Farmers’ union battles back to reclaim cup

WATERLOGGED fields have made it a tough year for Yorkshire’s farmers - not that anyone would know it from the bounty of crops that helped the National Farmers’ Union clinch back a championship title.

A display groaning with the best fruit and vegetables the county has to offer was the centrepiece of its winning flower show entry, which also featured a regal purple chrysanthemum crown to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.

Graham Ward OBE, chairman of the NFU Great Yorkshire Show horticulture group, said: “We have lots of different growers in Yorkshire and it’s been a particularly difficult year this year because of the weather.

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“If you look at the parsnips the bottoms are all curled. That’s from waterlogging, and those are the best around.

“Our display has a number of special guests this year, namely from Lincolnshire and West Sussex, because of the wet conditions.”

Nevertheless, the region is represented well, from Rhubarb Triangle stalks to Humberside cucumbers, and the display has helped the NFU to reclaim the Doncaster Cup for the best exhibit in the flower show.

Mr Ward said the union was delighted to have done so well.

“We lost it last year and we’d had it for a number of years, so we went away and thrashed ourselves, we went and had cold water and bread for a bit and then we determined we would win it back this year,” he said.

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“We made a special effort to get our cup back and it is really about growers in the region. The concept is to promote horticulture and local produce.”

Meanwhile, the top Feature Garden prize was awarded to York-based Lizzie Tulip Garden Design’s ‘A Garden For Today’.

Her landscape and garden design consultancy was one of eight from across Yorkshire to be invited to build a feature garden from scratch on the showground site.

It is only the second year the competition has been held at the Great Yorkshire Show.

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“I am absolutely thrilled with the response, not only from the judges but from members of the public too,” she said.

“It is a garden that is built for Yorkshire, that has been made from Yorkshire materials and being enjoyed by Yorkshire people.”