The Community Garden Bucket Growing Competition

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by misterQ, Apr 2, 2020.

  1. misterQ

    misterQ Super Gardener

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    Earlier today, some members of The Stamford Hill Community Garden began potting up their competition entries for this year.

    Why not join in on the fun and see what you can do.

    Judgement Day will be in early October, weather permitting.


    Here are the rules for those of you new to the bucket challenges:

    • All crops must be grown in 14L buckets or in any container holding up to 14L of compost/growing medium;
    • There are no restrictions on which cultivar of crop you can use but they must all be started off from seed;
    • There are also no restrictions on the growing medium - whether you choose to use compost, garden soil, sand, straw, shredded paper or other custom mixtures is all up to you. We are using a mixture of spent compost, home-made compost and leafmould due to lack of availability of the bagged stuff;
    • Fertilizers, whether it be type, strength or dosage is all up to you.


    The Spud in A Bucket Competition

    The aim is to produce quantity according to weight - to grow as much as possible from just one seed potato in a bucket.


    The Tri-carrot Challenge

    Demonstrate that you can produce a uniform quality crop.

    Produce three carrots, each at least 7cm in length, cleaned and with the green tops neatly trimmed to 25mm. The taproots should be unbroken.

    Remember, the main criteria is uniformity - it will not be judged on anything else.


    And, new for this year,


    Leeks in A Bucket

    Produce the longest chain of leeks when laid end-to-end.

    The leeks must be at least 20mm diameter. The roots trimmed to 12mm. The green tops trimmed to a length at most equal to the length of the blanched white stem. The green tops can not exceed the length of the blanched part.



    My intention is not to undermine government advice or to send you to an early grave so co-ordinate yourselves accordingly with respect to the coronavirus.

    I would suggest a staggered attendance if you are part of a group.



    Remember, fifteen minutes a day tending to plants in the garden is better than four hours on a weekend.


    Since all of you will not be my direct competitors, I wish you all the best of luck and happy growing!
     
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    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      We have germination!


      Spud: the sound of a yawn.
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      Carrots: snap, crackle and pop!
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      Leeks: slide whistles up.
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    • alana

      alana Super Gardener

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      That's a great thing to do. I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress and I hope you are able to have your show in October:)
       
    • RobB

      RobB Gardener

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      Nice idea, already done spuds, not keen on carrots. With leaks you've not got a lot of compost so will you have to add more as they mature?
       
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      I will try my best to post regular picture updates and in box set fashion, no less!

      But, why is a Head Gardener not partaking in this competition? Are you looking down on us?

      Don't you know that the much sought after Community Garden KUDOS Award Medals are at stake? They give you one year's worth of bragging rights and the heaven's mandate to lord over lesser horticultural mortals.

      Plus, your name will be inscribed onto the community garden's list of immortality!
       
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      Basically, yes.

      I was just doing a bit of forward thinking.

      A common method for growing leeks is to drop a pencil-thick leek seedling into a deep hole made by an inch-thick dibber. The blanched part of the leek is just the part which remains underground blocked off from sun light.

      So, my aim is to "earth up" the leeks once they reach a suitable size.

      I would like to have planted the leeks much lower down in the bucket but a smaller volume of compost would have dried out too fast.
       
    • RobB

      RobB Gardener

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      Thanks misterQ, next time I'm out I'll get some seeds and give it a go.
       
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      In case any one is wondering, here are the layouts of the competition entries. In other words, considering heaven and earth.


      The Community Garden
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      The Container Garden
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      Last edited: May 3, 2020
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      The May update (aka a sneaky peek at competitor strategies).


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      Last edited: May 3, 2020
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      My entry is (I).

      (G) is a newbie entrant and is exactly one month behind in terms of seed sowing.

      (F) made a booboo and planted their carrot and leek seeds too deep.
       
    • misterQ

      misterQ Super Gardener

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      The June update.


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      • misterQ

        misterQ Super Gardener

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        You can see in the June update that neglect is beginning to creep in with some of the entries.

        (F) sowed the carrot and leek seeds again having sowed them too deep the first time around.

        (K) is a new entry. They joined the fray on 9th May.
         
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        • misterQ

          misterQ Super Gardener

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          The July update.


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            Last edited: Jul 3, 2020
          • misterQ

            misterQ Super Gardener

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            (L) is another new entry who joined the fray in mid June.

            As you can see (C) and (J) are lacking in diligence as the buckets contain more weeds than crops.

            However, the majority of entries are looking much better than the previous years.
             
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            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

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              Interesting to see how quickly the late joiners are catching up.
               
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