Allotment Growing

Allotment & Vegetable Gardening

Articles About Growing & Showing Vegetables from Medwyn Williams MBE FNVS Chairman of the National Vegetable Society

These articles were originally published in 2000

Ten-times Chelsea gold medal winner Medwyn Williams is an expert vegetable grower with decades of experience. He has kindly allowed the National Vegetable Society to re-publish them.

The individual article links will open a new window with the article on the NVS web site.

• Vegetable Growing and Showing 1996
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 1997
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 1998
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 1999
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2000
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2001
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2002
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2003
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2004
• Vegetable Growing and Showing 2005

Growing Shallots to a High Standard from 5th January

Reflections on attempts to grow shallots to a high standard, what works and what does not

Chelsea and other shows - Onions, Leeks, Parsnips, Long and Short Carrots, Celery, Parsley from 12th January

Leeks and onions for Chelsea are now in 7 inch pots and looking tremendous. The long and short carrots are already sown as are the parsnips and this weekend I shall be sowing a batch of Parsley that will help me through Chelsea as well through to the August September shows

Welsh Emblem - The Leek from 19th January

The mixture that is use for both the leeks and the onions is mainly peat based but from this stage on I start to introduce soil as well. This will be soil sieved from the leek beds and stored in bags under the greenhouse staging so that it is always at the same temperature as the plants are growing in.

Protective Covers for Show Vegetables from 27th January

The majority of top growers are already growing their leek and onions either under glass in a greenhouse or in a polytunnel or they have constructed their own temporary covers using polythene. Show vegetables, grown to the highest standards, will very shortly be all grown under protective covers of some description.

Up-date on the Onions and a further sowing of Parsley from 3rd February

Potting on the Small Onions and Large Onions and a further sowing of Parsley to garnish the Cauliflowers on collections.

Parsnips - Covering Beds with Enviro Mesh from 10th February

I intend to protect my parsnips this year by covering over the beds with Enviro mesh thus giving them a far better start as well protecting the young plants from pests such as the carrot fly. I am fortunate that the beds are already covered over with an old wooden framework that I used to have panes of glass in, this means that the Enviro mesh can easily be tacked on to it.

Celery for Exhibition from 17th February

The variety to choose undoubtedly is Ideal, the one that's been winning at the highest level for many years. There are however two new varieties that have been bred as hybrids using a re selected form of Ideal as the parent line - the Lathom and Moonbeam Ideal cross.

Avoiding Botrytis in Tomatoes from 24th February

We all try and get too many plants into a given space allowing the disease to establish quickly. Planting less plants giving them more room in between each other will help in two ways, air movement can be improved as well as preventing the plants foliage from rubbing against each other. Also I am having two new varieties grown on trial for me this year that are very strong against Botrytis, if they prove to have the qualities necessary for the show bench I shall certainly be growing them.

Cabbages to Sweetcorn, The rush to sow from 9th March

This is undoubtedly the start of a frantic time in the garden, there is so much to achieve, particularly in the greenhouses and as the day lengthens, at least you have more time to carry out the tasks.

Growing Long Carrots for Exhibition from 16th March

The remarkable thing about all the long roots is that you can give them the exact compost mixture from year to year, yet some seasons are by far superior to others which must mean that seasonal variations have a real effect on the end results.

Strong Onion Plants for the Large Exhibition Classes from 20th March

The onions were sown just after Christmas in an attempt to get them to mature slightly later giving me a better selection for the later shows. I am not after onions for the heavy classes, merely a good quality set at around the 22 inch in circumference mark which always have good condition on them.

So much to do in the Garden from 23rd March

The amount of work to be getting on with at this time of year is phenomenal and inevitably, even with the best intentions, some things don't get done. I can't recall how often I’ve gone to the garden to do a specific job only to find that a more pressing task had to be completed and the one that I went out of the house to do had to go on the back burner.

Protecting your vegetables from Storms from 30th March

I have had to use so many panes to repair my greenhouse and the cost of horticultural glass these days is so expensive, I intend to revert to polythene.The way that I did it was to drape Enviro mesh over the top of the structure and staple it down one side whilst the other end was wound once around a thin batten which was fixed to the side of the structure by means of two drilled holes and two nails in the structure.

Onions - Soil Warming Cables and Polytunnels from 6th April

The soil warming cables in the onion beds were not switched on this year until about ten days ago and the soil temperature underneath the black and white polythene is now above 55°F so the onions can be planted safely this coming week.

Varieties of Stump Rooted Carrots from 13th April

The first batch of stump rooted carrots, as they are called by the National Vegetable Society, or other than long carrots as they are known by the Royal Horticultural Society will be sown this coming week. Sowing them as early as this will assure me of good roots from mid August onwards. Each bed will have 50 carrots sown so I should have plenty from which to select. The problem is which one to sow as the plant breeders are doing such marvellous work with carrots at the moment. Let me go through a few of them to examine their merits or drawbacks.

White Powdery Mildew and Peas from 20th April

Over the past few years I haven't been able to show any peas, mainly because they had matured too early or they had fallen foul of the disease, white powdery mildew. Dry warm days from the middle of August seem to start it off and it manifests itself by appearing first on the foliage and eventually on the pods.

Root Vegetables - Enviro Mesh and Polytunnels from 27th April

I am very pleased with the progress of my first sowing of parsnips this year; they were sown on 21st February and even though they are under cover, they have taken a little longer to germinate this year. Both beds are covered over with Enviro Mesh which is then covered with thin polythene. This year I intend to sow some roots inside my very tall tunnel. Along one side, I have ten plastic drums and, on either side of those plastic drums, I have two half drums. All the drums were filled with concreting sand a while back and five drums have four bore holes in each for my own selection of long carrot which was sown during the first week of April.

Exhibition Potatoes and Poly Pots from 4th May

Some of you may already have your exhibition potatoes planted out but I prefer to leave them until around this time when the weather is more settled and the soil has really warmed up. My potatoes for exhibition are usually second earlies and planting them now will give me plenty of show quality tubers from mid August onwards. A number of you have been enquiring about growing potatoes in polypots which is also an excellent way of producing top quality tubers for exhibition. The pots I used two years ago were more than adequate for the function and measured 12" across when filled and 11" deep; each pot will take about 17 litres of compost.

Welsh Seedling Leeks from 11th May

I have reduced the quantity of leeks slightly this year as I needed one of the beds to grow some early broad beans, peas and lettuce for Chelsea. I have 32 of my own selection of the Welsh seedling and 8 of an old variety of leek that we called locally the Ruthin leek.

Avoiding Botrytis on the Tomatoes and an up-date on the Cauliflowers from 18th May

I have allowed more space between the plants to make sure that more air gets in and between the tomato foliage. I therefore only have ten plants along one side of my twelve foot long greenhouse, I know this is not a lot, but one good plant producing one decent tomato is better than a greenhouse full of plants producing tomatoes that are unusable for showing.

Whether to Support the Foliage of Onions from 25th May

The onions are now clearly romping away with the necks thickening up and the leaves beginning to really swell out. There's no doubt that the first sign of really good strong growth on the large exhibition onion plants is when you see deep grooves or dent developing on the large heavy leaves. It"s just before this point really that you have to decide whether or not you intend to support the foliage of the onions through the growing season or to leave them alone.

National Championships in Dundee from 1st June

The Royal Horticultural Society and the National Vegetable Society, through their Liaison committee, have organised seminars at this top show in Scotland and speakers of the calibre of Mel Ednie, the current world record holder for the heaviest onion will be telling us how he achieved the phenomenal weight of 15lb 15½ ounces. This is undoubtedly the greatest vegetable show anywhere in the country and any of you who want to have a go can get the show schedule free.

Polytunnels & Electric Fans from 8th June

Polytunnels have undoubtedly become part and parcel of the show scene for some years now and where would we be without them. They are reasonably priced and afford us the protection of growing top quality vegetables, not only earlier but to a higher standard as well. They can however be like ovens from now on if we have a decent Summer and many of the ones over twenty feet in length must have some form of air flow to combat the incessant heat that can build up inside them.

Exhibition Shallots from 15th June

Keeping a careful eye on the development and growth pattern of the shallot is essential for well shaped bulbs and the trick is to remove them from the ground before they start secondary growth and before another bulb is developing. The only way you can monitor this is to watch the development of the foliage, particularly the timing of new central shoots.

Early Planting of Celery + Onions from 22nd June

Celery is frost tender so some protection is usually necessary when planting as early as I did, but living here on Anglesey surrounded by the sea and in a South facing garden it is rare for me to have any hard frost during May. However covering the plants over for weeks should be the norm by using either fleece or enviromesh which should give the plants an even better start.

Phenomenal Growth in all the Vegetables from 29th June

From now on there will be some phenomenal growth in all the vegetables for the show bench, particularly those that you timed for showing from mid to late August. It never ceases to amaze me how much bulk that carrots can put on in a matter of two weeks when approaching maturity.

Protective Covers for Root Vegetables - Part 1 from 13th July

What a difference protective covers makes to growing vegetables to the highest quality, we all know how good the leeks and onions grow under polythene or glass but this year some of my carrots and parsnips are responding particularly well to the treatment too. These have been specifically grown for the special tap root collection calls at the Welsh Branch Championships. For this special class you need two parsnips, two beetroot long, two carrots other than long with a definite stump and two carrots long.

Protective Covers for Root Vegetables - Part 2 from 20th July

Last week I discussed how well the root vegetables were growing under polythene covers and this week I intend to cover some of the finer points that might just make the difference between winning and losing at your local show.

Converting the Raised Bed for Trench Celery from 27th July

To produce a good quality trench celery for the show bench doesn't mean that you actually grow it in trenches as used to be the style many years ago. The plants are actually planted at soil level and then collared upwards to exclude the light thus lengthening or drawing upwards the petioles or stalk whilst at the same time, very effectively blanching it.

Visiting other Gardens and preparing for the Showing Season from 3rd August

Towards the middle of June I had the good fortune of being able to attend an open day at John Carvers immaculate garden at Middlewich,arranged in order to raise funds for the Cheshire District Association of the National Vegetable Society. The people that attended were really into vegetable growing and the gasps of amazement were well in evidence when they studied Johns blanch leeks and large exhibition onions.

Wisley Summer Fruit & Vegetable Competition + Large Exhibition Onions from 10th August

The standards at Wisley were excellent, particularly for so early in the growing season. There were however some really top quality exhibits and two classes in particular shone out, the white potato class and the onions under 250grm - both of these classes were won by Mrs Sherie Plumb from Althorne Essex with the Winston potatoes being outstanding in every way. My large exhibition onions were lifted last week at 22 inches in circumference and currently I am very pleased with them and I should be able to at least have a decent set of three for the collection of vegetables.

Height of the Showing Season from 17th August

After writing this article I shall be going straight out into the garden to make a start on harvesting some of the vegetables and as the standard of competition is so high I need to give myself plenty of time to do a thorough job of it. I have learnt from past experience that it's impossible to leave everything until the last minute so I have worked out which ones to lift or harvest first.

Harvesting Vegetables for the Show -Leeks from 24th August

A few weeks before showing it's a good idea to spend time going thoroughly through your blanch leek bed. The purpose of this exercise would be to ascertain how many good ones you have and what size they are. Uniformity of size with leeks can be quite an important factor as one out of three leeks in a dish that is smaller or bigger than the others will easily stand out.

Cauliflowers for Showing, NVS Championships and Fourth Vegetable Weekend Seminar from 31st August

Cauliflower's for exhibition are notorious for maturing either too early or too late for a given show date so you need to adopt a method that will help you save some mature heads and keep them in good condition for a week or so. My fourth vegetable weekend seminar is being held once again this November at Plas Tan y Bwlch located within the beautiful Snowdonia National Park. If you really want to know how to grow large onions, I have been able to persuade Mel Ednie to travel all the way down from Fife in Scotland to tell us how he grew the astonishing World record onion.

Out and about the UK and Southern Ireland from 7th September

The period from the middle of July through to early September was rather hectic to say the least, I don't think I have ever travelled so much in such a short space of time. Firstly to Scotland, then to Gateshead and then off to Southern Ireland.

National Leek Championships of Great Britain from 14th September

My highlight of the year was undoubtedly winning the National Leek Championship of Great Britain at the Welsh Branch Championships which were recently held at Pembroke. I really thought that I had totally cured the leeks from the perennial splitting that I have endured over the past few years, the barrel of the leek normally begin to split with a vengeance from around the middle of July but this year they grew right up to the Welsh Show.

Back to the Hard Slog of Clearing Up the Garden for Next Year from 21st September

With a sigh of relief I can say that the showing season is over for me for this year and what a hectic season I have had as well, I was never home any weekend from the middle of July to early September. It is now back to the hard slog of clearing up the garden and preparing it for next year and the quicker that I can do it then the easier the work load will be as I shall have Chelsea to contend with as well.

Method of Propagation - Leeks from 28th September

Growing leeks for exhibition is very rarely carried out from sowing seed as the end product will be variable so most, if not all, leeks that you see on the show benches have been propagated from bulbils or pips.

Horse Manure, New Zealand Flatworms and a visit to Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee from 5th October

Horse manure leads to thinking about worms, which leads to thoughts about the New Zealand Flatworm, plus a visit to the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee

Harvesting Vegetable Seed from 12th October

The only seed worth harvesting for re use are the straight varieties or the non hybrid types. You must therefore be certain that any pods you remove from the plant are not from an F1 hybrid source as the resulting offspring from such seed can be a right mixture and rarely anything as good as the parent plant.

Greenhouses - Electrics and Cleaning from 19th October

The first thing to do is to remove from the greenhouse everything electrical that is unattached such as the propagator and the electric fan heater and take them to the shed. The electricity is then switched off at the mains, and all the fixed fittings are covered over with some old towelling and polythene to make sure that no water can get at them.

Pink Fir Apple Potatoes from 26th October

The attraction to the Pink Fir Apple however was their knobbly inconsistent shape and immediately my grandchildren called them Dinosaurs, Dolphins and Sharks. If we can get children as young as my three grand children to start to really enjoy eating fresh vegetables, then we really are cultivating the gardeners of tomorrow, even if they do call potatoes dolphins and sharks!

Striking or Rooting Blanch Leek Bulbils from 2nd November

Starting them off early means that they will arrive at their optimum early and that might not always be the right thing. Once a leek has achieved it's optimum growth, keeping it in pristine condition from that point on is difficult as it will almost certainly lose some of it"s sheen.

NVS Judges Examinations and Seminar from 9th November

The NVS examination is in two parts, the first is a written paper, and if the prospective judge has some growing experience and has studied the NVS judging handbook, then the exam is not difficult at all. The second part of the examination is a practical test where committee members will have brought along their vegetables and the Branch Chairman will then lay out some classes with over five dishes in each class.

NVS Judges Seminar from 16th November

At most shows, very often the judges have to select the best dish of vegetables in the show, at local level this can often be relatively easy with one or two dishes standing out from all the others. At National level however the decision can be much more difficult with the judges having to select the best exhibit from nearly all the First prize cards in each class as the standard is so high.

The Role of Vegetable Judges from 23rd November

The Judges Seminar that we had at the Welsh Branch in October certainly made NVS members present think on a wider plane about the role of judges, I shall now follow the same theme as we have done over the past two weeks of discussing some of those questions.

Judging of Vegetables from 30th November

The Judging of horticultural produce is not an exact science and never will be and a decision often rests on something about which two opinions are tenable. To quote from the RHS Horticultural Show Handbook - 'Judging is the exercise of deciding degree of merit within agreed parameters. It is based on familiarity, knowledge and the insight gained from experience.

Growing Heavy Onions + Blanch Leeks from 7th December

If you're considering entering a heaviest onion competition next year, you should be thinking about sowing some seed right now. You must though make sure that you have the correct sort of seed to start with, the saying 'you cant make a silk purse from a sows ear' is perfectly true in this context. The seed has to have the in built capacity to grow to a large size, after that it depends exactly on how you grow it and how well you look after it. My blanch leeks have been growing away now for over five weeks and it's amazing how fast they develop from bulbils given the ideal conditions to grow under.

Soil Analysis and Preparing the Beds from 14th December

I have always been one to advocate soil testing or analysis as a good foundation from where to start growing your vegetables. This coming season there will be many gardens that will suffer from nutrient deficiencies because of the heavy persistent rains that we have had and one of the first elements to suffer will be Nitrogen. So I believe that soil analysis for the coming season is going to be more important then ever.

Large Exhibition Onions and Shallots from 21st December

This is the traditional period for sowing your large exhibition onions as well the perfect timing for planting your exhibition shallots. Do remember when sowing the seed that at this time of year it is necessary to have some heat to help the seed germinate. The 21st of December is the traditional time for planting out your shallot bulbs with a view of harvesting them on the longest day, the 21st of June. Naturally weather conditions are rarely suitable for direct planting in the soil at this time so they will, for the first two weeks, be kept in my warm greenhouse to form roots prior to being placed in my cold frame.

Diaries for Gardening Work from 28th December

Thankfully I keep a really good diary of my gardening work and now is the perfect time for any of you who haven't got one to purchase a type that has at least two days per page. This will allow you to write down all the important things that you need to record. In my case they have become invaluable, particularly while I have to juggle my sowing dates with Chelsea flower show in mind whilst at the same time I have to also consider sowing dates for my August September shows.