his moment of glory? Because the local football team had a match the same day & he was determined to be in front of his telly for kick off.
Let me get this right - you spend all year growing outstanding veg for competition day, & then sack it off for football, which happens every weekend for half the year? Boggling. But then, this guy wins the overall prize most years, so maybe he just sees it as a foregone... Bit of a slap in the face for the other guys tho'.
The best cucumber?
Dad says his cucumber was his best submission ever for that class. Then seeing the competition laid out on the judging table, he though his was a shoo-in. But no! Another won & Dad feels robbed.
I asked:
Did you ask for feedback on why you didn't win Best Cucumber?
No.
Why not?
Is it cos you're sulking...?
Yes.
Did I mention Dad was 65 this year?
