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Midsummers day, raining at the moment most things in the garden are
slow but hopefully there is still time for everything to come and be ready for
the Show Benches on Saturday 27th August.
The
revised items for the Junior Sections have now been posted and this year
instead of age groups the school years have been put in place i.e Primary 1, 2 ,3 and so forth. Parents please encourage
the kids to enter the Show, many youngsters will be making entries through
their schools but some schools do not give as much support as others and it is
the children who do not receive much school encourage that we would like to see
more entries from.
Last
year, despite a very good entry on the Junior Benches there were very few
parents who came to the Show
to see the entries, surely if a child has made the effort to take
part on Show day then at least they could be supported by parents making the
effort to come along to the Show.
By now
many should be aware of the new section for ADULT BEGINNERS (over 18), this section was added in response to requests from
members of the public at the 2010 show who felt that the standard of entries
from the more experienced competitors left them at a disadvantage. However,
earlier this year the Society laid on a talk aimed especially at people
considering showing for the first time as ADULT BEGINNERS no one turned up, so
does that leave the Currie Show committee thinking that they wasted their time
in putting together this new class?.
As the
weather over the last few weeks has been more like winter than summer, many
flowers and vegetables are growing very slowly even some of the more
experienced are having difficulty and covers are still over many plants in an
effort to create a microclimate to allow for even growth. However, there is
still just under 10 weeks before the Show so there is
every hope that given a spell of proper summer weather there would still be
good quality entries on the Show Benches.
One
section that is not weather dependent is Section 1 Pot Plants there are 14
items in this class and it is a good starter section for those new to
exhibiting, look up the Schedule of classes either from the printed schedule or
from this web site and make your selection. Last year a first time exhibitor
took best in class for a pot of Streptocarpus (Cape Primrose) and won the Hugh Fraser Trophy, so please do not
think that you would not have any thing that could not compete well on the Show
Bench.
Currie
Show will next have a stand at The Friends of Malleny
Open Day on the first Sunday in August at Malleny
Garden, this will be a publicity stand with a few typical specimens that appear
on the Show benches and your questions are welcome.
For those considering entries in which we
call the Industrial Sections, then look at the classes, for Home Baking,
Preserving, Needlework and Handcrafts, this is the time to forward plan. Some
reading this page may well have entered the Great Balerno
Bake Off at the Gala, so please look at the schedule and make an entry in the
Home Baking Classes. About now “Pick Your Own” will be under way so why not go
along to your nearest Fruit Farm and pick Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries etc. and enter some pot in the section for
preserves. Likewise, look through the Needlework and Handcraft Sections pick
out something that appeals and place on the Show Bench. In the Handcraft
section the theme for the photographic entry is “A Farmers Market”, well there are 3 in the area so it is your choice.
The Floral Art Section this year is very
imaginative and the Society no longer has the small bays for each class in the
section, we now have an entire length for prospective exhibitors to display
without being cramped
As with other Shows, there is always a
call for more help to run the Show, but it is just as important to have a
greater commitment on Show Day, over the past few years there has been gaps on
the Show benches and we would very much like to see no gaps this year, so
please give consideration to involve yourselves with an event that started in
1849 and make a few entries in any of the schedules classes that appear in this
site.
The media tells us that there is now a
greater interest in “Growing Your Own” and should you be starting out, then
making entries on the Show Benches is not “Rocket Science and those of us at
Currie Show who have been exhibiting over the years, learned much by competing
and talking to the “Old Hands”
Currie Show is the quintessential village show and does not require the same level of horticultural expertise that is required for major shows such as Southport, Ayr, and Dundee etc. Although there are records that flower shows have been held in Currie in the 1840’s. The Scotsman Archive has reference to Shows held in Balerno and the earliest date for Balerno is 1868. As yet there is no detail to be had about these 19th Century Balerno Shows and the History Society cannot as yet provide any information. Perhaps locked away in a trunk in someone’s attic there may just be some old and dusty documents, newspaper clippings, old photographs etc. Should anyone have any information the Society would like to hear from you.
All that is asked of
you is that you enter into the spirit of a community event either as an entrant
or as a spectator, or preferably both.
The Constitution of the Society is to promote a taste for Gardening in all its branches and also Industrial Work amongst amateurs resident or who attend work or take part in any recreational activity within the Parish of Currie and Juniper Green and for the encouragement of Industrial Work.