IT’S SHOW TIME ONCE AGAIN!
And I’m hoping that a new parsnip variety will be lucky for me
With the temperatures in the polytunnels so hot, it makes you wonder how plants can grow to their optimum in such extreme heat. It’s tempting to water over the plants to cool them down, but this is a serious mistake, particularly with leeks as the water can sit between the flags and cook the young emerging central growth. Always aim your water where it should be – at the roots.
My first show of the year is coming up this Saturday and Sunday (August 20-21), at the Welsh Branch Championships at Wrexham. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Welsh Branch Championships have had to change the venue from the original Memorial Hall to Ty Pawb, Food Market Hall. The full address of the new venue is Ty Pawb (Food Market Hall), Chester Street, Wrexham, LL13 8BY. Having had such a long gap since we last had the Welsh show, it should be quite spectacular and if you want to see vegetables at their very best, make sure you get there, and please do come and say hello.
I have two new parsnip varieties on trial this year, both of which have potential show credentials. They have very tall powerful tops on them, and I’m just hoping that the roots are going to be very long as well. Sometimes when you have tall foliage on the parsnips they can lean over with their weight and can snap off, which is not ideal at all. I therefore very simply insert a few canes inside the edge of the drum and support them loosely with string.
Last time I introduced a new parsnip variety was eight years ago at the Welsh Championships that also happened to be at Wrexham then. They were winners and the variety was ‘Victor’ F1 that has afterwards consistently won at the highest level. I wonder if one of these new varieties will be just as lucky for me this year!
■ Follow me on Twitter as I grow a range of different vegetables for exhibition – @medwynsofangles.