A look around some plants for the Tatton Park Show.

My carrots for Tatton Park are really doing well this year and I should be able to build four or five large baskets of the various varieties. Sweet Candle is naturally the main one and I have over a hundred of those grown in 2ft 6ins deep square containers that are around a metre square. The tops are tall and the growth very even. I have a new variety in half a bed called Poseidon which is supposed to be a really nice carrot the other half is taken up with Flyaway. This is still an excellent carrot with a nice shape and a good stump end.

Another bed has a new purple carrot called Purple Sun which should be bulkier than Purple Haze as well as being shorter. The difference in the size of the foliage through is very noticeable with a tinge of purple showing in the stalks. The last box has a new yellow carrot called Solar Yellow which is brighter in colour than the older Yellowstone. I have had a look around one carrot in each box and they are now coming up to about an inch across with nearly two months to go yet until Tatton. If they all continue to grow as well as they have done up to now I should have some nice bulky specimens.

The new early Parsnips that were sown on the 16th January have some really powerful tops and as they were starting to lean over I had to put some canes and string around them for support. The long carrots are also doing well having had fresh concreting sand in all the five barrels with my own long black beet still in last year’s salty sand and doing very well on it.

My Pendle Improved leeks are on their 18 inch collars now and as clean a foliage as I have had for a long time. The Pot leeks had their one and only six inch collar on yesterday.

Aubergines are doing well with the first grafted six plants already in flower and should produce some nice specimens for Tatton.

I also have another six from a later grafting that should produce plenty for Malvern. There’s no doubt about it, this is definitely the best way to grow Aubergines, with their vigour and the amount of fruit you can harvest being unbelievable. The plants are Scorpio F1 and came from Suttons, they are not cheap at £3.99 for one or £9.99 for 3 super plugs but you really can’t fail to get results from these. Check out with Suttons as they might still have some plants.

The potatoes were late leaving the polytunnel with the haulms far too tall on them. However with the protection of the plastic ornage netting they seem to be growing away well.