Episode 6 The Big Allotment Challenge

The allotment is a very British institution.

Everyone wants to grow their own.

We have brought together nine pairs of the most talented allotmenteers

in a competition to find Britain's best growers.

You love growing your veg, don't you?

Now it's the final and, with only three teams left to battle it out,

the pressure is on.

This is it, their very last chance

to prove their worth to win the competition.

These are the championship winners.

This week, there's a double Grow challenge.

Jim wants to see a perfectly ripe melon...

They're high maintenance to get them absolutely right.

..and a faultless cob of sweetcorn.

But our sweetcorn is decidedly iffy.

They'll also face their toughest flower-arranging challenge yet.

I'd very much like to win this one.

They really need to have upped the game to a much, much higher level.

And, for the Eat challenge,

they're making a gift hamper full of their own produce.

Oh, man alive!

Now they've reached the final, our three teams have got to dig deep

to win The Big Allotment Challenge.

They don't want to let themselves down now. It really is game on.

Our gardeners have worked tirelessly through a cold, wet spring,

a hot, dry summer and now it's autumn

and it's nearly time for our experts to decide who our champions will be.

Husband and wife team Rupert and Dimi

love growing unusual things and taking risks.

This white one is probably more of a challenge than the others.

They've always shone in the Make challenges.

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

And they've impressed Thane in their Eat challenges.

Winner of the sauce and relish are Rupert and Dimi.

I think there's hope for us.

I think we could do it this week, fingers crossed. Maybe.

Best friends Kate and Eleanor have excelled in the Grow challenges.

Kate and Eleanor, it's the hat trick. Well done.

They know how to grow flowers, and Jonathan loved their summer wreath.

For workmanship, for design, Kate and Eleanor.

But they've always struggled in Eat.

It's too vinegary, too salty. Really, it's quite horrid.

I never for one second thought we would get into the final, no.

All our ambition was not to be thrown out in week one.

And since then, we've just gone from week to week.

Intensely competitive...

Yes!

..Alex and Ed have come close...

Wowzer!

..but still haven't won a best in show for their vegetable Grow.

They've consistently produced fantastic flowers...

You have got best in show, well done.

..and they impressed Jonathan with their topiary tree.

Good workmanship, creativity.

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

But they've yet to win an Eat challenge.

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

We've had the mindset most of the way through that it's about not losing,

but today, that very much changes and today's about winning.

Good morning, gardeners,

and congratulations on making it here to the final.

Our first challenge, as always, is Grow

and, because it's the final, Jim has upped the ante.

He wants you to produce two specimens for the show bench.

He wants to see a perfect cob of sweetcorn and a perfect melon.

The pressure is on. Off you go.

The finalists need to bring a fresh, well-formed sweetcorn

with straight, undamaged rows of kernels,

indicating it's free from pest and disease, to the show bench.

They also have to present a melon that's perfectly ripe

with its T-shaped stalk intact, a traditional show bench criterion.

I left these two crops to the final

because there can be many hiccups on the way.

Both of them are not easy plants to grow.

You need a lot of sun and an awful lot of attention.

With two best in shows at stake,

the gardeners have been nurturing both their melons

and sweetcorn since the competition began five months ago.

..22, 23, 24, 25. Right.

By mid-spring, the gardeners begin to sow their sweetcorn.

-One inch or 2.5 centimetres deep, these need to be.

-Yeah.

If we've not got a perfect cob, I'm going to be really worried.

What could we do anyway?

While the sweetcorn is left to germinate for a few weeks,

the gardeners concentrate their efforts on the second part

of the challenge - the melons.

That's one melon plant coming along nicely.

No particular problems with that.

Notoriously difficult to grow,

the gardeners are sowing some melons from seed

and have also bought in some grafted melon plants.

Right, so these are the three melons we ordered,

but we've also got...three or four that we did from seed,

which are also, these are cantaloupe and they're also cantaloupe.

So it can go in that.

-Brill.

-It looks really good. Get those in situ.

Cantaloupe melon is the best variety to grow in the UK,

but they need plenty of sun to perform well.

-Job done.

-Brilliant. Give them a water. Give them a good drink.

Now it's finally warm enough,

attention's turned back to planting the sweetcorn seedlings outside.

They root quite close to the surface, so you can end up

hoeing them in a bit... but that's actually very pleasing.

They're really nice-looking plants.

When they're ready,

we'll quite often just take a stove to the allotment and eat them there.

-We have to dig some holes.

-Yeah.

Shall I grab the other sweetcorn then?

-Cos they've all got to go in, haven't they?

-Yeah, 20 of them.

-Do you need some stakes for these ones as well, do you think?

-Yeah.

A good day's work.

It's a brilliant day's work.

Right, so let's see...

Having started their sweetcorn in pots,

Kate and Eleanor are trying a companion planting technique.

By planting their sweetcorn seedlings with nasturtiums,

the stronger smelling flowers should hopefully attract aphids away

from their precious sweetcorn.

-The nasturtiums in between are doing really fine...

-They're doing great.

..but unfortunately it doesn't really matter about them.

-No, but they'll look aesthetic.

-They do look aesthetic.

Melon plants need two or three months of heat

to get a decent sized fruit.

You can grow this melon both inside and outside

and I might grow the other one outside.

While everyone else is growing their melons in the greenhouse,

Rupert is taking a gamble by attempting to grow one outside.

As show day draws closer and the temperature's rising,

everyone's excited to see the first melons forming.

-I want you to see the amazing thing I've just found.

-And what is that?

Well, you'll never believe it.

-What? Oh, look!

-A melon.

-Two melons.

-Three melons.

Three melons. That's amazing.

I'm going to give it a lovely leaf hat cos it doesn't like too much sun.

So we can take out the growing point of him,

cos we don't want him to get any bigger.

We want to keep all the energy in the main stem

and probably only actually get one melon off each plant.

There's a little one there. It's amazing.

As spring turns to summer,

Rupert and Dimi are giving their sweetcorn a little helping hand.

So these are now beautifully in flower.

Yeah, they are, aren't they?

But if we give them a little tap...

Oh, you can see the pollen.

..pollen comes off and it fertilises them down the bottom.

The male sweetcorn flower is the top of the plant

and the pollen drops down to the female situated at the base.

How do you know when you've got it all done? You don't?

You don't, not until you see whether you've got sweetcorn.

Just helping nature along.

With show day just over a month away,

Alex and Ed have cobs beginning to appear.

-Shall we have a look at one of these and see...

-Yeah, why not?

..see how ripe it is inside?

But I think it's too early, really.

When the tassels have turned chocolate brown,

it's time to test for ripeness.

So, too white.

The hot summer is not only doing wonders for the sweetcorn,

the melons are developing very nicely too.

-Look at these.

-How many are we up to?

Two, three, four, five.

Five. Six. Six.

I wish this one would maybe hurry up and ripen

so we could take it off and get the others ripening,

but I don't know how long it's going to take to ripen.

But for Kate and Eleanor,

the ripening process is all happening a bit too quickly.

We were very depressed to discover that they've ripened so quickly,

and they have, and there's no way we can save them.

This is going on the compost heap of life.

One, two, three.

Kate and Eleanor now have only one melon left for the show bench.

Bye-bye, melon.

With show day just a few weeks away,

the melons are not their only worry.

-The sweetcorn plants are just...

-They're not very tall.

-Yeah.

These are all just fighting for the nasturtium.

-Yeah.

-It hasn't grown as high as an elephant's eye, has it?

-It hasn't.

Maybe the nasturtiums are not such a great idea.

We think that somewhere in the nasturtiums,

there may be some sweetcorn.

We know no more about it than that.

As the final show day approaches, it's all about the melons.

It's quite a good melon.

-It's a bit mini though.

-There's more.

-Come on, little fella, grow.

Let's go and have a look at this melon, then.

-Ah, I can smell it, sadly.

-Oh, dear.

When it smells like a melon, it's already ripened.

-Oh, it smells...

-Melon perfection.

-Ah.

-So what do we do?

-We've got a week and you know what happens,

cos you know what happened last time.

-Really grieves me, doing this.

-I know. Ah!

-Done.

Kate and Eleanor decide it's better not to waste their melon

if it's going to be rotten by show day.

-OK, boys. Sadly...our melon is ripe.

-Oh, no.

Last one we have, the only melon.

So we thought we would share it with you.

They now have no melon to present for the show bench.

-Well, that looks all right, doesn't it?

-Certainly does.

Oh, this is a two-horse race.

It has to be a two horse, well, it has to be a two horse race -

they haven't got any melons.

Sorry, it was just the way you so confidently said that.

It's a two-horse race with Alex, and Ed probably a nose ahead.

Our melon will survive, I think.

And over the next 24 hours,

probably you should sleep in the greenhouse and...

It's the day of judgment for the sweetcorn and melons.

So how many have you got there that are any good?

-We've got two left.

-We've got two left.

Do you want to have a snip?

-Da-da!

-Oh.

-It's got its T, just.

-Just, yeah.

-Yes.

So you've had to wait all season since you've been here,

when you planted it and you've had to keep nurturing it.

-They're high maintenance to get them absolutely right.

-They are, yeah.

-The only outdoor-grown melon.

-It is.

-And I tell you what, that's brave.

-Oh, it is brave, I know.

Very, very, and in the final.

-Shall we see you snip that off the plant, then?

-OK.

Oh.

-There we go.

-Perfect, beautiful, little melon.

-That's it. Yeah.

-Oh, fingers crossed.

-You never know.

-We ate the last melon...

-Never!

-And what you'd have had would be a rotting melon?

-Indeed.

So you're relying on the cob now.

We, well... Yes, if we can find one.

There we go.

I'm quite excited about this.

-To reveal...

-There we go, so that's the one, so...

-..some perfect looking cobs underneath.

-That looks pretty good.

-Yeah, they are. It's exactly what I expected.

-Looks beautiful.

I can't believe that you boys have never won a Grow yet, have you?

-Neither can we.

-No.

-No.

-That's it.

-Jim, you've been tough.

-Quite incredible.

They've been there and thereabouts,

-but it's the ladies that have always pipped you.

-Yeah, yeah.

There are two best in shows at stake

and, now the sweetcorn and melons have been picked,

it's time to get them ready for the show bench.

All the kernels should be even, and they're not.

-Look at that. Dreadful.

-Yeah.

What do you think of that?

That's a fantastic corn on the cob.

Give him his own tray.

I think this one. I know you're worried about that kernel there.

It's blemished and... he is looking for no blemishes.

Jim is looking for a well-formed cylindrical cob

with straight unblemished rows of tender, plump grains,

and it should be free from pests and disease.

The melon needs to be blemish free.

It should give a little when pressed,

indicating its perfect ripeness,

and also be presented with a neat T-handle shape stalk.

We have no melon and our sweetcorn is decidedly iffy.

Gardeners, it's time for the judging of Grow.

Jim doesn't usually taste the show produce,

as the appearance best indicates how well the product has been grown.

-I believe this one is Orange Sherbet...

-Yep.

..which is an outdoor variety.

It's got a few blemishes on it,

but seeing it's an outdoor one, we'll get away with that.

What I also want to be able to do...is to press it

and it should give, which means it's fresh.

And does it?

Um...no.

This is really, really firm.

We don't...we want a nice sweet melon

-and presumably it should be bright orange inside.

-Yep.

Or a more lime green, unripe melon.

-Cuts well, though.

-Cuts beautifully.

Mmm. Crunchy.

We're looking for a very good cylindrical cob,

we've got that there, and we're looking for very straight rows.

We can't get them much straighter than that.

The other thing we want to do is to be able to just squeeze one of them

and, yes, there's just a little bit of milk coming out of it,

so that'll tell you that it's ripe.

The other thing is that we like to see

a little bit more of the green sheath.

Sometimes, when you take too much off, you think,

"What have they got to hide?"

But nevertheless, great start.

-The sad and brave story of the missing melon.

-Absolutely.

And I suppose that's gardening, isn't it?

You'd worked as hard as you could to just get it right for the day

-and it came a week too soon.

-Absolutely.

It makes it slightly difficult to judge it.

Right, got a very good cylindrical shape to it, which we want.

All the sets are in nice straight lines.

The only pity is it's starting to go off at the top.

It's just got overripe.

I can't believe this, girls. You've won three and won them well.

This is the final - no melon and not the best cobs.

So this particular melon is Sienne?

-Sienne.

-Sienne, yes.

Yep, and good cantaloupe variety.

Lovely markings on it, just what you'd expect to see,

and by the signs of it, look, that is going brown,

so I'm hoping...yes, it's just giving that little bit of give

when I touch it, a good sign that it's fresh and ready to eat.

So could this be the moment, lads?

Right, I'm just going to cut one section here.

-Now, what colour are we looking for inside on this one?

-A rich orange.

Rich orange, OK. Let's see.

Let's see now. Oh, yes!

Now, look at that. Well done, that looks amazing.

Mmm. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Yep, thumbs up from Jim.

And tasting good too.

Lovely cylindrical shape.

Look at the silk there, that's exactly what you want to see.

That's telling you it's virtually ready.

Yes, you've got a nice lot of the sheath on it

and let's just give it a pop and see.

Yep, this is looking good.

It's time for Jim to decide

who has won best in show for the melon and the sweetcorn.

Well, this is a two-melon race, isn't it?

And at the end of the day, we don't have to deliberate long.

-Lads, you've finally cracked it, best in show. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Alex and Ed.

-Congratulations.

Well, as you know,

there is one more best in show to come for this challenge.

Right, so this time at least we had the three corns on display.

There was one that had all the qualities I wanted to see,

and so this is a great start for you, lads.

Once again, best in show... Alex and Ed.

-Double champions of Grow.

-Well done, lads, well done.

-Here we go, Ed and Alex.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-They're great.

-There's not just sweet,

-but there's savoury in there too.

-Good taste. Lovely.

And juicy and just really ripe.

The melon was bad luck.

The sweetcorn was bad growing

-and they're two totally different things, I think.

-Mmm.

You'd think it would be statistically difficult

to come second in so many challenges,

but nevertheless we seem to have managed it.

The allotments are jam packed with not only fruit and vegetables,

but flowers too. In the next challenge,

our allotmenteers will have to produce prize-winning dahlias

and this is their very last chance to impress expert Jonathan

in his final floral challenge.

We're on to our second challenge which, as you know, is Make.

Jim would like to see three of the best specimens you have of dahlia.

What you don't know is what Jonathan would like you to do

and, this week, he's pulled out all the stops.

It is a hanging design.

Gardeners, this week, for the first time in the competition,

I'd like you to create your own suspended hanging container.

The design's going to be judged from 360 degrees.

You will have an hour and 30 minutes to complete this challenge.

Good luck. Off you go.

The three dahlias need to have long straight stems

with fresh, clean heads,

be in good condition and free from blemishes and pest damage.

In order to get a good, all-round dahlia,

there's a lot of work that goes on in that growing period.

You need to pinch out the shoots

so that you've got excellent flowers forming ready for the show bench.

A firm favourite among competitive growers,

dahlias belong to the aster family,

along with daisies and sunflowers.

There are over 20,000 different varieties.

Dahlia season usually begins in early spring

and continues through the summer, so deciding when to plant them is key.

Let's have a look and see what we've got.

Kate and Eleanor start as soon as possible,

putting dahlia tubers straight into the ground.

Just can't believe that dahlias are ever going to grow, can you?

Tubers are thickened, underground plant structures

that store food during the winter months

to provide energy and nutrients for re-growth.

Alex and Ed started theirs off in the greenhouse.

These are the championship winners.

And now they're ready to be planted out.

I've been growing dahlias just for fun for a few years.

I went and ordered some names after some of the women in my family.

They're all going to be great.

So who's Enid in your life?

Enid is my mother-in-law's middle name.

I was unsuccessful in finding a Marge.

That's looking good, that one.

This is getting too big for the pot.

Dahlias need lots of nutrients, so the ground has to be well prepared

by digging in organic matter and fertiliser.

I'm going to fill the hole

-with a little bit of fish, blood and bone fertiliser.

-Wonderful.

Dahlias are susceptible to frost,

so Rupert and Dimi are taking no chances.

-We'll need stakes. It's fine.

-Good.

As the days get longer, all the teams have been struck

with one of the commonest garden pests - black fly.

They like the stalks and the young flowers,

the young new bits of the plant,

so what we're going to do is spray it up with an insecticide,

just to kill off the black fly, basically.

All gardeners have been provided with a non-toxic organic spray.

Well, I've zapped the buds of these that have got black fly on,

so we'll check on Sunday and see what's happened.

As spring turns to summer,

Alex and Ed are trying to sustain the moisture in their soil

by a process called mulching.

It'll keep the soil a bit cooler,

keep the water in and hopefully... will give some amazing dahlias.

Alex, we sadly lost the dahlia named after my mother-in-law.

I don't think I'll make any more jokes than that about it.

Their hard work seems to have paid off.

At last, the dahlias are blooming.

Now, that is a perfect dahlia.

Yeah, it is.

This variety's a bonny brand, they're absolutely stunning.

-Its lovely, isn't it? It's a shame they don't smell.

-Nothing at all?

No, they smell of dahlia, which is a kind of a...

It's a planty smell rather than a perfume.

-If they were fragranced, nobody would look twice at roses.

-No.

But, like all show flowers, dahlias need constant maintenance.

One thing I have noticed about dahlias

is that you have to deadhead them just as the flower is going over,

because they close up and it's very difficult to tell a dahlia bud

from a dead over-gone dahlia,

so I found it much easier to snip them, literally,

as the flowers have just started to go.

We are very competitive and we're going for it.

I don't think we're intimidated by Ed's dahlia manning...reputation.

I mean, after all, they had the most amazing carrots and, I mean,

their onions were a sight to behold,

-but we still beat them on both, so...

-Who knows?

-Our little pom-poms might come forth.

-Yeah.

I think we're in quite good shape for those.

-I think we've got reasonable dahlias.

-Yeah, we do. I think we do.

-I think they're very pretty.

-We've got a lot of dahlias as well.

It's show day and time for the gardeners to pick their best blooms.

Yeah, what about that one?

Too far gone in the middle.

We're just going to cut all these and then lay them out

and look and see if we've got three that look similar.

It's not only the dahlias they have to worry about.

They have to ensure they have enough plant material

to make their floral arrangements.

Here's Jonathan's guide for how to make a hanging design.

Firstly, establish a secure method to suspend the design.

Do remember, once it's completed, it really does become quite heavy.

Start off by covering the large surface area

with a good selection of foliage.

Use trailing and hanging plant material

to create interesting movement and rhythm.

Remember, dahlias have a very thin stem

supporting a large headed flower,

so it's best to place them into the arrangement towards the end.

By following these few tips,

you really can create a real floral spectacle.

We obviously have to make the thing and we have to tie it up...

-Mm-hm.

-..cos then we can hide all this, can't we?

-Yeah.

And then we would tie the chillies round as a base...

-because there's lots of greenery.

-So we've got four...chillies,

-cos we've got to do this side as well, don't forget.

-Yeah. Yep.

They've picked all their materials and now they head to the greenhouse

for their most difficult floral assignment yet.

The Make challenge offers two best in show awards -

one for the best show dahlia and one for the best hanging design.

Good luck, and your hour and a half starts now.

The first thing our finalists need to do

is concentrate on their three show dahlias for Jim.

If you snap one, then we'll be finished.

It's those two, I'm telling you.

Once they've chosen their dahlias, they leave them in water

and get to work on Jonathan's hanging design.

As the final Make challenge, this is by far the most difficult.

The fact that it's going to be judged from every angle

is a huge challenge in itself,

so I just hope our gardeners get it right from the offset

and use flowers creatively.

If they don't, it's going to look standard.

I don't want to see standard at this level in the competition.

Floral foam must be saturated with water before adding any flowers,

otherwise the arrangement won't last.

-I'm not quite sure what the best approach is.

-Right.

We never, ever would shape it while it's dry

and pack it in and bash it in,

because that's damaging the surface area.

That's really detrimental to the flowers.

It impedes the process of it

to allow the water to go into the flowers.

How are you doing?

I think I'm nearly soaked.

-Hold on.

-The pot is bloody heavy.

The basket needs to be secured properly

so that the design can withstand the weight of flowers and water.

-It's not slipping.

-No, that's pretty good.

-How big do you want to make this?

-Shall we put something in?

They're going to use the foliage first.

It's important to start with the foliage first

to disguise the foam and establish the overall design.

One more this end?

Yeah, three might be enough.

And then twizzle it round so you've got that

and then we're going from the bottom and up to the top again.

Don't leave big gaps and start packing flowers in

close and tight at this early stage.

Flowers go in later.

The idea is to have a vague framework of chillies

and then fill in. Looks a bit... bit of a mess at the moment.

The picture I've got at the moment is I want it to go both upwards

and then to cascade as well on both levels.

-And that is a challenge, when you've got two areas to work on.

-Yes.

You either have to do a really stark contrast

-that is distinctly different with a subtle link...

-Yes.

..or we need it to overall visually harmonise together.

That's the path we're going.

Are we ready for flowers yet, do you think?

I think we probably are, don't you?

Jonathan will be judging this design from 360 degrees,

so there's nowhere our finalists can escape his scrutiny.

We're not going to fall foul by not having enough stuff underneath here.

It's a big, country, sort of vintage style globe.

I guess you might put it in, like, maybe a big barn...

or something, in a hallway, yeah. That'd be amazing.

Perhaps a double staircase type thing.

I'd very much like to win this one and I think this looks quite good.

Actually, you know what we need to do? If we take this down...

Yes, it needs a bit of eucalyptus there, actually, doesn't it?

It's just the world's hardest task, to do this well.

Choosing flowers, there's designing a floral arrangement,

there's making it and then there's having other people look at it.

The gardeners are using everything they can in order to stand out.

So these are white aubergines,

I'm just wiring them to pop them in

and then just find somewhere to sort of nestle it in amongst the foliage.

We've probably done what we usually do and played it too safe

and gone for specimens that are the same

rather than specimens that show themselves off to the best advantage.

15 minutes left. 15 minutes.

Don't squeak with worry. It's OK.

I think some of them we've just pushed too far in.

-Borage. Shall we put borage in there?

-Yes, I haven't put any borage in.

-Just look for gaps now and...

-Yeah, that's what I'm doing.

..just snip anything that's the wrong...

I can't find the scissors.

If we just give ourselves a bit more dark with these round the base,

-in the bottom bit, then it does lighten up, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

This is too dominant. We haven't got anything that goes out beyond it.

Do you think we should lose that one?

There's a bit of a gap just here.

One minute left.

Just some of these darker oranges in the bottom.

Aubergines in there. That's quite nice.

I think we need to trim that.

-Just think it needs something there.

-One of those?

-Yeah, let's try that.

-Actually, that's not bad.

-Looking pretty good.

Gardeners, that's it, time's up.

So it's the toughest challenge for us.

We've gave it our best shot.

We pulled out all of the stops in this one

because it's a challenge that we think we could win

if we went big and sort of just went for it as much as possible.

The floral arrangement was extremely challenging,

both technically and actually filling it up

-with flowers and greenery that looked right.

-Mmm.

As usual, there are two best in shows for the Make challenge.

Jim will be looking for three dahlias that have fresh,

identical blooms with long, straight stems and no damage.

Jonathan will be looking for a striking hanging design

that has used materials creatively.

It's being judged from 360 degrees, so he wants to see a balanced shape.

Yes, this is exactly what I want to see in a pom.

Good, straight stems. Lovely colour, really is gorgeous colour.

Good even display of bloom, they're all matching. Good start, girls.

I love this depth of dahlia repeated through here.

I'm delighted to see that you've covered every aspect of this globe.

You've used some plant material that gives it a creative touch,

but sadly the overall impact has not quite worked

and I saw Eleanor inflicting floral foam abuse.

You were bashing that floral foam into the basket in its dry form,

not even pre-soaked, so I know that that isn't properly soaked in there.

One of the characteristics we look for is that the stem is

strong enough to support the flower. Now, unfortunately, in this case,

you can see that it's hanging its head right over.

This one is beginning to start to fade.

They are looking rather tired.

The clarity of the shape is really important

and you've achieved a good shape

and you did that very early on

by sensibly working foliage throughout here.

There's good touches in here.

You've got the aubergines, you've got the cabbage,

you've got the physalis flower, seed heads of the scabious,

these lovely features in there. It's a really good attempt.

Nice straight stems.

Nice and clean, and not many blemishes on the flower at all.

In fact, there's none.

Just a slight unevenness to the actual three blooms,

but nevertheless it's a good entry, lads.

It's a real mish-mosh of a lot of different flowers,

a lot of different colours, a lot of floral foam visible.

Again, at this stage, I've got higher hopes

and I would have thought you would have executed a better design.

The experts now have to decide

which of the teams will be awarded best in show.

Alex and Ed, they're three lovely looking cactus dahlia but...

..tonight...the winners of the best in show, two ladies.

APPLAUSE

Well done.

Jonathan, would you please award best in show for the hanging design?

This week, there's only one clear obvious winner,

somebody who again has used plant material creatively

and has achieved a good, bold design.

Congratulations, Rupert and Dimi, you are best in show.

Well done, hon.

Now, tomorrow is a big day.

Tomorrow is the last day for you to shine

and so we want you now to go home,

get some sleep and come in first thing tomorrow morning

bright and early, ready to do the final challenge.

Good night.

Well, we're very pleased to win, obviously. It's very good.

Yeah, it just goes to show that, whilst we're still amateurs

and we don't know everything and we're learning as we go.

I think we're feeling exceedingly jubilant

about having won best in show

because that was not what we were expecting.

Jonathan's comments are as you would expect them to be

in the final of a competition like this,

-but we tried our best.

-We did.

Our finalists have been working tirelessly for 20 weeks

and their allotments have come to reflect their gardening styles.

We're on Alex and Ed's plot.

This plot has certainly paid dividends for them.

It's an organised plot, a practical plot

-and it's a good working allotment, isn't it, Jim?

-Absolutely.

Every time you come here, they've done something, you know,

to the plot, they've kept working it, which is very important.

-They deserve to be here.

-They do.

-Let's go and have a snoop round someone else's.

-Why not?

Here we are, Kate and Eleanor's plot,

the last two-woman team standing.

I think there's an inherent connection with gardening. It's there.

They're passionate gardeners, they love the plant material,

they understand about flowers, they understand about vegetables.

But I think what sums this team up is good natured,

great sense of humour and simply enjoying what they're doing.

Absolutely.

-Oh, look at these flowers.

-Ooh!

-Aren't they just gorgeous?

But their Make challenges, Jonathan,

-you've given them three best in shows.

-Yeah.

They've been star performers and, as I look around here,

it's full of flower.

This is a great cutting plot,

so an allotment can produce produce for eating,

flowers for cutting, but also it can look decorative, it can look pretty.

And you stand here in amongst all these allotments

and you think, "Gosh, what a blessing this has been,

"to see this wonderful way the earth responds."

In 20 weeks, from bare earth...and they've really put their heart...

All the teams have put their heart and soul into it.

There's just one more challenge before our experts have to decide

who will be the winner of The Big Allotment Challenge.

-We really want to impress Thane in the final challenge.

-Yeah, massively.

We've won one Eat, it would be lovely to win another one

and I think our...potential win depends on it.

I'm really going to enjoy the last day.

We've got a challenge coming up we enjoy competing in,

and I just can't wait to get started.

We've so far failed to impress Thane

with almost everything that we've cooked,

so this is our last chance to impress her.

-We've never won an Eat...

-No.

..and it'd be fantastic to go out on a best in show Eat.

Overnight, the rain has gone and it's a beautiful morning

and you face your final challenge, which is Eat.

Now, Thane has set this challenge

and it is to present a beautiful gift basket

and in that basket three preserves of your own choice

and an extra ingredient. It is your wild card,

the ingredients of which are secret from all of us.

You have one hour 45 minutes to complete this challenge.

The clock will start as soon as you've all arrived

back in the greenhouse with everything you need.

So are you ready? Off you go.

Their wild card gives them a unique opportunity to impress in this,

the final challenge.

It can be anything they choose

and they've been carefully planning it for months.

Ah, it's chilli time. Finally get to pick these bad boys.

How many chillies do you think we need for the infusions, then?

-Three or four?

-Yeah. Well, pick a few more.

And our wild card is potpourri, which is made with dried flowers

from our plot which we've grown specifically to be able to dry them.

-And we'll half them, take the top spikes off...

-Yeah.

-..take out the choke and they'll cook really quite nicely.

-Yeah.

With four different items to present,

this is their chance to show me the breadth of their skills,

that they've taken on board everything and really impress us.

This could be their very last chance to win.

The allotmenteers have picked all their ingredients for the last time

and the preserving can begin.

You have an hour and 45 minutes. Start now.

So far in the competition, Alex and Ed, and Kate and Eleanor

have never won a best in show for Eat

and the pressure is on to impress Thane.

You've only got an hour and three quarters,

but, actually, the presentation is very important today,

because if you're giving somebody a hamper,

you want them to open up the hamper and go, "Wow!"

And not, "Oh, thank you very much."

Kate and Eleanor are making pickled yellow beetroot, allotment chutney

and a Middle Eastern delicacy - strawberry sweet spoon -

as well as a bowl of potpourri as their wild card.

Eight ounces. Is that what you want?

-Yes, I think it was exactly what I wanted.

-There we are.

-Well done.

The three preserves we're making for our gift basket are

drunken tomatoes, sweetcorn relish

and a particular favourite of mine - Dentdale pickle.

Our wild-card entry,

I'm making some preserved artichoke hearts in a flavoured olive oil.

Once I've done this chopping, it'll be onto the samphire prep

-and then we can...

-Actually, the samphire doesn't take long.

No, and then we can start cooking things.

Rupert and Dimi are making a sweetcorn relish,

pineapple flavoured goldenberry jam and, true to form,

they've grown something risky for their third preserve -

pickled samphire.

This sea vegetable naturally grows along the coast,

so they've had to carefully nurture it with sea salted water.

-How's the sauce looking?

-That looks very good.

A relish is a condiment made from chopped vegetables and sauce.

Consistency is the key to its success.

If it's under boiled, there'll be too much liquid

and, if over boiled, the sauce will be too dry.

Oh, it's nice. Bit spicy, bit sweet.

I'm trying to make a strawberry syrup

to go on top of the strawberries,

but in the past I have over boiled it

and it just set like iron, so I'm trying not to do that.

It is a lovely, lovely tradition

-and they make spoon sweets of dozens of different things, don't they?

-Yes.

So it's not like a jam

and it's offered to you on a spoon when you go to someone's house.

-Really? So just...

-With a cup of coffee.

-Oh, one taste, that's it.

And then this, of course, is one of my absolutely favourite things.

This is the perfect chutney

to use those apples that you scrumped off the floor,

the tomatoes that won't go red,

the onions you've got left and I just love the thrift of this.

A chutney is a type of relish

that usually includes vegetables, spices and sometimes fruit.

The dried tomatoes are in this pan here,

then we've got really delicious plum tomatoes,

these kind of mini cherry plum tomatoes called Cupido.

They've got them on a very, very low heat so as not to burst the skins...

Yes. But they need to be warmed all the way through.

They've got to be cooked, otherwise they're just tomatoes in some oil.

And this is the marinade for the beetroot chutney,

which is...vinegar. It's got 20 minutes to infuse before I sieve it.

So, Dimi, how did you grow this on the allotment?

-Because this grows with salty water, doesn't it?

-Correct.

It does. We've had to feed it salt water.

So this'll just be in vinegar...?

It's in a pickling vinegar with a little bit of sugar

to take out some of the acid of it and then it's got fennel, pepper...

-A bit of coriander, hasn't it?

-..and mustard seed.

-Very nice. OK.

Do you want to try a bit of that, please?

Bit woody?

Mmm. No, it's not woody. Nice.

It's important that whatever is being pickled

is always fully submerged

so that it all matures at the same rate when stored.

Well, there's nearly not enough!

With everything under control,

it's now time to concentrate on their wild cards -

the allotmenteers' chance

to present a unique addition to their gift basket.

Our wild card is our potpourri.

These are rose petals, which have been...dried.

We've been preparing them, I think, since May,

since the roses were first in bloom.

Wild card is some artichoke hearts.

I love artichokes.

-Well, that was 17 artichokes, so this time...

-17?

We're going to preserve them in a similar way as an antipasti.

The ever experimental Rupert and Dimi

are trying to infuse chilli and vodka for their wild card.

-You use a cream whipper, which is what this is.

-A what?

-A cream whipper.

-Oh. So how does it work?

The high pressure of the nitrous oxide goes into the liquid.

That goes into the vegetable, whichever you're using,

and we're using chillies for this,

and then, when you release the pressure, it comes out as a gas...

and it forces the flavour out.

Can I taste it at this stage?

I would recommend the tiniest bit on the end of your finger.

-Let me hold this.

-That is bold.

Oh, man alive!

This is the final ten minutes.

Got to get this really tight, with it being tapered.

Comme ci, comme ca.

-Let's get those bubbles out.

-I was going to do both sides together.

I wanted to put them into this big, quite imposing pickle jar,

but unfortunately only got enough hearts to go up

about three quarters of the way and that's not really good enough.

One minute left.

-We've made a lovely mess.

-We have made a lovely mess.

How hot is the chilli vodka?

You've watered that down a bit, haven't you?

Ah!

Time up.

The moment of truth has arrived.

The allotmenteers will face the experts for the very last time.

To be awarded best in show,

Thane is looking for preserves that taste as good as they look.

First to be judged, it's Kate and Eleanor.

It looks beautiful, which is always the first thing with a gift basket.

And this is the strawberry spoon fruit.

The strawberries have still got just that little bit of crispness.

The syrup, I think a tiny bit thin,

so, for authenticity, it's probably not exactly right.

Next up, golden beetroot in a nice clear vinegar.

I'm very pleased that you went to the trouble of

making the individual slices look pretty.

Good flavour to the vinegar.

There's a little bit of sweetness in there

and some background spice and I see you've taken the spices out.

The beetroot has a good, crisp flavour

and it's one that works nicely.

And now the autumn tomato chutney. Looks good.

But it's a well-made chutney. The consistency is perfect.

The chop is very good.

For my taste, I'd prefer just a bit more spice.

Now, this is your wild card, which is a handmade, beautiful potpourri.

Very nice.

What I think's so very clever

is you've made this with just what you had on your allotment.

What I would say is that you've brought me today

three things that I've really enjoyed.

My only worry is have you played a little safe?

It's now Alex and Ed's turn.

I'm going to start here with your sweetcorn relish.

An attractive looking jar.

Very important with a sweetcorn relish that you see the colours,

the vibrance of the sweetcorn and the peppers.

The chop looks good there.

Perhaps just a little on the warm side.

I think, in a couple of days' time,

some of the chilli would have moderated down.

Now, pickle.

A good colour, texture.

The brightness, you can imagine that would enliven a plate.

And I'm afraid it is a little salty still.

Now, the tomatoes, the drowned tomatoes.

What separates this from just being

a cherry tomato warmed up in a bit of oil

is that you have almost made a confit of them,

that slow cooking in oil.

You boys grow good tomatoes. That's very nice.

And now the wild card, your...

Jar of artichoke hearts.

Delicious.

I really like that.

What we have here is a very good balance of the acidity

when you cooked the artichokes in the vinegar and water and the oil,

so there's a good balance there.

Well done, good wild card. I like it a lot.

Last up, it's Rupert and Dimi.

I'm going to try the pickled samphire.

It looks very nice, it's very young,

which is important cos it does have a woody stem in the middle of it.

As you can probably tell, it is a bit chewy.

There is quite a bit of that woody...centre.

There's a bit too much of that, I'm afraid.

I'm really sorry about that.

And this is the second sweetcorn pickle that I've tried

and it's got a nice flow to it.

The texture is good.

I'm not sure, though, you've got the sweet/sharp balance quite right.

-Pineapple goldenberry jam and just...

-Beautiful.

-..beautiful.

It really is.

The million dollar question, this whole business of the set of the...

ALL GROAN

A little bit unset.

Let's just try it.

I love the flavour of the berries.

Where you've gone wrong is not quite enough lemon juice.

And the wild card.

-The chilli vodka. This is English vodka?

-It is.

-Yeah.

Right. I'm going to crack on with this one.

We don't want to mess around. We just pour the vodka. There we are.

I even watered that down since you tried it, Fern, like about 50%.

To sum up, you just take such risks, you bring such exciting things,

but you lay yourself open to all sorts of problems.

Now Thane has tasted all the preserves,

she must decide who will win best in show.

You girls brought me the most amazing basket,

the best things you've ever brought me.

You've brought me probably the best thing I've eaten in the show.

I'm afraid you just played it a little too safe,

but best in show for their splendid artichokes in oil...

..Alex and Ed.

Now comes the very difficult decision.

Our experts have to deliberate and think very carefully

about which of you will be champions.

Would you all please return to your allotments

while the experts have a think?

We have done as much as we could possibly do,

and that was what we set out to do, so we couldn't do any better.

I can't believe some artichokes that we've put a lot of hopes on

in this game, in this competition, she's turned round and said

it's the nicest thing she's tasted in six weeks.

I think we've done well.

I think we've shown our sort of science-y, nerdy gardening style...

-With a bit of kiwi.

-With a bit of kiwi.

-Yeah, why not?

-I think we've done what we set out to do.

-Three fantastic teams with six very worthy contestants.

-Absolutely.

It's interesting to see the make-up of all the three teams in the final,

-because they're all different, you know?

-Yeah.

And certainly with Rupert and Dimi, they really do try something

that not many other people do at this stage.

I mean, it is the final.

-When I look at what they've grown on their allotment...

-Exactly.

..it has always been edgy and it's been interesting

and that's really paid dividends.

I mean, what a risk, you know, when you are competitive to say,

"Let's grow some samphire." That is a spirit there, isn't it?

Let's talk about Kate and Eleanor.

They haven't been great in the kitchen

and that's why I was so thrilled to see their basket today.

They've had a slightly difficult week this week

by not having the melon,

but overall their specimen flowers have always been pretty good.

I just think that they've got, to me, the right attitude.

They like gardening, they enjoy gardening.

So let's talk about Alex and Ed.

To me, they are excellent veg growers.

I've got to say, yesterday, that melon...it was absolute perfection.

I must admit, I'm getting more torn as we go on

because they've all got strengths,

so how do you finally pick out

the one that you think is the all-round best?

While the experts continue to deliberate,

the finalists are greeted by some familiar faces

who've returned to show their support.

I'm going to hazard a guess at who's going to win.

-Maybe Alex and Ed might win?

-Nah. I think Kate and Eleanor.

-Do you?

-Yes.

We're gunning for the girls today, definitely.

-Alex and Ed.

-They really, really, really want to win.

-They put a lot of effort in. They're consistent, aren't they?

-Yeah.

I think Rupert and Dimi have been consistently amazing from week one

and they have such a lovely relationship together.

It is lovely to see everyone back here together again

in our walled garden and thank you to every one of you

who've put in all that hard work and commitment

in making what was an empty garden into this gorgeous oasis.

It's a heavenly place of fruits and flowers and vegetables.

Thank you for that.

And now the moment you've been waiting for.

Our experts have made a very difficult decision,

but I'm pleased to announce that they have decided...

..the champions of The Big Allotment Challenge are...

..Alex and Ed!

-It's pretty amazing to win.

-It's brilliant.

We've got a lovely trophy, we've got so many happy memories,

deep pride in what we've achieved

and a firm friendship to take away from this.

We can't ask for many more things than that.

I just think it's been the most amazing experience.

I'm really sad that it's come to an end,

but it had to come to an end eventually.

It's quite strange to be leaving today,

knowing that we're not coming back, and sad. That's really sad.

It's really sad.

It's not just the plots, it's the people.

And, you know, everything is not just what it looks like.

It's this essence of a place and the essence of the place,

it's all us lot working away together

and having fun and having a laugh.

To be here today with the trophy makes everything worthwhile.