Episode 4 The Big Allotment Challenge

There are over 350,000 working allotments in Britain,

and the waiting list for one can be years long.

Everyone wants to grow their own.

We have brought together nine pairs of the most talented allotmenteers

in the country, in a competition to find Britain's best growers.

They've each been given an empty allotment

and challenged to grow some of the trickiest fruit, flowers

and vegetables to grace the show bench.

Last week, the Best In Show awards were scooped

by two sets of gardeners.

Kate and Eleanor impressed Jim with their carrots...

-You have won Best In Show.

-Oh!

..and their gladiolus...

Wow!

..and Jo and Avril were awarded Best In Show

from Jonathan for their table arrangement...

and from Thane, for their chutney and cordial.

Now, that's really good.

But, sadly, Sally and Michelle left the allotment for good.

For the remaining gardeners,

the pressure is on to deliver prize-winning aubergines...

Come and have a look at our amazing aubergine.

..sunflowers...

They're too tall and too common. It's what people are used to seeing.

..and a perfect pickle.

Without meaning any offence, it's quite horrid.

Who will dig their way to victory, and be named the winners

of The Big Allotment Challenge?

Through rain or shine, our gardeners have been planning

and planting and pruning their allotments here for months.

They've battled the elements in the hope of harvesting

the perfect fruit, flower or vegetable.

And this week, they're hoping that their aubergines,

their sunflowers and piccalilli will win them Best In Show.

We thought last week was going to be our difficult week,

and, having got through that, we were pleased to be this far,

and looking to go as far as we can, if not to win.

So, when I think, at first,

-we were just plodding through the competition...

-Yeah.

..and wasn't that hungry for it. But now we've got a few Best In Shows, let's just go for it.

-Oh, definitely. My fighting spirit's there, now, definitely.

-Yes.

I think the playing field's very level at the moment.

Anything can happen in these next few challenges.

-We're up for it, aren't we?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-Absolutely.

Welcome, gardeners.

Congratulations on getting to the halfway point of the competition,

but there is no time to rest on your laurels,

because today you face three challenges,

the first of which is Grow.

And Grow is always overseen by Jim.

And today Jim wants to see the perfect aubergine.

Off you go.

Let's go and have a look how our little baby's got on.

What is it? Aubrey? Aubrey Aubergine.

Aubrey the aubergine.

The show aubergine should be bright in colour, with a good sheen.

It should be blemish-free and

of an appropriate size and shape for the variety.

Which one are we going to choose?

Aubergines is the first thing we've actually judged from the greenhouse,

and that's a different ball game to working outside.

Plants in a greenhouse can suffer twice as much as they can outside.

Although aubergines can grow outside,

they are much more likely to thrive

in the warm, sunny, humid conditions of the greenhouse.

I think basically what we need to do is kind of just get a...

-piece of paper, write down what I'm going to do with all of this.

-Mm-hmm.

All the allotmenteers are growing grafted plants,

apart from Jo and Avril,

and Rupert and Dimi, who are growing theirs from seed.

A grafted plant is one where a named variety is grafted onto

the roots of another plant recognised as a good grower.

While the greenhouse offers a more controllable environment

for growing, the humid conditions can be ideal for pests.

This is cinnamon, and this is a load of seeds that I've planted earlier,

and what I'm going to do is put a really fine sprinkle across

the top of the seeds,

and that prevents a condition called damping off.

And, really, that's what happens with a seed,

where it pops up out of the soil and straightaway it starts to die,

because there's a fungus that attacks it immediately,

so, just going to go ahead and put a bit of that on.

But it's not long before Rupert and Dimi

have a problem in their greenhouse.

They have to isolate a chilli plant

to protect disease from spreading to their aubergines.

I found one plant with greenfly on it in the greenhouse,

so it's in quarantine at the moment.

Yes, we've created its own little, mini greenhouse

-out of a plastic box.

-Just inside there.

So, hopefully...hopefully that won't transmit to anything else.

The plants have produced flowers

which must be pollinated for the fruit to grow.

Outside, this would be done naturally by insects

or a light breeze,

but in the greenhouse, the plants often need a helping hand.

They can't self-pollinate,

so you have to give 'em a little tickle with an ear buddy,

or something like that,

and just transfer pollen between the males and the females.

I mean, if you were growing them properly, you'd have 20 plants

all growing in the same area, and then a through draught,

and you'd let the insects do the work and the draught do the work,

but we have to do the work ourselves,

cos there's not that many insects in here.

With the hottest summer in 30 years,

temperatures are soaring in the greenhouse.

It's so hot.

Hot, hot, hot.

IT workers Gary and Pete come up with a cunning plan to introduce

a little breeze into the greenhouse.

It's very hot at the moment, and there's not a lot of airflow

in there, so I've got a little computer USB fan.

So, I'm going to get one of these panels for about 12 quid,

and that should power the fan.

Jo and Avril are concerned.

They have won a Best In Show in every category except Grow.

It would be great if I could present an aubergine off here,

cos we have grown it from seeds.

Once the flower appears, it is vital to keep the plant well fed

in order for the fruit to form.

Got a flower.

We haven't got any aubergines yet, so, just fingers crossed.

Just keep giving it some TLC and hope for the best.

Alex is checking on how his grafted plants are developing.

We've got four plants in here.

We've already had two very large aubergines.

They're a bit misshapen, though, so we weren't too happy with that.

They're a very peculiar shape.

With show day fast approaching, one of Kate and Eleanor's

grafted aubergine plants has also developed,

but not in the way they hoped.

Come and have a look at our amazing aubergine.

It has to be the world's most obscene aubergine.

You have to come in, cos you can't admire its full glory.

-It does have some resemblances to the one we had.

-Does it?

-Yeah.

-Here, look. Famous for my aubergines!

SHE CHUCKLES

Misshapen fruits or vegetables

are usually caused by environmental conditions,

often damaging the crop in its embryonic development stage.

It doesn't affect the flavour, but it's no good for the show bench.

-It'll make great pickle, though.

-It'll be very good pickle.

-So, maybe that's what we'll use it for.

-I think so.

I don't think it's going to be a show piece, do you?

We have shown Aphrodite off to people. They have been aghast.

Meanwhile, the other more normal aubergine have been growing

quietly in the background.

This one's been absolutely fabulous, hasn't it?

Oh, look at all those. One, two...

-One, two, three...

-That's six. Seven!

-..four.

Gary and Pete check how their USB fan-assisted aubergines

are getting on.

If they're falling off, they're ripe, aren't they?

That's a whopper, but it's been sitting on the wood,

so it's got a blooming blemish on it.

That's the second one of those that that's happened to.

We've had a steady flow of aubergines for the last four,

-five weeks, and they've been pretty good.

-Yeah.

And then they overripe, fall off.

-How's your aubergine?

-It's doing good.

Well, I'll tell you about my aubergine

-if afterwards you tell me about yours.

-Oh, OK.

We've got three aubergine plants.

One of them doesn't have anything on it,

and two of them didn't have any on it a couple of weeks ago,

but now they've got good aubergines.

Yeah, they've got fruit. So, we're putting all the energy into this...

-I know.

-..two fruits on.

-Yeah.

-One on each planter.

Experimental gardeners, Rupert and Dimi,

grew their ivory variety from seed, and are pleased with the result.

This one, here, I would say is looking pretty perfect.

But this white variety is... I mean, it's not unusual.

This is why eggplant was called eggplant.

It's a really good sort of white sheen to it, hasn't it?

It looks absolutely perfect.

After months of hard work,

it's finally time to select their best aubergine,

ready for the show bench.

-Black beauty was this variety, wasn't it?

-Yeah, that's it.

It would've been nice to have one the same size

-as Kate and Eleanor's, but...

-But those might be overripe yet.

-We don't know yet.

-May just be better.

We've never grown anything from a greenhouse before.

I think for our first time, a newbie to greenhouse,

I think we've done very well.

You can only feed it, water it, give it all the best that you can,

and the rest is up to nature to produce those things for us.

-So, we're definitely going to go with that one?

-Yes.

There we go.

-So, we've got...

-Yeah, I think...

-..a choice.

..that one's too small, so I'll put him in there.

OK. Go for it. No going back now.

Right. How do you know if it's ripe?

If you hold it up to your ear, and you hear the sea,

-you know it's ripe.

-Hello? Hello?

-Ah, there you go, it's snipped.

-I've got it. I've got it.

Let's have a little look and see.

-Has it got any blemish?

-Oh! Ah!

-Ah! Look at that.

-Wowee!

So are you going to do the snip?

The aubergines need some attention before they hit the show bench.

Looks pretty blemish-free to me.

Yeah. Lovely colour.

-Lovely colour.

-Wonderful.

It's... I think, hopefully, you get extra points for the fact

that it's more difficult to do a blemish-free white one.

Ooh, and we've also grown this from seed.

-And we have grown this from seed.

-Yeah.

I think this is a pretty perfect aubergine,

-whatever anyone else has got. This is a...

-Yeah.

-We don't have to feel ashamed.

-No.

I'm not sure how Jim will view that.

I wonder if it would stand on its base?

That's a clever move.

-It's quite stable.

-Is it?

-Mmm.

No, seriously, I'm knocking it, you know.

Gardeners, it's time for judging!

Jim will award Best In Show for the finest aubergine.

All that matters on the show bench is its appearance,

and not whether it's been grown from seed or as a grafted plant.

He'll be looking for an aubergine

that is an appropriate size and shape for its variety,

bright in colour, with a good sheen,

it should have a fresh, green calyx, and be free from blemishes,

showing the care the gardeners have taken during the growing period.

In this particular case,

it hasn't got quite enough of the sheen I want to see.

Nevertheless, let's put it this way,

this is a lot better than the carrots were last week, lads.

Excellent. Nice and green, nice and fresh.

Not a bad sheen to it.

There's one or two little marks in there, you see?

It's nicely presented.

It's got a good shape to it. Well done.

It's got a nice sheen to it. Look, you see my face in there?

-I can.

-Not that you want to see my face in there, but you can.

And looking arou... Ah!

You found it.

That, obviously, is not what we want to see.

Can I just point out that we did grow that from seed?

It's not a grafted plant at all.

Jim, does it matter in the judging criteria,

-if you're growing by seed or grafted?

-No.

From the judging point of view,

you want to see the perfect one when he comes to the table.

This white one is probably a little bit more of a challenge

than the others, because if they mark, you can see it.

But, looking at it, there's not a mark on it.

Calyx, nice and green and fresh.

The reason why we have all of this on there is because if you're

doing a local show, and somebody has a problem at the last minute,

they nip down the supermarket, put two of them in and that's it.

Dare I say, lads, a very proud-looking aubergine, as he...

-Thank you.

-..stands up there, looking at us.

Normally, we let him lie... Ah!

We knew you'd find it, but we thought he stood quite nicely.

This is some form of stress, I would suspect.

And it could be in that it didn't get the water at the right time,

so it was stretching out for water.

It could be in the position you had in the greenhouse,

maybe a bit under the shade or something like that, you know?

-It was a nice try, lads.

-Thanks.

I would think you're rather pleased with this.

-We were rather pleased with it, really.

-Absolutely.

A very good, uniform shape to it.

Lovely and clean up the top here. Nice and fresh.

Looks as if he's just come off the vine.

And, I have to say,

it's got a lovely sheen to it all the way round.

So, well done.

It's time for Jim to decide whose aubergines will win Best In Show.

This has been probably one of the best

of the competitions I've judged.

Everybody has really pulled out the stops for this one.

So, at the end of the day...

..ladies, Kate and Eleanor, you pulled it off again.

-There's the winner.

-APPLAUSE

I think, hopefully, the Grow challenge win today

means that we'll probably be here next week.

They did have a very fine specimen, didn't they?

-They did.

-It looked really good.

I'd still stick with the same variety that we grew,

because I think it's an interesting plant.

It was, literally, perfect.

After months of hard work, the allotment

is not only full of fruit and vegetables, but flowers, too.

In the next challenge, our allotmenteers

will have to produce beautiful, prize-winning blooms,

and create an inventive and striking surprise floral arrangement.

Gardeners, it is now time for your Make challenge.

You have to present three perfect sunflowers,

and Jim will be in charge of judging those.

Jonathan, however, has a surprise up his sleeve.

This week's challenge is to make a floral topiary tree.

The topiary tree needs to show actual and visual balance.

You need to have a secure trunk to the topiary tree,

and then bind on securely the head - the top of the tree.

Gardeners, off you go.

-OK, we're not panicking this week.

-No, we're not panicking.

I actually thinks this plays into our hands quite well.

These are quite nice ones.

Are they tall enough?

Oh, they've all got bashed by the rain, haven't they?

With this challenge, I want to see the sunflowers with

long, straight stems, free from blemishes, and good colour.

Planning obviously plays a part.

Did they put them out at the right time?

Did the frost or the wind get them

before they started to get established?

And then to keep a long, straight stem, they need to grow them

fairly close together so they've got something to shield themselves.

There are around 67 different species of sunflower.

Varieties range from Russian giants that can grow to well over ten feet,

to teddy bear, that grows to just 40cm.

I'm planting sunflowers that are cut and come again,

so I'll be able to use them for arrangements.

There's teddy bear, and then there's harlequin.

Gary and Pete have chosen a smaller variety after their previous

attempt at growing sunflowers came up short.

Me and Gary had a little bit of a competition last year with

a friend from work, Ashley, to grow the tallest sunflower.

And we lost.

Once the sunflower seed is sown, it can germinate very quickly,

often within a few days.

Having been in the greenhouse for five weeks, now that

the frosts are over, the young plants can go into the ground.

That's where they need to go. Do you want to dig the holes?

They position their sunflowers 10cm apart, so they

can support each other whilst they grow.

These are far enough apart, aren't they?

Yeah, cos they get really tall.

The allotmenteers stake their sunflowers to reduce

the chances of the heavy flower heads being snapped off.

And here, you see, look, I'm using those.

Even with the smaller varieties, like the teddy bear that Kate

and Eleanor are growing, it's safer to stake them.

If you tie it in a figure of eight, it supports everything.

Mm-hmm.

-Cross over between the plant and the stake...

-Yeah.

..and then just... That's right.

And then just tie it round the stick.

Yes. You're very good at technical things like that.

In order to produce show bench standard blooms, the gardeners

maximise their chances by feeding the sunflowers.

Shirley and her 23-year-old daughter, Victoria,

have two Best In Show awards for growing,

but their current crop is suffering from unwelcome visitors.

I think we have a few issues here.

We have holes, so we have an attack by some creatures.

-Hmm.

-And fungus, maybe? I don't know.

Yeah, cos, like, these leaves are looking a lot better.

It looks really good. Why is this one OK, and that one looks...?

-Yeah, this one looks rubbish. Oh, dear.

-Why?

Sown by the same hand,

-grown with the same soil.

-Mmm.

Why?

To encourage new flower growth,

Jo and Avril decide to deadhead some of their sunflowers.

-We deadheaded some of these last week, but...

-Yeah.

..they need a bit of a trim, so I'm going to take this big one off here.

Yeah.

And there's one over on your side, Jo, so...

Hold on. This is valuable stuff, this is.

We got to leave this out for the birds.

Going to leave it out to dry.

You just scatter them around the garden,

and the birds come and eat them. It's good.

You have to encourage the birds in the garden.

Two weeks until show day,

and the sunflower heads are in full bloom,

but Alex can barely reach his.

I'm thinking of getting a pair of stilts.

Or a trampoline, maybe.

I love sunflowers.

It's a simple plant.

It's one that kids love

and it's something they often start with at school.

While Alex needs a ladder to get to his Russian giants,

Gary and Pete have to bend down to tend their teddy bear sunflowers.

What have we got? One, two, three. We got five, six heads on that one.

Five on that one.

We'll have plenty of sunflowers, as long as these ones come out in time.

I like them. I think they're so different to all the others.

I don't think those are any good cos they're just too tall.

They're too tall and too common.

That's what people are used to seeing, isn't it?

It's not a children's competition to grow the tallest sunflower,

as far as I know. It's a competition to grow a perfect specimen.

Kate and Eleanor have also chosen to grow the dwarf teddy bear.

Just because teddy bear is short,

doesn't mean to say that it should be treated with anything

but respect, says she, who's shorter than my friend, here.

-But not when you're sitting down.

-Well, that's true.

330cm.

But for Alex and Ed, size is everything, and they think

their Russian giants might even be record breakers.

World...record...sunflower.

Mmm. How many feet did you say?

Ten foot ten.

OK, we're 17 feet short.

Close. It's really close.

It's finally show day.

After months of cosseting their sunflowers,

will the allotmenteers be able to show three matching blooms?

-He said it's got to be three same flowers...

-Yeah.

..of the same colour, of the same variety.

Looks a bit poorly, that one, doesn't it?

Look how all the petals have got stuck in there.

But finding three matching sunflowers of the same variety

isn't the only challenge the allotmenteers are facing.

Will they have enough additional blooms

to complete Jonathan's challenge?

Here's Jonathan's guide to making a topiary tree.

'Firstly, begin by lining the pot,

'and then pack with dry floral foam,

'and then layers of wet, soaked floral foam,

'and really ensure the pot is tightly packed.

'Drive the canes through the foam to create the trunk,

'as stability is key for this design.

'Afterwards, secure the wet sphere to the top of the canes,

'and secure with a selection of wire, tapes, or even chicken wire.

'Because sunflowers have such thick, heavy stems,

'place them into the floral foam first.

'Next, fill around the sunflowers with foliage.

'Finally, complete the design by covering the base.

'This can either compliment or contrast with

'the top of the topiary tree.'

What do you think about just yanking these sunflowers out, Gary,

and just using these stems?

No.

But they're rock hard.

Well, one. It's got some good roots on it.

It has.

Can you bend that?

-No.

-Good.

-It's solid.

Our fancy, secret trick, that maybe nobody else will think of,

is to put one of our big, dried sunflower heads upside down...

-What's that?

-..to make it look either like the soil,

if we use the brown seeded one,

-or maybe, like, pea gravel or something, if...

-Yeah.

..you had a nice bit of topiary.

With their sunflowers chosen, and additional flowers from

the allotment in hand, the gardeners head to the greenhouse

to create their topiary tree.

You have one hour for your Make challenge, starting now.

The Make challenge offers the chance to win two Best In Show awards.

One for the three matching sunflowers,

and a second for the topiary tree.

This week, I'm looking for balance, actual and visual.

It needs to stand up, and it needs to look visually balanced.

I'm looking for a secure stem.

About that thick?

Yeah, that could work.

And the head of the topiary bound onto the stem,

so the trunk is nice and firmly placed,

in order to support the big, heavy weight of the sunflowers.

It's vital that the gardeners thoroughly soak and shape

their floral foam correctly.

-That's actually quite heavy, Avril.

-Mm-hmm.

So, we've got a danger now of it toppling over.

Where have you got these from?

These are the leaves from sweetcorn, actually.

I thought it might be quite fun to try and wrap the stem of the trunk.

-Sort of a bound stem, so it looks...

-Yeah.

..more organic, more vegetative.

Whoa! OK. Look at that.

Leap of faith. That actually doesn't look too bad. Very good.

The shiny side, actually, the underside of these leaves,

I think, could look quite good.

I don't know how you'll get it to go all the way up to the top.

The gardeners have been given canes to make the trunk.

It's important they are well secured.

But I think the height's fine, if the ball comes to about here.

We dictate that with the crosspiece.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-And come back.

-That looks grand.

-Alex and Ed are the engineers, aren't they?

-And it shows.

-This is the absolute... You are the Brunels...

-Of the floral world.

Of this organisation.

The mechanics, or the structure getting this part right,

it's really not worth rushing it.

If you can, take your time and get this pristine,

-it's like building a house.

-But this is so clever.

It's so clever.

To use that sunflower head.

That is really ingenious, how you've made that plant material.

Carry on, guys. You're sort of really in the zone with this.

Thank you.

It's quite heavy. In fact, it's very heavy.

Placing the floral sphere on the top centrally takes skill.

-Central?

-Yeah.

-Look at that!

-Like a Van der Graaf generator is what it looks like.

Get some sparks coming off it.

Could I have some scissors, please?

-Make it quite nice.

-Well, I'm trying.

-It's too twisted.

-I know.

This is obviously at a very, very crucial point.

OK, that's fine.

Are you going to have time to do the ball as well, because...?

-Yes, we hope so.

-Yeah.

-It's not long, this one, is it?

-No.

-And it's tricky.

And there's a lot to do,

because you're working completely through 160 degrees around there.

There's no flat base to it,

so there's a lot of surface area to cover.

-And were you going to do something with the chard?

-Yeah, we were.

We were going to see if we could kind of put it up the stem.

That would have looked really nice. Did it just not work?

-Yeah, I don't know...

-Whether we've got enough time.

-Time, mm.

-I think we've got...

-Time is a factor.

-Yeah.

OK? There you go.

Now the tree has been constructed,

the gardeners can start adding their flowers.

-Or we can put them in really tight here, and loose there.

-Exactly.

20 minutes now.

Quick, look. Is that too long, too short?

No, that'll be fine.

-Talk to me, Jo. What do you want?

-I'm just going to build the bottom.

We have more foliage at the bottom then we're going to have

less foliage at the top, and round with just flowers.

Mum, stop messing with the bottom.

Have we got the three flowers up there?

No, not yet. If you want to do that, that's fine.

No, no, no, you... Oh, for God's sake.

I don't really trust you to do this either.

I'm finding this challenge impossible. So difficult.

This is a really hard challenge.

It's not easy at all, cos this will not even go in.

Honey, I don't know the position that these are supposed to go in.

-You're just...

-Neither do I.

What you need to do is put them in a sort of a quadrant, you know?

So you've got...

What do you want? Four in...regular four?

I also am having a great deal of difficulty wiring them.

OK. Don't wire them then. Just stick them straight in.

I can't stick them straight in.

If we didn't have this done, we'd fail.

That is just one solid sunflower stalk, is it?

Yeah. And I love this texture lower down. Isn't it brilliant?

What is this?

Candytuft seed heads, and they've just been left just to turn into

seeds, basically, and they go that lovely sort of greeny-brown colour.

And the nice thing is, Fern, these will dry off,

and then afterwards, you could sow them next spring,

you'll have candytuft in the garden again.

-So they can end up going brown.

-Oh, wow!

-Yeah. Absolutely.

Yeah. Next year you can sow that.

-Where's the...? There's the seed, yeah, look.

-Little seed heads.

One minute, everybody. Your last minute.

OK. Let's have purples.

Do you want the red Bishop of Llandaff, do you?

You're standing on stuff.

Do we need any of the stuff that you're standing on?

Yes, the reds. I'll have the reds, please.

Keep going, Eleanor, cos we've got a big gap at the top here.

I'm just... The only challenge that makes me panic,

cos we never have enough time.

Oh, it's a bit wobbly.

THEY GASP

We've still got a lot of holes in it.

Do we want to put the purple of the glads in?

-You just rotated that, didn't you?

-Sorry.

There's another one of this sunflower.

-Have we got any more marigolds?

-I've got some.

And your time is up. Stop what you're doing right now.

Please put your topiary trees

and your specimen sunflowers on the front of your bench.

To win Best In Show, Jim will be looking for three matching

sunflowers of bright colour, with fresh heads, a good leaf

and a straight stem.

For the topiary tree, Jonathan will be looking for a visually balanced

circular head, a stable design, and a creatively covered base.

Lovely, rich, chocolate colour. It really is.

It's a stunning colour. Good, straight stems.

This is a tendency of them, to drop their head.

There's nothing to worry about.

Just a slightly different formation in the centre, Jonathan.

-This one...

-Yes, to the others.

..to this one. But it's a good, strong plant.

So, yes, a good start, ladies.

It's a very classic colour combination.

I love the depth of colour that the sunflowers give.

The overall shape is not terribly spherical for the top.

It's sort of got a little bit of a pointed, pinched top there,

and then it broadens out at the sides here,

and I think that is possibly some of the placements of the foliage.

My eye is drawn straight to that.

That starkness of white doesn't work with this colour palette.

Yeah.

The bottom, it's a little bit like a walk round an untamed garden.

It's workmanship this week that's let you down a little bit, I'm afraid.

It's got a very pretty face to it.

Unfortunately, in this particular case,

the leaves are looking quite wilted,

and they're really desperately looking as if they need water.

Clever workmanship here, boys. Really, really clever.

They've not had to resort to the bamboo canes or any other structure.

It's one sunflower stem, and that shows what little

structures of strength a sunflower can be.

I would have liked to see another variation of foliage,

just to give it a little bit of depth, but for workmanship,

for creativity, you've done really well this week, both of you.

Lovely formation on the petal. They're all nice and even.

Good stem on 'em.

Yes, there is a bit of marking on the leaf.

Something's had a nibble there, but, generally speaking,

it's a very nice vase.

You've got some very delicate attention to colour here.

Lots of little rhythmic patterns in here,

with the French marigolds running through here, and the rudbeckias.

This looks like it's hiding something.

It's like there's a mistake under there,

and you're trying to camouflage it.

The bottom, I think, is a little bit wild and woolly.

There's a bit too much happening in here, and I feel

like it's a topiary bush that I want to prune back a little bit.

They're a lovely, lovely matching three,

and the leaf is in excellent condition.

It really is. And hardly a mark on it.

-Really fresh, isn't it?

-Mmm.

I live dangerously,

-and I'm tempted to just have a little touch at this and...

-Oh!

..it's certainly got a swing going on here.

It isn't terribly stable. I would be nervous to move that,

and if you'd have wrapped chicken wire over there, brought

it down on to this stem, cable-tied it on, it would be nice and firm.

If you can't say anything good about it, just get it over with quickly.

It's a great shame.

When something's gone at that stage, it's certainly got an airlock.

It's limp here at the neck, so we want to try

and get that vertical again, and so it's nice and turgid.

Put that into deep water, right up to its neck.

Leave it for about five or six hours in deep water,

and you will nearly always find that that then will become turgid.

And if that doesn't work,

we burn the stem end over a naked flame, then deep water,

and then it doesn't dare do anything other than shoot it's neck upright.

-Gosh!

-Because it's that short, sharp shock.

It's almost like a sunset, isn't it?

And the Verbena bonariensis in here gives it that wonderful bluey

sort of haze running through, which is very interesting.

But I love the way you've covered the stem.

Very creative. Great touch there.

It's a joy to look at 'em.

What I particularly like about it is the formation in the centre there.

I love the petal arrangement as well.

Possibly maybe a couple more leaves there,

but that's not to detract from...

But the flower head itself, all trim.

Good shape to them. They're all very similar.

I love the way the stems have been bound.

It's quite rigid. It's really clever.

There's some really nice touches in here.

That is the first time I've ever seen a sunflower used in that way.

It spirals around, so it's got rhythm.

Very carefully, as well, you've repeated the colour of the seeds

by the raffia. Good workmanship, creativity.

You've really come on from last week, you two.

-Just a tad.

-Absolutely.

Jim, would you please award your Best In Show for the sunflowers.

So, where's this horrible judge going to go this week?

Well, I needn't go any further, lads.

You have got Best In Show. Well done!

APPLAUSE

Congratulations, Alex and Ed. Well done.

Who wins for their topiary tree?

I have to say, everybody's really upped their game.

I've never seen a sunflower head used so creatively,

to conceal that base, and that's why you're getting

-Best In Show for all elements of sunflowers.

-Yes!

Well done. Congratulations.

APPLAUSE

It's an amazing feeling. I just like winning stuff.

I don't win very much, but I do like winning quite a lot, and it's nice.

I like a nice badge.

-We're back in the game.

-We are back in the game. Team Alex and Ed.

Normally at this time, I'd say to you,

"Go and have a rest before you prepare for the Eat challenge."

However, because the Eat challenge contains pickling,

it will start tonight.

Thane wants you to present a jar of piccalilli

and a jar of pickles, and we are going to give you 30 minutes,

and then you'll come back tomorrow to complete the challenge.

So, your 30 minutes starts now.

The gardeners have already picked the ingredients for

their pickles from the allotments.

That's why I've picked the nicest.

OK. If you start with the onion.

They need to remove the excess moisture from their vegetables

by either dry salting or brining them overnight,

in preparation for their piccalilli.

We have baby French onions, white beetroot, albino beetroot.

We've got some lovely, fresh ruby chard.

We've got cauliflower in there, but we've only got two that size.

When pickling, the water content in vegetables can dilute

the vinegar and spoil the end product,

so the allotmenteers need to

remove as much excess moisture as possible.

Taste the salt and see.

Salty enough? OK?

-Yeah, I don't think it's too salty. It's all right.

-Mmm.

Go on, put that in there.

Vegetables with a lower water content are best soaked in

salt water, whereas vegetables such as cucumbers and courgettes,

with a higher water content, should be dry salted.

There is a lot.

Yeah, but that's the whole point of salting it.

It's why it's called salting.

Now, what are you actually making, Alex?

Well, I'm going to do a piccalilli.

This is a recipe I've made for about eight years,

and it's unusual, insofar as it breaks the rules.

Which rule are you breaking?

Well, I think it's fairly traditional to brine

-when using onions...

-Yes, very, very traditional. Yes.

..and things in piccalilli. This recipe doesn't do that.

And you're perfectly happy with that?

-Well, I...

-Well, as I say, it's worked for eight years.

I do get good feedback about it.

How do you get round the fact that all these vegetables that you're

going to use, no matter how many you pick, are going to be quite wet?

The recipe we've used works without it being excessively sloppy.

Now I'm really very fascinated. Excellent.

-Looking forward to it.

-Good. Looking forward to it?

-Yes.

Done.

That's it, gardeners, your time is up.

With the vegetables brining or salting overnight,

the allotmenteers will continue the Eat challenge tomorrow morning.

Today is the gardeners' last chance to impress our experts

before they decide who will leave the allotment for good.

We are obviously in danger of going home.

I think probably we're

-right at the bottom at the moment.

-Yeah.

-So...

-I think everybody else thinks that as well.

Gary and Pete, the pressure's on them today, there's no doubt about that.

We know how that feels. We have empathy with 'em,

but that really isn't going to stop us going for it again.

I'll pop you in there.

Do need to win something soon.

We had nothing last week, had nothing so far this week.

We've got to really stand out, otherwise there is a risk of going.

'At the moment, we're only'

doing well in the Grow challenges, so, no,

it'd be really good if we could win an Eat challenge.

Most of you have had your vegetables in salt overnight.

They've been there for about 12 hours.

You now have an hour and 15 minutes to complete the Eat challenge

and present Thane with two beautiful jars of pickles.

Your time starts now.

We've grown everything here, apart from the sugar and the vinegar.

What I'm looking for in piccalilli is something that's

bright in colour, with a well-balanced flavour,

and characteristic of the vegetables.

You wouldn't normally eat a pickle straightaway.

Today, I'm going to be looking for a starting point.

I need to look at the pickles and think,

"Is this going to be something good in three months' time?"

Gardeners start with their piccalilli

by washing the salt off the vegetables and drying them off.

Can you get the sweetcorn?

Yeah, I'll do that next.

Piccalilli is an English interpretation of an Indian pickle,

containing cauliflower and an assortment of cooked vegetables

in a mustard and turmeric-based sauce.

Shirley and Victoria are daring to be different.

We're making piccalilli with a twist,

because a lot of the piccalillis are very strong for women.

Women don't like them.

I've done a survey and nobody likes them.

But this is 21st-century piccalilli.

How about that?

Don't tell the men.

Gary and Pete's only Best In Show award was won in this category,

and they intend on repeating their success.

Ooh, that looks nice.

That's our "quickalilli".

It only needs five, ten minutes in the pan.

Once you've got the paste in...

Once you've got the paste turned into the sauce,

then you're good to go. Just throw it in.

The blend of spices is key to a mustard pickle.

Too much and it will be inedible, too little and it will lack taste.

-Cos that's got no chilli in yet, has it?

-No. But it'll be quite strong.

-Well, actually...

-It's got the mustard.

Have you got some water down here, Jo?

-It's really nice.

-Do you want some water?

-It's nice until it...

-You want some water?

No, it's actually nice. It's not like I expected.

Flour or cornflour can be used to thicken the sauce,

but the flour taste should be cooked off before the vegetables are added.

-Want a bit of salt?

-No.

-No?

So, looking around, how do you think they're doing?

I think one or two of them

have had troubles with their consistency of their sauce.

Some have used cornflour, and some have used flour.

If you use flour, you really must cook it out.

I don't want to taste raw flour.

Mm-hm.

It doesn't taste floury. It's really nice and thick and creamy, and...

The gardeners now have 45 minutes left.

HE COUGHS

Are you all right?

What happened?

Bit hot?

When the vegetables are added to the sauce, it's important

not to overcook, or they will lose their natural crunch.

What does that taste like?

Different.

Very salty, actually.

Very salty? Well, I washed it.

-Oh, well.

-Too late now.

Gardeners now turn their attention

to the second part of the Eat challenge - their cut pickle.

We're making a cut courgette pickle.

And these are... Hopefully, we should be all right.

Neither of these are particularly complicated.

A pickle is a preserve made with vegetables,

covered in a spiced vinegar.

-How much, weight-wise, do you want?

-Let's drop all the beans in.

Shirley and Victoria are out to impress with their kimchi pickle,

which is an ancient Korean recipe that includes radishes and gherkins.

-You like it?

-Mmm.

-This is your kimchi?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

And you've got radish, which is a very traditional kimchi.

Usually, I'll use mooli, so white radish, to make it.

But cos we didn't grow any mooli, we thought we'd try it

-with red radish, and I think it works.

-Yes.

Victoria, you're a very knowledgeable gardener and cook

for someone who is still very young.

You must have been doing this since you were tiny, have you?

Well, I've been doing it for about eight years. That's when my parents

got an allotment, so that's kind of when we started gardening.

Jo and Avril are making a beetroot and orange pickle.

We're trying something a bit different with the beetroot.

We're cooking it in orange juice.

I make pickled beetroot for my nan all the time,

cos she loves it, but I usually roast it in the oven first, so...

-With some orange?

-Yes.

Going to get a bit out...

Gary and Pete are attempting to cook five different vegetables

for their ploughman's pickle.

No. It needs much longer.

Come on. Cook, you turnips.

Finally, the vegetables need to be arranged attractively in the jar.

One more gherk?

One more gherk.

One more gherk.

Panicking about the things. I think I need to.

That's frustrating. I'll pull them out again and repack 'em.

Three minutes, gardeners. Just three minutes left.

That's it, gardeners. Your time is up.

To be awarded a Best In Show, the piccalilli should be bright

in colour, with crisp vegetables, evenly chopped,

and the flavour should be smooth and well balanced.

The pickle should be sufficiently covered in vinegar

while still leaving head space between the vinegar and the lid.

The ingredients should be bright in colour,

and attractively arranged in the jar.

First up, it's Rupert and Dimi,

with their piccalilli and courgette pickle.

I'm going to start with the piccalilli,

and I have to say, this looks so enticing.

Brilliant colour, lovely colours shining through.

I like to see some sauce covering...

-I thought there was sauce covering that, actually.

-Yes.

The sauce is a little bit runny here.

Nice crunch.

Very good balance of salt and sweet, so that's a good start.

Look at these little coils of courgette.

-Can you see those?

-Stunning.

-Aren't they amazing?

It's good. It's crisp. A very good example.

Good start, both of you.

Jo and Avril have made a Christmas piccalilli,

and an orange and beetroot pickle.

I can see that you've not got enough sauce in here.

I'm afraid the spices feel a bit raw, bit mustardy.

-It doesn't taste good. Now, then. Beetroot pickle.

-Mmm.

I think it'll mature well.

I'm not sure, really, the orange was necessary.

Next up, it's Gary and Pete, who've made a quickalilli,

and a ploughman's pickle.

Ooh! There's a nice piece of cauliflower.

You need a bit of cauliflower in piccalilli.

Is that THE bit of cauliflower?

-That is THE bit.

-OK.

Very nice. It's got a good sweet-sour balance.

The sauce stays on the vegetables, which is what it's meant to do,

and it looks very attractive.

You are the only person that made a ploughman's pickle.

I'm liking the crunch. I know you were worried

about it being cooked enough, but I think that's fine.

Both of these show that you have real skills in the Eat challenge.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

Kate and Eleanor are presenting a patch piccalilli,

and a gherkin and runner bean pickle.

-Do you make a lot of piccalilli at home?

-Never.

Ooh, and I can see why.

It's too vinegary, too salty.

Without meaning any offence, it really is quite horrid.

This is a gherkin and runner bean pickle.

This is very, very nice. Very good.

I would happily have a jar of this in my pantry.

Next, it's Shirley and Victoria, with their misci-piccalilli,

and kimchi pickle.

I'm a little bit worried about this, even before I open the jar.

I can see that something seems to have happened to your sauce.

It seems to have split a little bit, and I'm wondering if...

You did brine them? Did you?

What sort of solution did you use of your brine?

How much salt to water?

-I think it was about 25g of salt to about a pint of water.

-Yes.

I think you need at least 50, if not 75g.

It has to be a salty solution to get all the water out.

As I suspected, it's very watery.

I think you didn't get rid of enough water in the brining.

I think perhaps you've over-boiled your vegetables,

so they've started to let down a lot of that water

that was still in there, and your sauce is very thin, I'm afraid.

-Oh.

-But, kimchi.

This one has a sensational aroma.

Really smells lovely. Fresh and delicious.

-Look at that!

-Oh.

-That looks just wonderful.

It's that right balance of sour and hot.

I like this a lot.

Finally, it's Alex and Ed,

who've made a piccalilli and a pickled beetroot.

So, this is your all-in-one, make-on-the-same-day,

no-brining piccalilli.

-Correct. Yes.

-Good, bright colour.

What we've got here is much too much sauce,

and there's much too much flour in it.

Somehow, everything's a bit soft,

and it's become a bit sort of gloppy.

Mmm. I think it's gone slightly awry with the flour this time.

So, pickled beetroot.

Yes.

A very, very interesting balance of flavours,

but you've cooked your beetroot for quite a while and, again,

rather too soft for my palate, so...

good try, boys, but not for me.

-Thank you.

-OK.

Well, there's nothing wrong with that. The important thing

is that it tastes nice. She likes the taste of them both.

Now Thane has tasted all the pickles, she must decide

who will win Best In Show.

Today, Best In Show is going to go

-to Gary and Pete.

-Thank you.

-Well done, both of you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

There is nothing more you can do now to impress our experts.

They have to make the very difficult decision as to who is going home

this week. So, gardeners, while they decide,

would you please go back to your allotments?

It's good to get a Best In Show. Another one.

She was very complimentary towards your cooking today, wasn't she?

Yeah. Yeah, I don't think she realises that it's a joint effort.

-The actual result, though, has thrown the elimination part of this out wide open. It really is...

-Mmm.

-I'm really pleased for Gary and Pete that they've won.

-They're very good

at saving themselves, those two, so, er...

So, no, it really has just thrown it wide open.

I think we've been quite surprised every week who's gone out, really.

-Yes, exactly.

-So it is tough.

-Tough this week.

I wouldn't want to be the judges, anyway.

I think they'll have a tough decision.

Now, today - Gary and Pete, they've scored.

They have for Thane, but for me, they haven't, again.

I don't see any change in them in the Grow challenge

from the previous week.

Well, this week, I think Jo and Avril really have had a bad week.

The topiary tree this week was a disaster.

And for me this week, without a doubt,

Jo and Avril didn't bring something to the table that I liked.

They've always been sort of middle-of-the-road,

I'll grant you that, but it's never been so bad that I've said,

"Well, that's going to come last, or last but one."

Shirley and Victoria, they've not seemed to have a good week, either.

They're very similar to Jo and Avril.

They've had peaks and troughs.

And, again, they just seem to have sort of tinkered through this week.

They have lovely produce,

but I don't see that coming through for me to taste.

That piccalilli was poor.

I'll be honest with you, if it was between Jo and Avril

and Shirley and Victoria, then I really would be struggling.

Who's it going to be? It's up to you.

Well, this is the bit that gets harder and harder each week.

All of you have put so much time, effort and love

into this beautiful garden.

However, we have to lose one couple.

The experts have discussed,

and the couple who are leaving tonight are...

-..Shirley and Victoria. I am so sorry.

-Thank you.

-It's all right.

-You've done well.

You know, it's just been such a good experience,

and it's just going to be really sad that, you know,

we can't come back and harvest all our vegetables.

We're so grateful to have been given the opportunity,

and for Victoria to have experienced all this at such a young age.

It was hard, really hard, to choose Shirley and Victoria,

because they're good gardeners,

but it's important that winners can excel in all aspects.

Next time, the allotmenteers will be bringing their onions...

So glad I went to onion-tying classes at school.

..chrysanthemums...

I don't know where these have come from.

This is everything I don't want to see.

..and fruit preserves to the show bench.

I've not chewed many fruit preserves before.

LAUGHTER

Who will be victorious on The Big Allotment Challenge?