Sowing Dates from the top Showmen

The first date was the 26th August 2002 which is the timing for the Welsh Branch championships at Margam Park South Wales. The second sowing date is the 29th September, this being the sowing date for the National Vegetable Society Championships which are held next year as part of the Malvern Autumn Show.

This is my fifth article on the sowing dates that top showmen use in different parts of the country for a given show date. The dates selected were to coincide with two major shows in the country that these growers have competed in. The first date was the 26^th August 2002 which is the timing for the Welsh Branch championships at Margam Park South Wales. The second sowing date is the 29^th September, this being the sowing date for the National Vegetable Society Championships which are held next year as part of the Malvern Autumn Show.

National Pot Leek Society

The fifth grower to offer his sowing dates for the above dates is John Soulsby from the Gateshead area, up in the North east of the Country. John has been growing vegetables for many years and has a registered leek nursery at his home where he propagates many different varieties of both pot and blanch leek.

John is an ex Chairman of the National Pot Leek Society as well as being a national pot leek judge. Over the years he has won many open shows with his pot leeks and at the highest level came second in the National Pot leek Society Show, believe me to get into the top ten at this particualr championships is some feat in itself. John also came second in the World championship show at Ashington.

He has won many open shows with a variety of vegetables and is well known around the area for his superb collection of vegetables which he won at Houghton Le Skern. I judges the vegetable side of Houghton Le Skern show on two consecutive years and I well remember John winning the short carrot class with a superb pair of Chantenay type carrots. This was no ordinary class either with the standard being exceptionally high and it took me along time to sort out the wheat from the chaff. The main problem then was the stipulation that every entry had to be staged with the foliage attached. As there was well in excess of sixty entries in this class with the roots staged on top of other carrots’ foliage it was really a nightmare just to get at them.

John has also won the North of England Championships at Cramlington High Pit and also the World Championships at Willows in Walker. Only this year John has won with collections at nine local village shows. To say that John is an enthusiastic gardener would be an understatement, particularly when one considers that he gets up before 4 am every morning to run his large floral business as well. He is an excellent public speaker, oozing with confidence and has given three talks at my gardening weekend and every time he has left the audience hungry for more information.

Here are John’s sowing dates for those varieties on the list that he grows:-