The Big Allotment Challenge – Episode 2
Down to 8 pairs after Shawn and Liz went home last week.

Watch The Big Allotment Challenge – Episode 2 again on iplayer

This week it’s runner beans, roses and relish.

Jim Buttress is the growing expert. They need to grow 6 matching runner beans.
Need to be a good colour, snap easily, flat with no visible signs of seeds, blemish free, straight!
Runner beans need a good rich soil, planting out at the right time. I start mine in pots the size of pot noodle pots. You have to know when the last frost is due – and plant them out after that.
An insurance policy can be to put a seed in when you plant your beans out!
Varieties of bean grown: St George, Scarlett emperor, lady Di, White Apollo, White Lady, Czar.
Shirley and Victoria won this challenge.

There was mention of the blackfly on the beans as they were growing.

Flowers – growing the perfect and doing something with them.
Present one perfect summer rose; use roses to create a summer wreath. Needs to be circular, hole in middle and must be able to hang it up.
They started with containerised roses which can be planted out at any point of the year. The roses also got pests – greenfly and thrips.
The expert made it look easy to make a wreath with circles of oasis.
Jo and Avril won the single rose best in show, and Kate and Eleanor won the wreath best in show.

They then have 1 hour 45 minues to make a sauce and a relish. One pair made a really hot sauce.
Rupert and Dimi won this.

The summing up! I think this would be loads better if they showed four pictures – one of the couple and then a shot from each of the challenges so you can remember how wonky their beans were, or how good their relish looked.

Ed and Hashani were sent home.

Next week: Michelle is back after her allergic reaction, and the teams will be judged on their carrots, gladioli, and chutney!

I think I enjoyed this week more. The format is consistent with last week – and it is in effect a game show about growing things rather than allotments. I think it’s quite interesting to see the people talking about growing their beans but it is such a tiny part of the show really. Giving the names of the bean varieties and rose types was good from an information perspective. I am suprised this isn’t written up in detail on the program info though.
Will there be a book about the series? I suspect there might be, and this might be where they niclude more hints on growing, making and cooking your own!
I appreciate it is very little about real allotment challenges, but the commercial nature of TV means there would be a much more limited audience for a show about people taking on derelict plots. This format ties in with the sewing and baking programs which have been so successful for the BBC previously.

There is a gap for more realistic allotment shows, and it’s filled hugely by what’s on youtube.

I too leaned in to hear more about the secrets of runner beans. There were a few snippets – like don’t put them out too early, and they need a rich soil, but nothing new.

I like the fact they name the varieties and meant to whizz back through and see which beans were the winning variety, but I couldn’t be bothered by then.

Flowers don’t do it for me, but I did enjoy the demo of making a wreath and watching the others make them. The filming shows some really bare wreaths which made me laugh imagining them being the finished product.

What’s a relish? I saw chopped up raw veg and what looked like chutneys to me.

Again I want a recipe from them – the school teachers radish recipe at least!