Autumn Flower and Produce Show - September 5th 2015

My sweet peas all beautifully arranged and ready to go for
the show,.  Oh, alright, these are the sweet peas
at Ightham Mote - mine all have downy
mildew and have snuffed it.  So that's another class
I won't be competing in ...

Now that the rain has come down, and we have had one of the first mists of the morning, we can say that Autumn is truly coming in - that season of "mellow mists and fruitfulness" as Keats would have it (see, a little bit of class and education from a blog author often accused of being bereft of both, usually by my own dear wife - read the poem by clicking here).

This means that it is time for our annual big show, the Autumn Flower and Produce Show, at St Agathas on the Green, on September 5th 2015.  Staging of entries is from 8.30 to 10.30, and the show itself opens to view from 2.00 to 4.00 pm.  Entry to see the show is free, and there will (of course) be cakes and tea for sale, to make the show a good social event as well.  Schedules are in your yellow programme, together with hints on exhibiting, and copies of the schedule only are available from the link on the right (or click here).

The show is open to all members of the public and entries into the classes may be made for free by anyone.  Please do therefore encourage any of your friends to enter even if they are not members (I would, but apparently I don't have any friends any more.  Thanks for pointing that out as well, dear wife).

This year, there are rumours that a number of our normal major exhibitors are either suffering from illness or are away on holiday.  While our best wishes go out to all those who may be ill, this does mean that we are trying to encourage entries from as many other people as possible, even if you have not exhibited before, in order to make a decent show (without you, this show cannot happen), but does have the advantage that the awards are far more open to anyone to win! Have a good look around - there must be something that you can find!  Please do not be put off if you have not exhibited before - we were all novices once and it is nowhere near as daunting as it might seem - as we are ultimately a friendly local show with the aim of displaying nice flowers and veggies for people who like looking at them, rather than meeting exacting national standards!

Entries may be made by email to ball.jillian@btinternet.com, or to hggardeningclub@gmail.com, by telephone to 01883 715896, or by post/hand to Ivy Cottage, 65 Hurst Green Road, Surrey, RH8 9AJ.  Do please also contact us if you would like advice on entries or any encouragement to put some in!  Entry forms are not strictly necessary so long as we know who you are and which classes you want to enter, but may be found on the right or by clicking here if you prefer to use them.

See you there - WITH your entries!

August Meeting - Organic Pest Control

Our August meeting was on "organic pest control", given by Mrs Rae, ably assisted by her husband Dr Rae.  The talk focused in particular on a number of biological controls, using examples such as nematodes to control slugs (always of interest to Hurst Greeners, gardening on  clay), and parasitic biological controls for cabbage whites on brassicas.

One of the very informative and useful pieces of information was that biological controls are not meant as preventative measures, in order to stop an infection happening in the first place, but are for treating any infestations as they initially require the pest to be present in order to be effective.  These biological controls limit any infestation from becoming a massive outbreak by creating a more harmonious equilibrium between the pest and the control species; at many garden centres that sell these products, you would be forgiven for thinking that nemotodes (or other species) should be introduced to prevent the pest, and if you bought on this basis you would waste quite a bit of money.  The biological control species needs to feed on the pest, and will simply starve to death if there are none there to start with!