Prize Vegetables . . . and how they Grow

Showing vegetables can be harder than growing the prize winners. Even though I was once No. 3 in D.S.A. collegiate vegetable judging, it takes me one-half a day to select three potatoes, or onions, to exhibit from the hundreds that I grow. Still, without good garden yield, it's hard to show quality specimens.

I don't grow with a show in mind (though this is often done). Except for trying a vegetable each year that will qualify for the "unusual" category, I grow to eat!

Early in the new year I carefully go through a number of catalogues and select varieties that are old favorites or highly touted newcomers, always looking for hardiness, better flavor, yield or freezing qualities. I find hybrid varieties superior for our rigorous climate.

Excepting potatoes and shallots, everything is raised from seed. Onions are started in small flats in March, followed by the cabbage clan and slow germinating eggplant, pepper and celery. Tomatoes are started April 21, about 6 weeks before the last frost here in the Gatineau. Most seed is germinated in pasteurized soil in 3" plastic pots and the seedlings pricked individually into 2 1/2-3" peat pots. Cucurbit family members are started directly in 3" peat pots at the end of April. When their first true leaves appear they are ready to go to the garden. Of course seedlings need all sunlight possible, so flats are constantly shifted from windowsills to sun porch and finally to cold frames for hardening off.

The garden, which has been spread with wood ash and compost the previous autumn, is tilled with a rotary plow and raked smooth. Crops are alternated each year.

Direct seeding begins with peas the first week of May if conditions permit.

Trenches are dug for peas and filled with compost or well-rotted manure. Chicken or woven wire is erected for support. Wire does not bum tendrils, even at 90oF. Potatoes, carrots, beets, radish, parsnips and lettuce go in next. Corn is planted late in May, while beans, which rot in cold wet soil, are held until June.

When setting out seedlings, holes are dug and filled with at strength solution of 20-20-20. The peat pot is set in and covered completely so it won't "wick" moisture away from the seedling. Cardboard rings are set around plants which are likely to be devastated by cutworms. Before setting pots of cucurbits, large holes are dug and filled with compost or well-rotted manure. The seedlings are planted above and covered with hotcaps to protect them from cold nights and insect attack.

Soil tests usually indicate need for lime or ash where beans are grown. Extra organic matter is worked into soil for pole beans.

Soil moisture must be adequate when seeds are germinating and plants are becoming established. Watering can be critical at this time. Weeds must be controlled as they sprout.

No matter how tempted, I don't use weed killers or chemical sprays or dusts. I do use Rotenone against aphids and potato beetles. Thuricide (Rt.) is very effective against cabbage worms and leaves no visible residue. When showing vegetables, remember that judges deduct points if spray specks are not removed. Of course insect damage will also reduce your score.

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After plants are established, the garden is completely mulched with spoiled hay which reduces weeding, prevents moisture loss and soil erosion and keeps vegetables clean and grit free. Mulch does reduce soil warming, so it should be kept away from tomatoes and peppers until the first fruits are set.

I stake indeterminate (growing tips keep elongating) tomatoes but plan to grow some in cages to cut down labor of tying.

Corn is the only crop which receives additional fertilizer after planting. I foliar feed with strength 20-20-20 every two weeks until tassels form.

The main duty in late summer is harvesting which is time consuming. Crop residue is thrown on compost heaps. If large areas of ground are exposed, rye grass is sown as a cover crop. I harvest cabbage carefully, cutting the head cleanly from a ring of leaves which, if left, will sprout a tiny new head at every bud. These are just right for individual servings, come autumn. They won't take any prizes but they are delicious.

At show time I refresh my memory by consulting JUDGING STANDARDS FOR HORTICULTURAL SHOWS publication 1395 & SELECTING EXHIBITING & JUDGING POTATOES publication 1421 from Agriculture Canada. I also use GROWING FOR SHOWING by an old friend, Rudy Favretti. These guides are a "must" for a novice and helpful to all exhibitors. Uniformity of specimens seems to be the quality some of our members fail to observe.

After hard frosts dead plants are pulled and composted. Wire, poles, stakes and labels are removed and cleaned for storage. Notes are made on successes and failures and the garden is "put to bed" for the long winter.

ANNE BIRDSLEY GINNS, Cantley, Que.

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