Episode 5 The Big Allotment Challenge

There are over 350,000 working allotments in Britain,

and the waiting list is even longer.

Everyone wants to grow their own.

We've brought together nine pairs of the most talented allotmenteers

to compete to be Britain's best growers.

They have each been given an empty allotment

and a list of flowers and vegetables to grow.

Last week, Kate and Eleanor won Best In Show for their aubergines.

Oh, look at that!

Ladies, you've pulled it off again.

-There's the winner.

-APPLAUSE

Alex and Ed reached a new high with their sunflowers.

We feel comfortable, we're going to make a good effort on this.

You have got Best In Show, well done.

APPLAUSE

And they made it a double

when they impressed Jonathan with their topiary tree.

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

-Just a tad.

-THEY LAUGH

And Gary and Pete won Thane over with their pickles.

-You have real skills in the Eat Challenge.

-Thank you.

But Shirley and Victoria failed to blossom, and left the allotment.

Now, it's the semifinal,

and the experts have set three tough challenges.

The allotmenteers will be judged on their onions,

chrysanthemums, and fruit preserves.

Who will make it through to the final,

and be named the winner of The Big Allotment Challenge?

Welcome to The Big Allotment Challenge.

We've lost four of our teams, and only five remain,

all desperate to impress our esteemed experts

and keep their place in the competition.

No-one wanted to go out first.

No-one wants to go out this week.

We definitely want to be here for the final.

We're just going to go flat out.

-We've just got to get a Best In Show.

-Yeah.

-We would quite like to make it to the final.

-Final.

So we're going out fighting today.

So, the final is only one week away,

and there are only three challenges that stand between you and it.

The pressure is on because we are going to have to lose two teams.

There is room for only three pairs in next week's final.

You must get on with your next challenge

which is, of course, Grow. And Jim is in charge of Grow.

And, this week, he wants you to present three perfect onions.

Off you go.

Have a look at that. Onions!

This has been a warm, dry, sunny summer.

And that is ideal for growing onions,

so I'm really expecting to see some real crackers on their show bench.

The gardeners have been working on their show onions

for nearly four months.

They need to present

three perfectly matching onions in shape and size,

and free from pest and disease.

As always, good soil preparation is vital.

Alex and Ed are planting a number of onion varieties

to make sure they have a good choice come Show Day.

In total, we're going for three varieties.

This is Red Baron I'm going to put in now.

We're planting them one inch deep, and five inches apart.

Later, going to put this one in, which is Hercules.

That's one that Ed, my partner,

this is one he's particularly fond of, a white onion, Hercules.

Meanwhile, Gary and Pete are hoping that companion planting

might be their key to success.

This is a row of onions going in behind a row of carrots.

As the onions come up, they protect the carrots from carrot fly.

When the carrots come up,

apparently, they protect the onions from leek moth.

After six weeks of warm weather and regular watering,

the onion shoots are coming up.

Jo and Avril's onions are doing well.

They've grown one variety, called Sturon,

which is known for its reliability.

I'm just getting any weeds out from in between the onions.

Because the weeds will compete for all the nutrients in the soil.

Usually, I'll plant onions through the winter.

So, mine at home are, you know, quite advanced compared to these.

But, no, they're looking good.

Onions are a popular allotment crop,

and one of the oldest cultivated vegetables in the world.

Usually planted in the spring, they need regular weeding

and an occasional feed with liquid fertiliser.

But slugs and snails are always a concern.

Ever keen to try something new,

Rupert has decided to use copper tape

which gives predatory slugs an electric shock.

I mean, anything that's inside the loop will die,

and nothing else should come in.

And the Nemaslug should last for about six weeks.

-We won't have enough to get all the way round.

-Right.

Quite, I don't think.

Did you miscalculate when you were ordering?

No, it's just expensive.

The warm, dry, sunny weather is ideal for onions.

As Show Day nears, the crops are almost ready for harvesting.

Avril, come and look at these whoppers.

-These here.

-Those ones look good, don't they?

They're massive, aren't they?

I spotted them earlier, and I thought they were all a nice three,

all growing together, all nice, even size.

So, just thought those would be good.

I know we only grew the one variety.

I was a bit worried about that,

not having a back-up option, but they look quite nice, don't they?

To be truthful, Jo, we've gone with what we know.

Rupert has a trick up his sleeve to help achieve a perfect show onion.

By removing the onion's outer layer, he hopes to create

a smooth, even skin for the show bench.

Apparently, this will make a nice, perfect skin to the onion.

But I'm told that about ten days to a week before is enough time

for them to go brown.

So we'll find out. I don't know if anybody else is doing it.

Hopefully, no-one else will see me do it.

I'm tempted to leave a couple, just in case I've got some wrong.

I can certainly see the logic of it.

-Shall we fold these over as well?

-Yes, I think so.

They have a week to ripen.

I think really they have to want to do it themselves.

I mean, it's a sign of ripeness, isn't it,

when they keel over?

Yes.

So, we've taken the fact that some of them have keeled over naturally,

to finish them off.

With Show Day imminent,

the gardeners are checking out the competition.

Ours are better than that.

-Ours are better than that.

-Ours are better than that.

We've got onions better than someone! THEY LAUGH

Bit tatty, should've cleaned them up.

You could give 'em a squeeze, and they could be soft.

-That is true.

-They could be full of maggots.

-Oh, God, don't, honestly.

-Or cheese.

-Oh, cheese and onion.

-THEY LAUGH

I think that the competition's going to be quite even.

There may be one team hiding some really good ones somewhere

that we don't know about.

-We're not going to be embarrassed by our onion presentation.

-No...

-But we're not expecting an accolade.

-Indeed.

If we don't get the Grow Challenge this week,

I'm sending myself home because, you know,

-I don't know what else we have to do to get that flippin' trophy.

-Mm.

After four months, it's Show Day,

and time for the gardeners to harvest their onions.

How about this one?

Yeah, not bad neck.

Seems quite weird to look at onions and think about necks, doesn't it?

We've got to take these outer skins off, haven't we, to show them?

-Yeah.

-And then we just snip them, like that.

Jo and Avril have never won a Best In Show for the Grow Challenge,

so they're pinning all their hopes on these onions.

The neck to it. Oh, we've got a worm as well. Double surprise.

These are lovely and round, look at them.

-That one ain't.

-This one is.

And the variety you're picking, lads?

-This is?

-Aila Craig.

-Aila Craig.

-Or Ailsa Craig.

-Ailsa Craig.

-Ailsa Craig.

-Is that an old variety?

-A very old variety. Good favourite.

-Yeah.

-Yep. Well, I hope it is for you, lads.

Yeah, go for that one.

We need to get through this week.

-If we get into next week, then...

-We stand a good chance. Yeah.

If we put a foot wrong today, we could make a mess of it.

And that would be quite devastating, actually, because we are so close.

I think it's a very close call between two or three teams

in terms of quality, blemish-free and size.

We'll just choose our best looking trio

and, hopefully, Jim will agree with the ones we choose.

The onions must be prepared properly for the show bench.

Jim is looking for three perfectly matching onions,

with well-ripened bulbs and thin necks.

They should be in fresh, clean condition,

and free from blemishes, disease and pest damage.

We'd better make sure these stems are the same length

before we bend them over.

The outer skins needs to be removed and the necks need to be

neatly tied to finish off their prize specimens.

I'm pretty pleased with that onion. I think that looks lovely.

So glad I went to onion tying classes at school.

What do you reckon?

Yep. Nice bit of tying action, I like that.

-Well done.

-Thanks.

SPONGES SQUEAK

Terrible noise.

Gardeners, bring on your onions!

Jim will be awarding Best in Show.

Rather than tasting the onions he will judge them purely on

appearance which is the best indicator of how well they've

been grown.

Now, when we start testing them,

we want them nice and firm round the bottom there.

I'm interested, this particular onion here, did you unpeel them

-when they were still in the ground?

-Yes.

The other two you didn't?

-No, no, they've all been...

-They've all been done?

Well, maybe this is a more developed onion than the other two.

The other thing that's very important is to tie them back

and that's exactly what you want to see,

tied back. Not with a rope round it that'd hold the Queen Mary,

just enough to just keep the onion nice and firm.

If you were going to say, "Are they a matching trio?"

This one sticks out a bit from the other two.

They're perfect, this one not so perfect.

This is Sturon. Good old favourite.

Now I'm going to struggle to find anything wrong with that.

They are perfectly matched, they're all exactly the same size.

They're lovely and firm and they've got a nice thin neck, as well.

-You love growing your veg, don't you?

-Yeah.

So this is Sturon, which is the same as Kate and Eleanor's.

They're well matched, they're free from blemishes, good sized onion.

They actually all weigh the same as well, cos we weighed them.

-Do they?

-Yes.

-You weighed them as well?

-Yes.

Attention to detail.

Absolutely. Leaving nothing to chance.

I would have to say that these are, again, three good matching onions.

So this is Hercules.

Hercules, yeah.

We're looking at three perfectly matched onions.

There is no blemishes on them. They're all looking really good.

-You're up for it lads, aren't you?

-Good news.

Definitely.

-This is Ailsa Craig, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

One of the oldest and a good prizewinning...

Particularly for showing.

I've got to say, lads, compared with some of the other exhibits

you've put in front of me, this is a lot better.

-Thank you.

-A lot better.

Having said you've tried hard, did the same person do all the tops?

I think we both had a go.

It looks like it.

This is a tough bench for you to judge, actually, isn't it, Jim?

It is but then that's what competitions is about.

You know, you want the judge put to his mettle, you know,

-and let's hope he knows his onions.

-Oh!

Jim must now decide who should win Best In Show.

The two that I pulled out the bag at the end, Kate and Eleanor's

and also Alex and Ed, the only thing that differentiates Kate

and Eleanor's to Alex and Ed's is that when you look at them, this one

is slightly misshapen. And so, Kate and Eleanor, it's the hat-trick!

Well done!

-Congratulations!

-Thank you!

Well done.

We are amazed and astonished and very pleased that we

have managed to complete a hat-trick!

We have.

I never would've thought that our onions would've won,

not looking at them in the ground.

Over the last five months, our gardeners have been growing

flowers alongside the fruit and vegetables.

In the Make challenge, the gardeners have to present their flowers

and use them in ambitious flower arrangements.

Gardeners, it's time for Make.

Now as you know, this tests your ability to grow the perfect

flower and then make the perfect floral arrangement.

Jim has already asked you to present three perfect chrysanthemums,

but what you don't know is what Jonathan wants you to do.

He wants you to make a pedestal.

For the pedestal design, it needs to be a front facing design.

But I'd like you to create the illusion that the plant

material is going all the way round.

The design needs to be balanced and it needs to have a clear,

strong outline of foliage.

The clock will start once you've got everything you need

and we're all back in the greenhouse.

So if you're ready, off you go!

I think chrysanths are a good challenge

because they are a very good garden plant.

Most people have grown them. Whether they've grown them

to exhibition level, we'll see that later.

Chrysanthemums are a hugely popular garden plant and have been

cultivated since the 5th century BC.

You have to remember,

in two weeks' time there's going to be super mass planting session.

Our gardeners are taking no chances with their seedlings and are

keeping them inside until the frosts are over.

We've potted them on from, er, first little pots into bigger pots.

We want them to get a bit bigger before we plant them out

because we think it's probably a bit cold at night.

So we've put them into a mix of compost

and a bit of Blood, Fish & Bone.

-Shall I water them?

-Yep. Good idea.

-Or are you?

-I'll just bung it back there.

Cos obviously here, for challenges,

it's really important that the chrysanths grow well so we're

probably a bit more mollycoddley here than we would be at home.

Chrysanthemums need to be planted in a sunny but sheltered spot.

Looks like these are doing OK now.

They've been in six days. Sunday they went in.

They look fairly well established.

These ones, in particular, are looking healthy

and ones like this will eventually need pinching out to send them

up sideways, to get blooms off each side.

The chrysanthemums need staking, to me,

because, see, they're a bit spindly.

Do they grow very tall? I haven't grown them myself before.

I think about two, three foot.

-So what, you just going to put it straight in?

-Yeah, straight in.

I don't want to bash the roots or anything.

Staking helps to prevent stems from snapping.

-I'm not going to do it tight.

-No.

Like that.

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, a bit like sunflowers.

They're just to stop it from bending over in the wind really

and then snapping off.

But if you take the tips out, does that bush them out at all?

It bushes them out, yeah.

So do you think it's worth trying one?

Just nipping the top off just one of them to see if it bulks out.

I won't do all of them in case it affects but just take the tips out.

So we'll try it on the one and see what happens.

Well, that's it.

Cos otherwise it's just going to go - phew! - straight up, isn't it?

As spring turns to summer, the allotment flowers are

beginning to flourish.

But Rupert and Dimi have found some blackfly.

It's that one in the middle, isn't it?

They're just getting right into the insides of the buds.

New growth, yeah.

They're putting lacewing larvae on their chrysanthemums.

Before they become adults, the larvae have a big appetite

and love eating the soft-bodied aphids.

Wonder what they look like up close under a microscope.

-Be quite nasty looking.

-They've got big jaws at the front of them.

-Oh, have they?

-They don't look nice.

Get on the little plant. Oh, he nearly went then.

Must admit, I'm not a big fan of the creepy-crawlies

but if they're going to sort our plants out,

then I'm well up for good bugs.

The long, hot summer has accelerated the growth of the

chrysanthemums and peaking too early is a real danger.

We try and get up at least once mid-week

and we're giving everything a really good spray at the moment -

try and get the sprinklers on for at least a couple of hours

and it's paying dividends.

We're working two ways with the chrysanths,

we're trying to get some prize blooms. We're using some also

to get lots of little flowers as fillers in some of the displays.

We've got one bloom here. That's going OK.

As Show Day draws nearer, Jo and Avril have concerns about

their blooms.

Right. Let's have a look at these, the chrysanthemums.

Yay, we have a flower finally.

When we first put them out, they were really, really small.

I actually think... You know when we were pinching the tops out before?

Do you think maybe we should have done that more?

Because they're flowering,

but look how spindly that is. It's got no...

Yeah, but, look, you've got plenty of flower buds to come out there.

Well, they've got flowers on at least.

We've easily got three stems of that...

with flowers on that look half decent.

With the half decent stems.

Yeah. It will be OK.

We've got flowers that look like the flowers.

It'll be all right.

-It'll be fine.

-It will be fine.

I got to be honest, they're a bit of a mystery to me, chrysanthemums.

I mean, they're really, see, I think they're doing really well

but they're not something I've grown other than just put some in

and let them get on with it, really, at home.

-That would be a lovely spray...

-They're doing well.

..wouldn't it? They do look nice,

as long as just a few more open.

It's definitely going to have some nice sprays of flowers.

Yeah. There's no doubt about that.

Right. Chrysanthemums for tomorrow.

One, two...

Three in a miracle.

I think if these come out...

..that'll be lovely.

-Well, we've got choice.

-Yep.

What more can you say?

Well, I think our chrysanthemums are not bad

but they won't be as good as Alex and Ed's.

No.

Ed said, as I passed today, "How are your chrysanthemums?"

I said to Ed, "Oh, very good."

I said, "Yes, they look fabulous." And he said,

"All the better to beat you with, my dear."

He did.

THEY LAUGH

I think Dimi and Rupert are struggling

a bit in terms of numbers of blooms.

I'm sure they'll have some.

The boys have got a few,

but again they may have some other ones hidden away.

Kate and Eleanor have got some, but not that many in flower

and Jo and Avril haven't got so many either.

I think we're in a good position, you know.

It's just slightly in the lap of the chrysanthemum gods.

It's the day of reckoning for the chrysanthemums.

Right, so we can have...these.

All those, and those.

Ah, this is the one where we pinched it out, Avril.

-You see how it forked there?

-So of these...

Well, we've got a few here.

I mean, will we be using the lighter coloured ones?

I'd go for the darker ones.

Floral expert Jonathan Moseley has asked the gardeners to create

a pedestal arrangement using chrysanthemums and other

flowers from their allotment.

We've got a chance to use some of the good dahlias and definitely

those massive rudbeckia and we've got lots of these.

This is a nice colour and it'll go with the dahlias.

Here is Jonathan's guide to making the perfect pedestal arrangement.

This dramatic design can be used, and even themed,

to suit any celebration or occasion.

Firstly, begin by soaking the floral foam and then tape it into the tray.

Then secure that onto the pedestal or the stand.

Next, create an outline of foliage and remember the proportions

of the stand in relation to the size of the arrangement.

Once a loose triangular shape has been created,

repeat those lines with further stems of flowers and foliage.

Next, place larger, more dominant flowers

centrally within the design.

This then creates a focal area.

Finally, arrange some material towards the back to create

the illusion that the design is going all the way around.

The gardeners have picked the flowers and the foliage

and it's time to get to work in the greenhouse.

OK, you have one hour to complete this Make challenge, so off you go.

Remember last week, we didn't soak it enough, so let's make sure we...

It's all right, I got it, I got it, I got it.

For this week's pedestal design,

it's quite a challenging design and it's hard to get the outline right.

It's really important that they take some plant material to the sides

and round the back for balance, otherwise it will fall forward.

This is a real hard one and I'm hoping they're going to get it right.

Central stem, then it needs...

-Towards the back, is that the prettiest one?

-Hang on.

And it's got to have it all the way round, really.

-So although it's front facing...

-That's pretty good.

..you can actually cut these if you want.

We're trying to do better now than we did last week with this.

-So we're, you know...

-Progressing.

..progressing. And we've learned a lot from Jonathan and his comments

so hopefully we've taken on board foliage, which we failed to do one time.

We're not wobbling, so that's two things we've hopefully got right.

Last week's Make challenge winners, Alex and Ed, are using string

to structure their design.

We've attached the pan and the base to the top of the milk churn

and we've given ourselves a basic triangle outline.

And we've put some kind of the start of the foliage edge and

we want to just put our main flower, which is a nice range of chrysanths,

in and once we're happy with those, we're going to then fill in for

some more height, fill in the middle and coming round to the front.

We don't want a green triangle round the edge.

We're not trying to make a road traffic sign in any way.

Right, I'm going to keep a couple of bits of fern back to dot it in.

Gary, where have you got your inspiration from?

This kind of thing,

it just reminds me of church from when I was a little boy,

sort of the kind of thing you'd see on an altar, I suppose,

I don't know.

-Maybe that's why you're on your knees praying for inspiration.

-Praying for it to finish.

-I'm just thinking, "Does one of the white ones reach there?"

-Yeah.

And then instead of that one, one of the white dahlias.

It's not very straight, that's the only trouble.

-Beg pardon?

-It's not very straight.

We could put some origanum or something.

Yeah, we can. That's a good idea.

Look, we've got here, so we need some more here.

If I can get the flower in, we'll be away.

With 20 minutes to go, the gardeners have to create a focal point

using smaller blooms on the outside and bigger flowers in the centre.

It's roughly a sort of triangular shape

and we've got a foliage background and we've put through

a thread of purple

and now I'm filling in with the rusty-colour chrysanths,

which are the flower we're supposed to be showing.

Be careful with those. Where did this one go?

Just somewhere here because then it'll at least maybe just

give it a bit of a prop up, you know what I mean?

Five minutes, gardeners. Only five minutes!

It's quite spectacular, surely.

It's very country. I'm liking it, actually!

It's not quite tall enough. You want a slightly taller one.

It's not concave, though.

But we've got a nice shape to it. I like it.

Well, we did have a bit of a vision of sort of a layered wedding cake

so the flowers would go round but we needed

about five hours to achieve it so we've got this instead.

And that's it! Time's up!

Disappointed with the Make challenge, to be fair.

When I stepped back and looked at it after,

I could see the tape at the bottom. I thought, "Oh, epic fail."

We got shape, we got structure, it's all even.

-Yeah. Sort of.

-Yeah, I'm quite pleased with how it looks.

It's got some lovely roses in there.

It's got some of our best dahlias in there, it's good.

It says a lot about us, I think.

Chrysanthemums are really difficult to grow to show standard.

They need to have strong stems, fresh, well balanced heads

and flowers that are free from blemishes.

For the pedestal arrangement, Jonathan is looking for a clear

outline of foliage, an illusion of depth and a definite focal point.

The leaves are very fresh.

They're nice and clean, the stems are nice and straight,

but unfortunately the flowers are rather uneven.

This one is showing the true characteristic of the flower,

whereas this one, the heads are dropping down

and there's some markings on them.

-It's done that in the last half an hour.

-Half an hour.

-Really?

-Mm.

-Honestly.

-That's gardening, isn't it?

-That is gardening, yeah.

-You know, they'll be all right next week.

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Well, I think it's a really vibrant arrangement

and I'm pleased to see there are

spray chrysanthemums tucked down in here.

But what is clever, they've made use of chrysanthemum foliage.

Everything's leading back to this central point

and we have got a defined focal area. These wonderful, big,

showish, shaggy heads of aster.

And these are like the cancan girls, kicking their skirts up and saying,

"Look at me," and they're really leading the eye into that area.

So congratulations, it's big, it's bold, it's bountiful,

it's beautiful.

So this is Myss Reanne. Looking very good.

It's what I want to see in a spray chrysanth.

The flowers are spread evenly. You can see them all,

they're not bunched up.

It's just as well I'm a tall bloke, cos if I were a shorty,

you'd never be able to look down.

So possibly I'd have just taken a little bit of the stem off

so you can see them better. Yep, good entry.

-Thanks.

-Thank you, Jim.

This has become visually a little bit funereal and as I look

in here you've got your round dahlias of differing scales.

You've got your round chrysanthemums, they're all similar in shape.

It stops halfway.

It's like it's almost been trapped in some automatic doors

and you've lost half your flowers down here.

Interestingly, that chrysanths come from north and central Russia,

and China.

I don't know where these have come from.

I'm sorry, lads, this is everything I don't want to see.

These, to be honest with you, lads, have gone past their sell-by date.

In feng shui, chrysanthemums symbolise optimism

and I think this is an optimistic attempt at a pedestal here.

I notice with the pussy willow here,

it's actually not in foam. You've pegged it onto the back.

Had you have placed that into the top of the foam,

it would've give you a bit more height.

Good foliage. Lovely, clean foliage and there's good colour on there.

They're not marked in any way.

The only downside of it is that you've got the big boy

in the middle here and his little mates round the side

and when you're looking for it, you want a spray, as the name implies.

I like the undulations of movement through here.

It's got a wonderful rhythmic feeling to it with space

in between so it's not packed, it's not just one mass of flower.

Space is really important

because it allows each little thing be its own star performer.

That's good workmanship and good technique. A great attempt.

These are a little bit too tight.

That, you've just got the one.

It would be nice if that one had been in there

and you found another one but you're going to tell me,

-"Jim, this is the best we could find."

-That was it.

-Yes.

But nevertheless, good attempt.

As I analyse it, it's quite an odd shape altogether because

you've left quite a visible ring.

You've cut foliage very short.

I'd have liked to see that falling over.

I actually feel I could lift that off and place it anywhere

because it's on here but it looks like it doesn't want to be.

Jim, would you please make your award

for the specimen chrysanthemums?

I will indeed.

Alex and Ed, they're what I wanted to see.

Spray chrysanths, well spread out, good foliage and so,

Alex and Ed, Best In Show. Well done!

Jonathan, who is going to get Best In Show for their pedestal

floral arrangement?

Well, this week's Make challenge has been a really tough one.

When I see a design like this, it's just so classical and country.

I love your confidence in gathering all this

material from your allotment and working it in this splendid array.

It's like a peacock opening a tail out and saying, "Look at me."

And that's why, Rupert and Dimi,

this week I'm awarding you Best In Show!

Very pleased about the Best In Show for our flower arrangement,

that's gone very well.

It was big and explosive and it looked good, I think.

We did go into it, actually, thinking if we're going to go

out then we want to go out with a bit of a bang. Let's go a bit

bananas and obviously that's what he was looking for.

It is really a good feeling to win the chrysanthemums.

That's three flower wins out of five so we're really pleased.

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

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

However, it will start tonight.

As always, Thane is overseeing the Eat challenge

and this week she wants you to make a jelly and a fruit butter.

Now to ensure your jellies are absolutely crystal clear,

they need to strain overnight.

So, we're giving you 30 minutes preparation this evening

to allow them to drain

and then you can return tomorrow to complete the challenge.

You collected all the fruit that you need earlier,

so your 30 minutes starts now.

A jelly should be a clear, bright colour with no cloudy pulp

and it must taste of the ingredients used.

We may have vastly overestimated how many tomatoes we need.

Each of those tomatoes weighs almost precisely 100 grams.

Oh, my God, that's lovely and ripe.

Might be a little bit overripe, actually.

So, shall I put the legs out?

Yeah, yeah, put the legs out

and then... Cos we're not making an awful lot.

In order to release the juice, the fruit and water are simmered together.

Jo and Avril are using redcurrants and rhubarb for their jelly.

This is heating up nicely now.

Yeah. Just keep squeezing the currants. They have to break.

Don't keep them whole because the flavour's inside them.

Yeah. Is there a masher or anything in there

-we can squadge it all through with?

-No. No.

Oh, you don't squadge it in there, do you? Cos it goes cloudy.

Cloudy.

Alex and Ed are making a tomato and chilli jelly.

-I mean, we could put your stick blender through that.

-Yeah.

-That would work quite well.

-That would.

So, you're the only people making a savoury jelly

and I'm really pleased to see it.

Well, we thought it would maybe go with cheese, maybe.

So in here we've got tomatoes and a chilli.

So what are you using for acid in your tomato jelly?

The tomatoes are...

They'll be acid enough, you reckon?

Yeah, and some jam sugar, so with some added pectin sugar.

Oh, right. Perfect.

How many more minutes do we have?

Rupert and Dimi are making blackcurrant and redcurrant jelly.

Once the fruit is broken down into a pulp, it's poured into a jelly bag

and left to drip slowly to ensure the juice collected is clear.

Oh, there's bits in it! No, this won't do.

-What do you mean?

-I can see there's bits in it.

We have to start again.

We managed to get some bits underneath the jelly bag,

which we really don't want.

It needs to be completely clear.

The crucial thing is that I don't squeeze this bag.

-OK, do you want me to wash that?

-Quickly.

SHE LAUGHS

I'm left holding the baby.

To be honest, these are coming out... I don't know, bitterness.

It's not going to matter too much

because we will be straining it tomorrow.

Gary and Pete are making a melon and rose petal jelly.

You're the only people that aren't dripping overnight, is that right?

We're not dripping, no.

Very, very different technique you're using.

It's a different technique. Slightly less work.

-And you've got your fragrant roses that you won with before...

-Yes.

..so you're pulling that one back in again?

It's an excellent flavour combination, melon and rose.

It works really well together.

-Yeah.

-We should just stand here eating melon now.

Do you think it'll drip through enough?

Yeah. So just hold... Can you hold that bit there? That bit there?

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

You will continue the Eat challenge tomorrow

and we will see you with some hopefully beautifully clear

jellies bright and early in the morning.

Good night!

-Slightly worried about the slow rate ours is dripping through, actually.

-It'll be fine, honey.

Alongside the jellies the gardeners started to prepare last night,

Thane also wants them to present a fruit butter for the show bench.

This is the allotmenteers final opportunity to impress the experts.

At the end of the day, two teams will be leaving the allotment.

Lovely to see you all looking so rested.

You have one hour, 15 minutes. Are you ready?

Off you go!

Fruit butters can be stored in the fridge and make great spreads

for toast, waffles, pancakes or scones.

A fruit butter is a fruit puree that has been well cooked down.

Should be a bright, clean looking butter,

very smooth, no pips or stones with the sugar added usually

much later in the recipe than if you were making jam.

The fruit needs to be chopped to speed up the pureeing process.

And if they're using a fruit like rhubarb, they need to remove

all fibrous strands.

The idea is you shouldn't have to use that.

The first time I made it, because the rhubarb was very young,

-it was fine.

-We haven't tasted that yet.

Jo and Avril are making rhubarb, apple and blueberry butter.

This is my unfinished butter.

I've just sieved it all off so I've got a nice, thick syrup now.

I haven't added the sugar yet, so that's the next process

but I'm quite happy with the consistency.

-The butter is, what flavour?

-It's rhubarb and strawberry.

Rhubarb and strawberries really work well together, don't they?

There's something about the sharpness of the rhubarb

and the fragrance of the strawberries

that really works a treat.

-Have you ever made a butter before?

-No.

I had no idea what it was and in fact,

my initial research came up with the wrong thing.

I thought it was butter, sugar and fruit.

And then did a little bit more research and thought actually,

"No, it's a good way of using fruit with not too much sugar."

That's why I like it.

You can use a lot of fruit with not too much sugar.

It's also important you don't add too much sugar to begin with.

If it's sweet enough when you start cooking,

it's going to be over-sweet when you finish.

If it is, you can add a bit of lemon juice or something just to

sharpen up the flavour.

Rupert and Dimi are making a rhubarb and strawberry butter with

their own twist.

So this is vanilla bean paste.

I prefer this because it actually is the vanilla pods themselves.

And so you get a proper vanilla taste.

If I just used vanilla essence,

you'd get that sort of almost fake vanilla taste and it's not so nice.

-Basil goes in, does it?

-Yep.

This is a blackcurrant and basil fruit butter.

That's ready to be sieved through now.

It's a little bit like a curd but... Same flavours

but they just go so well together.

Was it the purple basil?

Yeah. The variegated one. So...

-Which is a slightly different flavour, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

-And more, kind of, aromatic?

-Yes, I think so.

In fact, I'm not sure if it works with normal basil.

You kind of need the purple.

The texture of fruit butter should be smooth and velvety.

Got a rhubarb and redcurrant butter and the butter takes a little

bit longer because you want all the liquid to come off

and it's just kind of a labour of stirring love almost.

This is not far off being ready.

With the fruit butter under way, it's time to start boiling the jellies.

To make a jelly, you measure the juice and add an equal volume

of sugar.

It's 450 grams per 600 ml of...

Sugar?

Yes. Of liquid that you get out.

That equates to 150 grams of sugar per 200 mls, which is

what I've gone for.

Unlike the other gardeners, Gary and Pete chose not to drip their jelly.

Instead, they left their melon and rose petals

to soak in sugar overnight.

Basically, it's like sweet brining rather than salt brining. Yeah.

So this morning, there was a lovely, syrupy liquid.

So you boil it up in the pan until it starts to get jellified?

In a pan with a tiny bit of lemon juice, and a tiny bit of lemon rind, and then...

And you make sure the sugar's dissolved before you bring it to the boil?

-Yes. Soft, really soft heat first.

-Very, very important.

-Soft heat first.

That's necessary otherwise the sugar will never dissolve

and it'll be a crystalline jelly.

Alex and Ed are trying to judge how much chilli to put in their

tomato jelly.

Do you think take those out in about five minutes?

Yeah, we only want a little taste.

I just probably don't want them boiling in it.

-It's looking good.

-It is looking good.

Beautiful colour, I saw, when you'd, you know, done the drip overnight.

-It looked great.

-Yeah. We thought it was a bit light on chillies

so we've just put some extra in. Going to give it...

A bit of kick.

..a few minutes, and then take that out.

-Chillies coming through now, yes.

-Yeah. Yeah.

Some fruits, like tomatoes, need added pectin if the jelly is

going to set.

-Can I safely assume that everyone is using pectin added sugar?

-No.

-No.

-Oh!

-No. We're not using pectin sugar.

-Blackberries and...

Blackcurrants.

Sorry, blackcurrants and redcurrants have a lot of pectin in them.

Masses.

-So you shouldn't need to add any pectin.

-No. No.

I think if we were to add pectin added sugar, it would

-turn to cheese.

-It would set to toffee, basically.

That would be very, very well set and that's not a jelly.

-A jelly should quiver.

-Exactly.

-A little bit like you do when you're waiting for me to judge!

-Exactly!

One way of judging when the jelly has reached setting point is

the flake test.

When the jelly drip solidifies from the edge of a spoon, it's done.

Come on, jelly.

Oh, we got it. It's there.

-How do you know?

-Cos I just do.

-It's melting it.

-Is it melting the plastic?

To keep it wobbly, if we give it a burst of heat to bring it to

that point, we're not going to force too much water off.

We don't want it to set too hard, really, do we?

-It's not there yet, though.

-No.

With just five minutes left, the tension is rising.

-I'm worried. It's always very anxious.

-What?

It's anxious moments.

I'm worried that it's going to be too lumpy for her.

I can't bear to look either.

Don't know if I've got enough, though.

That's the smallest jar we've got.

It's quivering.

It's probably terrified.

Right, let's get some labels on those.

-OK. On the front?

-Yep.

You don't think this looks overly twee?

It needs to look twee.

-Uh-oh.

-Overfilled.

Just a little bit.

I wish I was in that situation, Jo.

And that's it, time's up! Get ready for judging.

I'm absolutely covered in it, anyway.

The butter's nice.

-Well, they might hate that as well.

-You put them on the right ones?

Now that the jellies have been setting for a couple of

hours, Thane wants them to be crystal clear with an even colour.

They should tremble when shaken and have no air bubbles.

The fruit butter should have a bright, clean appearance and

be of a smooth consistency.

The flavour should also taste of the ingredients used.

First up are Kate and Eleanor who've made a classic

blackcurrant jelly and a strawberry and rhubarb butter.

So I'm going to lift up the jar and I'm going to shine through it.

It's always more difficult with a blackcurrant

because you're... Actually there, that's lovely.

And what I'm looking for now is a nice, wobbly jelly.

Yes, well. I think we've got more of a syrup.

Yes.

How much sugar did you put in?

Not quite the same as the volume of liquid.

I think that's your big mistake.

Moving on, we have a strawberry and rhubarb butter.

This is a very good flavour but...

Oh!

..I'm afraid I don't like the seeds in it.

Rupert and Dimi have produced a blackcurrant and redcurrant

jelly and a rhubarb and strawberry butter.

First of all, do my torch test, just to see the clarity of the jelly.

Yes, it's beautifully clear.

Now what I'm looking for here is a wobble.

There was a wobble.

Eating the jelly, it's not as smooth as I would expect it to be.

And I think that's because you've reduced it too much.

Now then, here we have the rhubarb and strawberry butter.

Oh, yes, that's a very good texture.

Again, a little stiff, I think.

The flavour, the balance of strawberry, rhubarb

and vanilla is very attractive, but the texture, for me, is wrong.

Alex and Ed have made a tomato and chilli jelly and a rhubarb

and redcurrant butter.

Let's try the flavour.

I asked you what you were using for acid

and you said you thought your tomatoes were acid enough.

I think you're wrong.

A slug of white wine vinegar will not only help it set

but will add to the savoury taste.

JAR POPS

Good pop! There.

And this is rhubarb and redcurrant.

Oh, my God!

-Oh!

-Hm.

I'm just going to chip off a little so that I can taste it.

I've not chewed many fruit butters before.

Jo and Avril have made a redcurrant and rhubarb jelly

and an apple, rhubarb and blueberry fruit butter.

It's a good colour.

It's been too cooked.

What I'm looking for is a clear, fresh flavour -

something that preserves the fruit you've grown so beautifully

and takes it through into the winter.

This, I'm afraid, has been overcooked and we've lost that.

-Your fruit butter's a mixed fruit butter.

-Yes.

And that's a beautiful texture, look at that.

I would say that fitted the criteria for a texture of a butter perfectly.

This is, undoubtedly, the best butter I've tasted so far.

And I might even go

so far as to say I wouldn't have minded making this myself.

I think you've done a very, very good butter here.

Finally, it's Gary and Pete with their melon and rose jelly

and blackcurrant and basil fruit butter.

-Oh!

-Oh, dear!

Oh, dear.

That didn't set.

Let's go for taste.

I'm very impressed with your method of making the jelly.

I think it's worked very well,

apart from the fact, of course, it hasn't jelled.

But I'm searching for the rose.

JAR POPS

A nice pop and a beautiful colour.

Now, one of the problems of using a lot of blackcurrants

is that it is quite a bully of a flavour.

I would've liked to have seen this diluted with some apple,

something just to offset that very, very strong flavour.

Now Thane has tasted all the preserves, she must decide

who will win Best In Show.

Well, I have to say I'm really disappointed this week.

It's week five.

Now, I know it was a difficult challenge

but I didn't get one good jelly.

There was, of course, one outstanding butter.

So I think it'll come as no surprise to anyone that this week

I'm awarding Best In Show to Jo and Avril.

APPLAUSE

But now is the difficult bit.

Our experts, Jim and Jonathan and Thane, have now got to decide

which two teams will be leaving the garden for good.

So, if you would like to go to your allotments,

the team of experts will make their very difficult decision.

Jo and Avril picking up that last win on Eat changed

the dynamics of who may be going out, I think.

I think it's really difficult to say who's at risk.

I think Pete and Gary are probably at risk because they have

fewer Best In Shows and have not done terribly well this weekend.

But as to the other, I have absolutely no idea.

I think it's wide open.

These five teams can now smell the final.

Is there any name you want to put out there who you think has

deserved and won a place in the final? Jim?

Well, I obviously think Kate and Eleanor, for me,

deserve to be there.

They're real gardeners, they've got a real

passion for what they do. They work beautifully as a team and certainly

for me they've delivered in nearly every one of the Grow challenges.

I think Alex and Ed, also.

You know, good gardeners, good allotment,

use plant material creatively.

Very keen, very enthusiastic and a great team working well together.

OK, so three other teams to discuss.

Let's start, then, with Gary and Pete.

Jim, you're not a huge fan.

Well, unfortunately,

the only thing I can say is they've been consistently bad.

I mean, apart from the runner beans, which was probably their best

entry in the Grow, the rest of it really has been a disaster.

I've awarded them two Best In Shows.

I mean, they made an astonishingly good ploughman's pickle last week.

No-one else thought of it.

They're very creative in the kitchen.

They have found growing flowers a passion

and I think it's sort of found a new skill there and they're

enjoying the flowers and there's potential but it's hit and miss.

What about Rupert and Dimi?

Well, in the Grow challenge this week,

they failed miserably with the chrysanths.

Not a sign of a bloom on them, and the onions,

yes, they had the choice but they didn't bring the right three.

And our last couple to discuss...

Jo and Avril.

Although they made this superb butter, their jelly was really poor.

I awarded them Best In Show for the table design but it was a bad week.

Everybody's table designs were bad

so it was certainly best of a bad bunch.

So the tough thing is, two teams have to go this week.

Only three finalists can go through for next week.

And of the three teams you're discussing, two of them

-have won Best In Shows this week.

-Exactly.

So, very, very difficult.

You know what happens now. The finals are within touching distance.

We know how much you want to be there

but unfortunately tonight we must lose two teams.

And those two teams are...

..Gary and Pete.

Well done, mate.

Yeah, well done. You did good.

And...

..Jo and Avril.

-It's all right.

-Thank you for being such...

-Good luck.

-Well done!

I thought it would be floods of tears there for me.

Nothing of the sort. I thought, "We've done ourselves proud..."

Absolutely, yeah.

..you know, I always look on the bright side of life.

That's me.

Give us a hug.

I think we've done really well to get this far

and doing it the way we do it.

It doesn't have to be really hard work, at all.

You can just get on, do what you want to do

and eat some really nice food at the end of it.

It's never nice to say goodbye to anybody

because they've all put in a tremendous amount of work.

But at the end of the day,

I honestly believe the right three are left in the final.

Next time, it's the final...

..and the allotmenteers will be bringing their melons...

They're high maintenance to get them absolutely right.

..and sweetcorn...

OK, so that's the one.

-Pretty perfect looking cobs underneath.

-That looks pretty good!

..dahlias...

These are the championship winners.

..and a gift hamper full of produce...

-You can taste the vodka, you can get the heat, though.

-Good.

..to the show bench for the last time.

Brought me today three things that I've really enjoyed.

But who will our prizewinners be?

The champions of The Big Allotment Challenge are...