“The best show yet.” “So much colour!” “Inspiring.” These are just some of the compliments we heard repeated by the entrants and visitors to the Rye Flower and Veg Show which took place on Saturday, August 19 at Rye Community Centre.
The number of entries (311) exceeded all expectations and despite the slow start to the summer, then the heatwave in June followed by the rain and chill factor in July, Rye’s gardeners excelled.
Our regular RHS judge, Will, was also impressed with the range and standard of the entries this year, and had a lot of trouble choosing a winner from the dozens of tomatoes on display. It was a good year for cucumbers too, all that rain in July we suspect!
The cookery section judges had a marathon task with a large selection of tea loaves, flapjacks, brownies, sausage rolls, chutneys and much more to tackle. Again, a very challenging but hopefully enjoyable (and filling) task. The handicrafts and photographs were also impressive and displayed the wide variety of artistic skills that abound in Rye.
So, to the winners:
- Best entry in the flower and vegetable classes – The Tate Trophy – Geoffrey Austen
- The RHS Banksian Medal – Liz Bamji
- The Turk Trophy – allotment holder with highest points – Pat Wightwick
- Cookery classes – Laurence Hudd
- Photography classes – Lorna Hall
- Handicraft – Shelley Gibbon
- Longest carrot (in memory of Bill White) – Pat Wightwick
- Festival Challenge Bowl – Pat Wightwick
We are lucky enough to have some very supportive businesses in town who placed adverts in our schedule and sponsored the prizes and we are very grateful for their ongoing help. The show could not happen without them.
Thanks also to the mayor of Rye, Andi Rivett who cheerfully and patiently handed over a multitude of certificates and prizes with the support of the mayoral dog Sophie.
A very big thank you too, to those who helped set up, steward and clear up after the show. Sue and Phil Mullane, Richard Gibbon, Abigail Cooper-Hansen, Nick Roberts, Liz Bamji, Nigel Jennings, Kevin Hall, Andrew Bamji and Laurence Hudd.
Next year will be the 20th year of the Rye Flower & Vegetable Show and we are looking for ideas and inspiration to celebrate. If you have any clever ideas or would like to see another class added to the schedule please send us a message on our website www.ryeflowerandvegshow.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Image Credits: Shelley Gibbon and Lorna Hall .
Thank you Lorna, Helena and Shelley for running such a wonderful show. To say that I was flabbergasted would be an understatement! This was my first time ever entering classes in a Flower and Veg show. I was delighted that my various fruit and veg were placed in several classes. It was especially nice to get a first for my Laxton Superb apples. My grandfather grew this variety in his market garden in Beckley. That’s why we planted the tree 5 years ago when we were re-establishing an orchard.
My, now “award winning” golden raspberries; well I didn’t expect that!
My message to other happy gardeners is: enter whatever you have grown in next year’s show! You might be flabbergasted as well!