Suffolk Show 2013 – setting up the T&M stand

T&M’s Sonia Mermagen has been helping long-time vegetable exhibitor Arthur Davies set up Thompson & Morgan’s stand at this year’s Suffolk Show.

Breaking news: Arthur and Mary’s display won the Notcutt Trophy for Best Exhibit in the flower tent and a gold medal!

I’d been drafted in to help veteran vegetable exhibitor and show-man, Arthur Davies, set up his T&M sponsored stand at this year’s Suffolk Show. Once I’d found the stand in the Flower and Garden Experience marquee, I saw that Arthur, his wife Mary and their helper, Ralph, had already made quite a start.

But there were still lots of boxes of vegetables to be selected, polished and arranged.

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Arthur and Ralph were taking the outer leaves off cauliflowers at a rate of knots and impaling the naked caulis on long nails inside a triangular frame adorned with leafy conifer fronds.

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Although Arthur hasn’t exhibited at the Suffolk Show before, he is well known to lots of the other exhibitors who have met him at some of the many other shows that he has been to in his 43 years as a ‘vegetable show-man’. Various nurserymen and old friends dropped by the stand for a chat.

Meanwhile, Mary was busy making basket displays of brightly-coloured peppers. She put me to work, stuffing the gaps with parsley.

My first attempt!

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The finished article. (The cocktail sticks are to indicate to Arthur which ‘side’ should be facing the front when he comes to place the exhibit in the display.)

Placing the exhibits can be a precarious business.

The display was starting to take shape.

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Luckily Andy brought the tops to the Thompson & Morgan seed stands!

All the exhibits need to be labelled.

And finally Arthur – after some finishing touches by Mary  – declares the display ready for inspection by the Show’s judges on Thursday morning.

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The whole stand looks great!

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