Big Allotment Challenge, Episode 2

Published April 23, 2014 · Updated April 30, 2014

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Episode two of the Big Allotment Challenge concentrated on runner beans, roses and making relishes and sauces.

After a growing period of sixteen weeks the contestants were asked to present six matching runner beans. They were to be straight, free of blemishes and picked at the right time.

Several teams, including Sally and Michelle, were unsure as to when to plant out their seedlings due to the lingering risk of frost.

Gary and Pete’s approach was, ‘as little work as possible’, though they did engage in some runner bean massage in an effort to make them grow straight.

Harshani and Edd wondered whether her chanting the previous week had encouraged the beans to grow.

There were also more novel methods employed in the endeavour to produce straight beans. Kate and Eleanor used a wooden splint bound with string on a bean while Shirley and Victoria tried growing the beans in rigid blue water pipe.

To what extent Shirley and Victoria’s method worked is unclear, but they did deservedly win this particular contest.

Rose beauty contest

Next up was the floral challenge where the contestants had to present one perfect summer rose and then make a summer wreath.

Sally and Michelle’s roses suffered from both whitefly and greenfly which they removed manually and with organic pesticide.

Two couples – Jo and Avril and Alex and Ed – pruned their lesser specimens in order to encourage better growth in their remaining blooms. Alex and Ed also built a cloche around their roses in order to bring on a second flush of roses.

Rupert and Dimi’s roses were attacked by thrips which scarred the leaves and were left with little choice of flowers for the competition. However, the situation for Gary and Pete was even more severe as they ended up growing just a single rose.

It was Jo and Avril that won the prize for the best rose while the winners of the prize for best summer wreath were Kate and Eleanor.

Relish and sauce challenge

During the final challenge the contestants were given one hour and forty five minutes to make a relish and a sauce.

Thane Prince advised that they should produce a, ‘chunky, fresh tasting vegetable relish’ and a, ‘smooth, pip-free’ sauce.

Edd and Harshani went for a BBQ sauce using a tomato and onion base and a ruby onion relish containing red onions, brown sugar and port.

Gary and Pete employed heavy use of peppers and chillies for their green roast pepper sauce. By the time of judging the labels for their sauce and relish ended up on the wrong bottles but this made no difference to Thane’s opinion that the sauce was, ‘eye-wateringly hot’.

Kate and Eleanor produced an interesting ‘Three Rs’ radish relish which contained nasturtium seeds.

The winners were Rupert and Dimi with their beetroot relish which Thane praised saying that it, ‘tastes of beetroot’. Their sauce containing three kinds of chilli was also went down well.