Vegetable Masterclass Events Programme
by Medwyn on August 21, 2010
in General Growing
THE VEGETABLE MASTERCLASS WEEKEND
Friday 12th - Sunday 14th November 2010
THE ROYAL VICTORIA HOTEL LLANBERIS
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
Friday 12th November
4.00 – 6.30 Arrive at The Royal Victoria Hotel to check in and relax before dinner.
6.30 – 7.50 A four course evening meal will be served (you may order wine at your table)
8.00 – 9.15 The Breeding of Runner Beans and other Vegetables by James Claxton from the seed company Tozers – James lives in Woking Surrey and is the senior plant breeder at Tozer and works on a variety of diverse crops – leeks, Runner Beans, Courgettes, Marrows, Winter Squash, Pumpkins, Brussels sprout, flower sprout and speciality leaf brassicas. James has been at Tozer for 13 years and previously worked at the Scottish Crop Research Institute for two years on powdery scab on potatoes. He has a PhD from the University of Bath, where he worked on crook root disease of watercress (related to club root in brassicas). His Degree was from Sutton Bonington, University of Nottingham, Plant Science.
Jamie will talk about the wide variety of plant breeding techniques used to produce improved novel varieties (both hybrid and open pollinated) of this diverse range of crops, with particular emphasis on Runner Bean breeding which will enlighten us regarding where the future trend lies.
9.15 – 9.30 Question and Answer session.
9.30 - Time to relax after your long journey; share your gardening experiences with some of the speakers, fellow growers and exhibitors. Why not even enjoy a night cap at the bar before retiring.
Saturday 13th November
8.00 - 9.00 Cooked Breakfast
9.00 – 10.15 The Modern Kitchen Garden by Barry Newman FNVS. Barry is a well known Grower, Exhibitor, Lecturer and Judge. He is Chairman of the Southern Region of The National Vegetable Society and serves on its National Executive. As well as being a senior NVS judge, Barry serves on the judging panel of The Royal Horticultural Society and South & South East in Bloom. He is also a member of the South of England Agricultural Society’s Horticultural Committee. Barry was formally trained in horticulture at Pershore, York and Bath Botanical Gardens. Barry lives at Littleworth, near Partridge Green in West Sussex.
This will be a talk in three parts, covering the traditional approach to growing vegetables then moving on to container growing for those with limited space and finally to raised bed cultivation which Barry regards as the modern way ahead for those wishing to grow for the table.
10.15 – 10.30 Question and Answer session
10.30 – 10.45 Coffee / Tea Break
10.45 – 12.00 Poisonous Plants Through the Ages by Dr Peter Cannon FRCP. Dr Peter Cannon FRCP is a retired Consultant Physician and lives in Bangor Gwynedd. Peter specialises in acute general medicine and has had a lifelong interest in the contribution that plants have made to medicine. They have also played a darker role in man’s history since civilisation began.
12.00 – 12.15 Question and Answer session
12.15 – 2.15 A buffet lunch after which you have an opportunity to take a walk around the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hotel or perhaps a walk down to the Snowdon Mountain Railway in the village of Llanberis.
2.15 – 3.30 Growing Carrots other than Long for Exhibition by Ian Simpson. Ian lives in Kinghorn, Fife and is Managing Director of a specialist Electronics company who operate in the field of Packing semi conductors for use in Mobile Phones, TV’s and Computers just to name a few. For Ian growing vegetables for the show bench is a relief from the everyday rigours of the factory. He’s been growing vegetables for the show bench for over 30 years starting like most of us at the local village show.
Ian has progressed so well that over the past five years or so he has won with Peas at the NVS Championships twice as well as winning the National with carrots other long over the last two years with the variety Sweet Candle. His talk will cover every aspect of the growing from starting off with the seed to staging them on the show bench.
3.30 – 3.45 Question and Answer session.
3.45 – 4.00 Coffee / Tea Break
4.00 – 5.15 The Beneficial Use of Artificial Lights on Plants by Andrew Gallimore from Manchester. Andrew has been working in the industry for 12 years and is certainly an expert in the field of indoor horticulture and related hardware. For the past 3 years he’s been store manager for Holland Hydroponics, one of the biggest hydroponic shops in the North West. Due to his extensive experience and interest in working with indoor lighting and related products. His talk will cover Fluorescent lights, T8 and T5 lights as well as High Density Discharge lamps such as metal Halide as well as High pressure Sodium and compact fluorescents. I am sure Andrew will give an enlightening and comprehensive presentation regarding this subject.
5.15 – 5.30 Question and Answer session.
5.30 – 6.15 Time to relax and do your own thing before your evening meal, you may even feel the need to enjoy a drink at the bar!!
6.15 – 7.30 Time to indulge yourself in a four course evening meal. (you can order your wine at the table from the Victorias’ reasonably priced selection)
7.30 – 8.45 From The Back Bedroom To The Allotment and Back Again by John Bebbington FNVS, Crewe. John is an NVS Judge and a tremendously keen vegetable grower from his allotment at Crewe. Over the past few years he has really broken through to the top with quality vegetables to win at the NVS National Championships. It’s never easy to win at the Highest level even if the vegetables are growing in you back garden. When you have to grow them on an allotment it makes it increasingly difficult. John will tell us how he manages to get around all the difficulties this entails. His presentation will be through the medium of Power Point.
8.45 – 9.00 Question and Answer session.
9.00 - For the next hour or so as you will be entertained, the entertainment has yet to be finalised.
Sunday 14th November
8.00 – 9.00 Cooked breakfast
9.00 – 9.15 Photo call, bring your camera along and take a group photo as a memento of the occasion.
9.15 – 10.45 Growing Giant Onions for the Heaviest Onion Competitions by Peter Glazebrook, Halam, Newark. Peter has been growing and showing top quality vegetables for 28 years, eventually winning with a range of vegetables from ‘Carrots other than long’ to ‘Large Collections at National Level. His love however over the past 15 years has been in growing the largest, the longest or the heaviest vegetable specimens.
When visiting Peter a few years ago I was amazed at the range of vegetables that he grew towards winning the heaviest or the longest in various categories. Over the past 15 years or so he has seriously been concentrating on growing Giant Vegetables and he is now the one that everyone else has to beat. Peter has broken 11 World records – two of which he still holds. He has also won the ‘Best Overall Grower and Trophy’ at the Giant Vegetable Championships for the last 11 years. Winning the ‘Heaviest Onion’ at the Harrogate Autumn Show for the last two years has been the most satisfying for Peter. His commitment to his hobby is total and I know there’s nothing he’d like better than to break the world record for the heaviest onion that currently stands at 16lb 8½oz (468g).
10.45 – 11.00 Question and Answer session.
11.00 – 11.15 Coffee / Tea Break
11.15 – 12.30 Gardeners Question time with the Speakers. A roundup of the weekend. It doesn’t matter how well you listened to the talks, there’s always that gardening problem or question that you forgot to ask that may be still bothering you. It allows you the opportunity to ask the speakers further questions on vegetable growing that may not even be related to any subject discussed during the seminar – why not challenge them with a problem that’s been a source of worry to you for so long .
12.30 – Traditional Welsh Sunday Lunch before departing .
*Please note that the time limit allowed for each speaker will have to be adhered to but may have to vary to suit circumstances outside my control*
2011 Seminar will be from the 11th to the 13th November.
Medwyn Williams.
Thanks for sharing your photo of yourself and Harry Dodson. A hero of mine too, influencing the way I garden and even paint my artwork!
Hi there,
Just saw the amazing display that got you this years gold medal again. What an outstanding creation truly celebrating the wealth of vegetables that can be grown in the UK. I wish we had something that could remotely compare to your achievement there in Sweden.
Thank you for being such a great ambassador for vegetables and gardening role model demonstrating that we can impact our carbon footprint at the same time as creating some utterly beautiful!