To [sic] for me – 5 September 2010

The judges have spoken. Far be it from us to quibble.

However…

• runner beans: no prize – beaten, I think, fair and square by quality competition
  
• runner bean (longest): no prize – the measuring tape cannot lie
  
• parsnips: no prize – our multi-pronged beasts, a Post-It Note advised, were given too much fertiliser
  
• garlic: 3rd Prize – despite the fact that the 2nd Prize-winner hadn't had its stalks tied (rules are to be obeyed)
  
• any other vegetable (our borlotti beans): 2nd Prize – a respectable finish; 1st Prize went to the Ladies' giant celeries
  
• raspberries: 2nd Prize – against some strong competition
  
• a jar of chutney: no prize – a Post-It Note: "To sweet for me"; a fellow entrant was described as "To hot for me".

Is this the place to debate the skills-set required of chutney judges? Or that they should cherish flavour? Perhaps not. Perhaps I'm just infused with bitterness, the way some of our potatoes are infused with ants.

Work cures all, so with middling heavy hearts we returned to the plot. Here's where we are, at what can be described as the twilight of Summer.

Bed 1: dead peas and petit pois removed, leaving a squash plant and some late-planted peas.

Bed 2: K rearranged the brassica to give them more space. The frame and netting seems to have held up (held out the Evil Cabbage White Butterfly) for the most part. Next season, I want to have a go at erecting our old tent's inner 'rooms' as shelters.

Bed 3: Roughly a third of our first- and second-early potatoes have been harvested.

Bed 4: The lovely black french beans are done, leaving some corn, courgette and celery, along with the Leaning Tower of Borlotti.

The Bank: Home to two major pumpkins, a newly discovered squash, rhubarb, a lingering asparagus and some thriving comfrey. Also home to nettles, blackberries and weeds.

Bed 5: Corn finished, leaving celery, squash, red onions, a tower of runner beans and chard.

Bed 6: Mediocre carrots, many victims of mice. Sharp spring onions, thriving parsnip, alleged kohlrhabi and (eaten last night) three artichokes (delicious).

Bed 7: Still full of do-nothing raspberries, plus some volunteer potatoes.

Bed 8: Our maincrop potatoes.

The Fruit Cage: Raspberries galore, yet no apples, cherries or plums (we are not alone in our fruit failing). Satisfactory blueberries. Something oniony in the seed bed.

That's better. I've forgiven the judges, and am even more inspired facing next year's competition.

Showtime! - part one – 4 September 2010

Once more we face the judges' results at the annual St Stephens Gardening Club Show. We spent this morning, like anxious parents at a teenage beauty pageant, staging our exhibits:

• runner beans
• runner bean (longest)
• parsnips
• garlic
• any other vegetable – we choose our first-ever crop of borlotti beans
• raspberries
• a jar of chutney.

The mood seemed sombre to me, many people grumbling that this past growing season had not been their best. Entry numbers seemed low to me, too.

Well, we'll see the results in an hour's time. Fingers crossed (like the twisted roots of our parsnips).