With only weeks to go until the Cookham Show, everything is now on the way. “All” that is left to do is to make sure that your flowers, fruit and vegetables are in the best possible shape for the 14th of September.

It is more important that exhibits are as healthy as possible than simply growing whoppers. It is therefore crucial to keep going with weeding, watering and feeding and checking for pests and diseases. Pest and disease free is a major consideration for judges.

Even if it seems dry, don’t water root crops as this may cause forking and splitting, instead you can rely on the tap roots of carrots and parsnips to keep driving down searching for water.  On the other hand, members of the cucurbit family (squashes etc.) and beans are extremely thirsty and may need additional watering to keep them healthy.

You can start harvesting some exhibits now. Hard skinned squashes such as butternut and Uchiki Kuri will be ripening in August, so start looking for matching pairs.

Is there a matching pair here?

You may well be lifting main crop potatoes. While cleaning them up ready for storage, look for matching sets of three that you can put aside for the show (about 200g is the perfect size).

It is surprising how hard it is to find three that match in a bucket of spuds

Onions, shallots and garlic should all be drying for storage (and showing) so your entry list is growing already. You may also be picking early maturing apples.

Onions from an RHS show

However, for many entries, freshness is vital so select root crops, beans, tomatoes and soft fruit in the days before the show. For sweet and chilli peppers ripeness is a factor, so leave them on the plants as long as possible to get full colour change.

All things being equal the prizes will go to the ripe ones

Next month – final preparations!