Sowing Dates from the top Showmen

by Medwyn Williams, MBE FNVS National Chairman of the NVS

Medwyn Williams at Chelsea Flower Show

Medwyn Williams MBE FNVS
National Chairman of the NVS

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:-

Kind	Cultivar	1^ST Show Date 26/08	2^nd Show Date 29/09	Comments
Globe Beet	Pablo	15^th - 25^th April	15^th - 25^th May	Sow directly into the open ground
Long Beet	Long Black	20^th March	20^th April	all grown under cover
Broad Bean	Giant Exhibition	Autumn Sown	Just the one sowing	Sow directly in the open garden
Green Cabbage	Globemaster	25^th March	25^th April	Greenhouse sown and potted on into 4 inch pots
Red Cabbage	Autoro	5^th March	20^th March	Greenhouse sown and potted on into 4 inch pots
Runner Bean	Not Grown	.	.	.
French Bean	Re selected Prince	10^th April	25^th April	Sown outside with protection for early sowing
Carrots Long	Own re selected seed	10^th April	25^th April	grown in barrels of sand under specially constructed covers
Carrots Stump	Gringo	25^th April	6^th May	grown in sand under covers
Cauliflower	Memphis Virgin	5^th May	Successional sowings every ten days from the 5^th May	greenhouse sown and potted up into 4 inch pots
Trench Celery	Evening Star Red Star Morning Star (new hybrids)	14^th February	20^th March	Greenhouse sown and potted up into 4 litre pots
Cucumber	Carmen	20^th March	10^th April	Greenhouse grown
Lettuce Butterhead	Not Grown	.	.	.
Table Marrow	Not Grown	.	.	.
Onions over 250 gram	Kelsae (Derek Raw selection)	20^th December	5^th January	Greenhouse sown under artificial lights
Onions under 250 gram	Derek Raw	4^th January	.	.
Parsnips	Javelin	20^th February	25^th March	Grown in barrels of sand under specially constructed covers.
Peas	Show Perfection	20^th March	one sowing only	.
Potatoes	Winston Kestrel	25^th May	through to the 5^th June	.
Radish	Not Grown	.	.	.
Tomatoes	Solution	10^th February	5^th April	.
Turnips	Not Grown	.	.	.

Medwyn

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This article originally appeared on Medwyn's of Anglesey the web site of Medwyn Williams which includes an online shop where you can buy his vegetable seeds, books and sundries.

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