A visit to Grahm Charles greenhouse

Contents of the Spring 2011 Northants News

The 2010 Branch Show Hugh Balhatchet

The 2010 Branch Show - the Show Secretary’s Perspective

The Annual Show was again held at Billing Garden Village and it proved to be another successful venture - both in terms of the show/display that was setup over the two days, and for funds raised for the Branch.

Preparation, staging, judging - in fact pretty well everything (stray rabbits excepted - see the online Show report) ran really smoothly, which was a nice surprise; perhaps the experience gained over the last two years has finally made an impression on my organisational skills!

290 plants were entered by 12 exhibitors - both numbers up from last year, helped by support from members from three other branches. Dorothy Minors ably judged the Show and she remarked on the good quality of the plants displayed. She still managed to provoke (the usual?) debate over some awards; however, I’ll not hear a word against her, as she gave my Dudleya 1st prize in the Echeveria subgroup class!

Thanks to everyone who helped out over the two days, and special thanks to the staff at the Garden Village.

Hugh

Hugh at the Show Sec's table

It’s behind you! The black rabbit creeps up on Diana at the Show.

Ed: This piece was received just a little late for inclusion in the Autumn edition, even NN has a deadline! However it gives me a chance to put another couple of pictures from the Show in the magazine and remind you that this year’s Show is on the weekend August 13/14th, 2011. It is at Billing Garden Village again. Please pop the date in you

Euphoria Stephanie Bahja

‘Euphoria’ Definition - medically recognised state of a profound sense of well-being and an overwhelming sense of contentment. Euphoria is generally considered to be an exaggerated physical and psychological state, sometimes induced by the use of drugs and not typically achieved during the normal course of human experience.

Stephanie receives the Novice’s Shield from Chairman Barry at the 2010 Show.

Well, I had been sowing some seeds of Lophophora williamsii (Peyote cactus) the day before. My fellow members had made me aware of their hallucinogenic properties at the last club meeting. Was it this that had caused me to have these wonderful emotions? I'd recently started drawing my state pension, giving me free prescriptions, free bus pass, winter fuel allowance and I don't have to pay National Insurance any more....maybe it was this..... I had just received news from the NHS that, following their kind invitation at reaching 60 to undertake a bowel cancer test free of charge (rather than the normal birthday card and cake) I was free from at least that dreaded disease… My allotment (my first year) is producing the biggest marrows, squashes and pumpkins I'd ever seen… was it this? I'd had the builder round my house on the Sunday morning (second day of the Northampton & Milton Keynes branch show), he quoted me £400 less than the previous quote to repair minor subsidence damage to my house… could it be this...?

It was none of these. What brought on such an overwhelming, wonderful feeling was winning at the show. Shall I, shan't I? I'd spent days deliberating whether I should enter. This was big boy territory. I'd felt 'safe' just going to the monthly club meetings. Was I brave enought to go outside my comfort zone. Heart in mouth I'd emailed Hugh with my entry the day before the final date. I'd picked out the plants I was going to show, tidied them up so they looked presentable, but was that enough? My inexperience means of course I don't know what the standard is. Would it be enough that 'they looked alright to me'?

I couldn't stay for the judging on the Saturday - yet more taxi work for me to undertake (daughter to work). So I kept myself busy for the rest of the weekend, trying to put to the back of my mind what the outcome of the judging had been. I had to pick my plants up on the Sunday afternoon. When I got to the Garden Centre I asked my daughter (who yet again I'd had to pick up from work) if she wanted to stay in the car whilst I went inside. I really didn't want her to come in because if I'd failed miserably I didn't want her to see my disappointment. She didn't want to stay in the car!! When we got inside, to my horror, I couldn't find my plants They were not on the staging where I had left them. Had they been booted out for being so disgraceful? Panic started to set in, oh my God, I'm never doing this again - how embarrassing. I asked Diana where they were and intially we couldn't find them (more panic). Then, low and behold, there they were....with two Firsts and one Third - wow, wow, wow. That's when this feeling of euphoria started to overtake me. Suddenly I wasn't thinking straight, a big smile was all over my face and I was gabbling unintelligibly, only then to be told by Barry that I'd also won the Novice’s Shield. I think I had a mental blackout for a few seconds. I felt young and giggly, and if it wasn't for the bad knee I could have danced - what a high! The presentation took place, Trevor was taking photos and people were clapping. I was going to have my name, (MY NAME) engraved on the shield… I even let Trevor take a picture of me holding one of my big marrows, (to be used against me at a later date no doubt!!). If this is the feeling you get when you win something at a show then all I can say is ' I GET IT'.

Stephanie

… and Stephanie shows us a courgette she has grown on her allotment. With success like this just how big will her cacti grow? (And if you are reading this in the US a courgette is what you would call a zucchini. They are supposed to be small.)

Ed: ‘To be used against you at a later date?’ This Ed wouldn’t dream of it!

It’s funny but I can still remember the thrill of success in winning a prize card in the ‘Open’ section at our Show years ago. In those days we had a show in three sections. ‘Open’ - to all, ‘Closed’ - where the top three exhibiters were excluded and there was a ‘Novice’ section as now.

Another Show report for 2010 can be found at this link