Went to my first DA meeting ever last night at Rugeley. It took just over an hour to get there but it was well worth it. They had a short AGM which was followed by a talk on tomatoes by the master himself- Charles Maisey- which actually turned out to be a talk on toms, cucumbers and runner beans! I have to admit i went thinking "God, i'm not going to know anybody and it's going to be a room full of miserable old men, disgusted at the fact that a young 'lad' was growing for show"
HOWEVER, when i entered the venue i woukld say there was about a dozen people i knew and those i didn't were VERY friendly indeed. I must thank Si Smith (Smithy veg) for coming over and introducing himself- it was great to meet him after following his blog for sometime now- i hope we bump into each other again. Wh knows we might even come up against each other on the showbench! What do you say Si?
It was great to meet Colin Higgs and to see good friends such as Bob Plant (a wonderful leek grower with a wicked sense of humour!), Mick Poultney and Stan Greenway (a fellow xanth grower).
I would strongly advise anyone with the slightest bit about them to go to their next local DA meeting because i thought it was great and i shall definitley be going again.
The weather here is supposed to turn milder towards the end of the week so i shall be recieving my leeks from a couple of top growers. Greenhouse heaters been cranked up and bottom heat is up and running. Looking to construct a temporary housing unit for my growtubes in the next three days as there's little else to do whilst the grounds frozen.
Coming back from the meeting last night we came through Cannock and it was -12oC!!! Is it me or are our winters reverting back to ho they used to be?
I'll leave you with a joke for all those unfortunate enough to suffer with moles:

"There was a papa mole, a mamma mole, and a baby mole. They lived in a hole out in the country near a farmhouse. Papa mole poked his head out of the hole and said, "Mmmm, I smell sausage!" Mamma mole poked her head outside the hole and said, "Mmmm, I smell pancakes!" Baby mole tried to stick his head outside but couldn't because of the two bigger moles. Baby mole said, "The only thing I smell is molasses."

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