Although I'd always dabbled in vegetable growing, moving to France and starting from scratch made me understand just how little I knew. Reading books and searching the web are fine, but so much of the information was irrelevant to my plot, my soil conditions, location, climate, slug population and just about everything else. And then I stumbled upon the Grapevine Forum, which, although UK based, is peopled by knowledgable, helpful and very, very generous folk (or Grapes as members are known).
Once a year, in keeping with traditional village and allotment life, a Flower and Produce show is held, although being an online community, the show is a virtual one. The concept is simple - grow the stuff, photograph it, upload the photos and the community then votes on a winner in the many categories. We don't have chickens, but still wonder of I can smuggle a picture of Squermish the cat's behind into the Fluffiest Bum class!
The event is a lot of fun, prizes are a sense of satisfaction, but best of all is the opportuity to have a good nose at what other folks are up to. I would never enter a real produce show, indeed I'm not sure that such things even exist in France, although I bet you can find one or two in the heavily English populated areas like Dordogne-sur-Thames - but the Vine show is something a little bit special. Last year I was delighted to only come joint third in the best Failure category. Must (not) try harder.
So here is a sneak preview of my entries in the 2014 competition:
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| Best dish made with own produce: Golden Beetroot Tart |
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| One Brassica: Calabrese |
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| Three Beans Same Variety: Rocdor |
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| Three Tomatoes: Prince Borghese |
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| Pair of Cucumbers: Burpless Tasty Green |
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| Any Other Item: Green Utah Celery |
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| Pair of Root Veg: Carrot Danvers |
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