The leeks were very long with very clean foliage, the variety was Pendle improved. The string of red onions were of excellent quality and many a kitchen would love to have them to hand!

Judging today with David Allison at the RHS Late Autumn Show at Harlow Carr. The peppers and squashes certainly showed the benefit of all the sunshine we have had over the summer months.

Judging the RHS late Autumn fruit and vegetable competition at Harlow Carr. The show is on all weekend and well worth a visit. I had a chat with Gerald Edwards the fruit judge asking how he goes about selecting the best fruit dish in the show.

The weather made things challenging for the onion an leek growers constantly trying to cope with the dreaded Thrip. A tiny insect that constantly nibbles at epidermis weakening the plant and silvering the foliage. A new white round potato making its mark is Harry. Perhaps this might get royal acclaim!!

A short video of the vegetables at Hyde Hall. Cauliflowers were prominent an in every class with super quality. Most were the variety Zaragoza which is a relatively new variety and is in my online shop and will be in my 2027 catalogue out soon

Another shot of the chili class showing the range of different sizes, colour and shape and seemingly ever expanding. The small fruited tomato class is very popular with the variety Crokini picking up the red card. There was also an interesting class for Medium tomatoes other than red.

The chilies were also well subscribed withan orchestra of colours and shapes. A difficult class to judge as a very small cultivar would probably get high marks for Uniformity. Denti Odorant was the winner, very fresh and uniform. Not sure if it’s an apt name for such a vegetable!!

The same sunny weather also suited the capsicums with the largest entry that I can remember. There was a class for coloured and green ones with a lovely set of three taking the red card.

Judging the RHS Autumn Fruit vegetable and herb show at Hyde Hall Gardens in Essex. This area has, and still is suffering from the extreme hot weather we had during the Summer months. However I was amazed to see that the quality on offer well exceeded my expectations. The Squash class was the best ever with 15 entries, loving the warm warm weather.

Travelling down today to judge the RHS Autumn Fruit Vegetable and Herb Show at their Hyde Hall Garden. Can I thank each and everyone of you exhibitors for staging there after a very difficult and trying year. Never forget that without you, there’d be no show held anywhere. Good luck and I will see you tomorrow after the Judgment!!!

Having been away for a few days I was amazed at the crop of tomatoes. These were picked yesterday and will certainly make bowls upon bowls of soup with some Coriander added, absolutely delicious.

Sherie Plumb is very difficult to beat with cucumbers and today was no exception winning with three Carmen. The large shallot class went to a William Louden Guardbridge. The peas from Isn Simpson were fantastic considering the hot weather we’ve had.

Lovely celery, clean and unmarked from David Page with Paul Grimes winning the long carrots. Trevor Humphrey won the globe beetroot with the variety Pablo. Keith Chambers won the medium tomato class with Cedrico, some of his own seed

Sherie Plumb won both the white and the coloured potatoes. The small tomato class was won by Raymond Higgins from Ireland with Miniprioand the long beet by Mark Hall

Some great cauliflowers with the winner being Paul Grome and Niall Currie winning the onions under 1.5 kg. The round courgettes were a joy to see, so colorful with Simon Smith the winner.

Sue McCall and Andrew Jones had staged an amazing display of vegetables for children to guess what the various ones were. There was a chest where they put their hand through a hole to guess what was inside. A truly great advert for the Society

the Trug competition between the five branches were a wonderful spectacle with Northern branch First and the Welsh second. I have always believed that naked vegetables are more colourful than flowers with the advantage that they are edible!

Being interviewed at the NVS Show with my parsnips. They came fifth on this occasion against some better specimens. A really good class .

Had a chat with Ivor Mace at the National Vegetable Society Championships at St Fagans Cardiff. Ivor is the Show Manager and doing a great job of it. A very big thank you to the team at St Fagans for allowing us the use of their fantastic facilities. They are unbeatable for showing.