Episode 6 The Big Allotment Challenge

Whether it's beautiful cut flowers or delicious fruit and vegetables,

we Brits love to grow our own.

For 17 weeks, our gardeners have been raking,

staking and cultivating their patches.

And now it's the final, and there are only three gardeners left

in the race to be crowned champion.

This competition is anyone's for the taking.

It's all to play for today.

This week Jim wants to see not one

but two specimens in the Grow challenge.

A perfect cauliflower...

This is difficult, this growing blinking cauliflowers.

And straightaway we can see marks on the cauliflower.

..and ten of their very best cape gooseberries.

That's what we're looking for - a little golden gooseberry.

Jonathan is setting his toughest task yet

in a supersized Make challenge.

Haven't really got a clue where to start.

-Can I have a peek on this side?

-No, you can't!

This is the final. Expectations are high

and they certainly know where to hide.

And it's a triple whammy in Eat, as Thane wants to see canapes,

cocktails and confectionary.

The only thing burning's going to be my desire to win the competition.

So, do I lick or do I bite?

Just three challenges stand between our finalists and one of them

being named the winner of The Big Allotment Challenge 2015.

It's the final.

The last thing they want to do is let themselves down today.

The winner of The Big Allotment Challenge 2015 is...

Welcome to the grand final of The Big Allotment Challenge.

Just three gardeners remain in the race to be crowned champion.

17 weeks ago Rob, Jo Jo and Sandra entered the walled garden

for the first time.

When we first started in the allotment,

I honestly felt like I was probably the least experienced

and I was always one step behind everybody else.

I'm starting to now believe in myself more as a gardener

and just believing that I can actually do this.

I can't believe I'm in the grand final.

It's fantastic to be in it.

I wanted to be in it from the beginning, you know.

I wanted to get this far, but to win the grand final...ah!

I think all of us want to win, you know.

To be honest, my aim's been to get through each week as it's come along.

It's been week one - don't get booted out,

week two - OK, got past week one, and just carry on.

And then suddenly you get to week three and you're thinking,

"Well, actually, I've got some quite good stuff and I may make it."

And now it's actually here.

Well, good morning, gardeners, welcome to the grand final.

We started with nine gardeners - we're down to just the three of you.

Tomorrow we will know which one of you is victorious

and is the winner of The Big Allotment Challenge.

The first challenge, as always, is Grow,

which is Jim's chance to look at everything you've produced

and, because it's the final,

Jim wants you to present two specimens.

He wants a single cauliflower and ten cape gooseberries,

both of which must have been grown from seed.

Good luck and get picking.

I've chosen cauliflowers and cape gooseberries for the final.

They're two crops that are really difficult to produce

and you don't see many of them in the show benches

around the country, simply because they're so difficult.

Here's Jim's guide to growing the perfect cauliflower.

Start the seeds off in small pots using seed compost.

They'll grow quickly and will need potting on.

Put them in a cold frame, closing it at night,

and after a week's gone by,

your cauliflowers will be ready to be planted out.

Plant them deeply, about 60cm apart, and water well.

Cabbage white butterflies love to lay their eggs in cauliflowers.

Net them carefully or caterpillars could wipe out your crop.

Once the curds have started to develop,

use some leaves to cover them over.

Sunlight turns the curds yellow,

which is not what I want to see on my show bench.

17 weeks ago, the gardeners began to sow their cauliflower seeds.

My first cauliflower is called Graffiti.

It's a bright purple one.

So it's just something that's a bit different.

I have grown cauliflowers before.

One year I grew them and they were absolutely fantastic.

I have grown broccoli

but never cauliflower, so this is my first time.

Jo Jo grew up in Malaysia and didn't have a garden of her own

until she moved here four years ago.

When I first came over to the UK, our local supermarket

didn't have any bok choy at all.

It was definitely one of the main decisions around why I decided

to then start growing my own veg, and it turned out all right.

Rob's been gardening for 32 years

and has an old family trick, using nettles to encourage growth.

It's just something easy that my grandad used to do.

You just make a liquid that looks like cold tea.

It's good for anything that likes nitrogen,

so anything that's green and leafy like cauliflowers

or anything that just is green.

Lettuces, anything like that, it's really good for.

I'm not going to hide the fact I'm making nettle tea from people,

but I'm not going to go round advertising

that I'm making free food for my plants, no.

Now that the cauliflowers have been sown,

the gardeners turn their attention

to the second part of the Grow challenge, cape gooseberries.

So I've done my research on this cape gooseberry

and I've read that they love, like, really poor soil.

Native to Brazil, cape gooseberry is a small, round fruit

that is orange when ripe and encased in a brown husk.

Because they've got such a low germination rate,

I reckon I'm going to put five in that pot.

That's one pot.

I don't even know, you know, what the plant's going to look like.

I don't know what the fruit's going to end up like. Oh, God.

I'm literally just sowing some cape gooseberries.

I've never grown cape gooseberries before.

I've grown tomatillos before, which are very, very similar,

but they're a lot bigger.

Never, ever grown these cape gooseberries before.

It's a new thing for me.

My goodness me, they're flipping minute.

I won't need to put too much compost on top of these.

Now that the cauliflower plants are hardened off,

they are strong enough to be planted out.

I've put some of my chicken poo in the bottom.

Sandra has been gardening for over 30 years.

She lives on a smallholding with 80 chickens

and has her own floral cutting garden.

I think I listen to my gut instinct. I do listen.

I put myself in the position of the plants and think -

what do they need? Where are they growing?

You know, and try and think of it that way.

I think I should have a good chance. I'm hoping.

I can't see how I could let myself down but, you know,

there could be somebody there better than me,

it just all depends on the days.

Ten weeks to show day and gardeners are netting their cauliflowers

to deter the cabbage white butterfly from getting in and laying its eggs.

All you need it just one cluster of eggs and they can wipe out your crop

within a matter of days, you know. And that's the last thing you want.

So the netting is going to just kind of prevent them

from getting anywhere near my cauliflowers.

This is my nettle tea that's been fermenting for a few weeks.

So this is to...I'm going to water my cauliflowers with it.

My cauliflowers look really good and if they do win,

it's got to be down the nettle tea, hasn't it?

With the cauliflowers now protected, Jo Jo's thoughts

turn to her cape gooseberries.

They are not growing as well as they should be, I think,

cos they are probably constrained by their pots.

I just went to Sandra's greenhouse earlier

and looked at her cape gooseberries.

They've actually got fruit on them.

Got to just get cracking on these.

I haven't got a great deal of room for cape gooseberries

cos they grow so big, so I'm hoping I can fit them in the greenhouse.

A month to show day and Rob is checking

on his purple Graffiti cauliflower.

Look really good. Nothing's had a nibble on them.

Yeah, they all look really good.

On her plot, Jo Jo hasn't been quite so lucky.

Eurgh! There's one down there!

Just get off my cauliflower!

Obviously, my netting wasn't as secure as it could have been.

And it's a similar story for Sandra.

I've been looking at my caulis

and I notice there's some caterpillar poo on them.

Somebody's had a right party there.

No, we just hope that that gets a chance to dry out a little bit.

This is difficult, this growing blinking cauliflowers.

-SHE HISSES

-There's a culprit, just flew by.

Two weeks to show day and triple Grow winner Jo Jo

is struggling to get her cape gooseberries to ripen.

Some of the other gardeners have had lots of cape gooseberry lanterns

for probably a month at least.

You know, cos I remember thinking four weeks ago, you know,

when I saw Sandra's cape gooseberries I was thinking,

"Wow, mine are really far behind."

Well, they're not big.

The lanterns are big but, look, they're tiny inside.

Sandra's got some...I can't remember what they're called

but they taste of pineapple and they're really nice, really sweet.

So she's one to watch.

And that is golden, the way it's supposed to be.

In fact, I think I should have a bite of it.

That is lovely.

That is just like ones I've eaten before.

After 17 weeks of nurturing their cauliflowers and cape gooseberries,

it's finally show day.

It's a big cauliflower, isn't it? Bigger than my head.

I've got to beat Jo Jo in the Grow. She's won three out of five already.

It's a monster!

Do you know, I'd really love to win on the Grow challenge

because I haven't won one of those at all.

I'm going to get it back to my work station.

I'm up against Sandra and Rob who, everybody knows,

are the most competitive gardeners in this whole allotment.

There are two Best In Shows for the final Grow challenge

and now the cauliflowers and cape gooseberries have been picked,

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

Get out of my cauliflower!

As if the caterpillars weren't enough, got slugs and everything.

Right, that's it.

That's it. I'm going to wash it a bit.

Gardeners, that's it.

It's time to bring your cauliflowers

and your cape gooseberries to the show bench.

The cauliflower curds should be solid and unstained

and free from blemishes, disease and pest damage.

The ten cape gooseberries should be equally sized, unblemished

and should have pale brown husks which indicate ripeness.

When cut open, the berries should be golden all the way through.

We're going to start with the cauliflower first.

We want to see the curds, the individual florets,

tight and cylindrical, and so far so good.

The other thing we look at is the other way,

to see there's no staining on the stalk.

So far, so good.

But there's two more to go.

Right, now we're going to move on to the cape gooseberry.

The first thing is that they need to be browning.

That's a sure sign that they're ripening.

And when I just gently prise that apart,

well, I'm going to be brutally honest.

-I don't want to see that.

-Green.

That is green, it's just not matured.

But now the final test is to cut it down the middle...

..and, as we suspected, it's green right the way through.

I'm looking for the doming, which we've got.

I'm looking for even cut round here with the leaf,

to mirror the actual dome, which is fine.

The leaves themselves are very, very healthy.

One of the things that you need to do is to have tight curds.

If you don't have a tight curd, then these little leaf nodules

will start to creep through so unfortunately when you're looking

for the perfect show cauliflower, you don't want to see that.

Now we move on to the cape gooseberry.

That's what we're looking for.

A little golden gooseberry.

Let's do the final test. Perfect.

It's just ripe for putting in your mouth. Well done.

Look at that great big whopper!

What a cracking head that is.

And very interesting, the colour. Fantastic.

And the florets are lovely and close.

Let's have a look underneath.

And good, clean. No staining in there.

And what are we looking at? A perfect cauliflower.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Now, we move on to the cape gooseberry

and I have a feeling when we open her up...

Still green.

-I think we know what's going to happen. It's just not matured.

-Yep.

Judging over, it's now time for Jim

to award his final two Best In Shows.

The first one, the cauliflower.

I think it's fairly obvious. There is only one that stands out.

-Rob, well done.

-THEY CLAP

-Well done Rob, boy.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

So, now we move on to the cape gooseberry.

And again, rather like the cauliflower,

I'm afraid to say there's only one winner.

-Sandra, well done.

-THEY CLAP

Fantastic! I can't believe it!

I've won Best In Show for my cape gooseberries.

Best In Show for cauliflower

and cape gooseberries would have been amazing,

but I knew that wasn't going to happen

so I'm really pleased with the cauliflower.

I can't believe this week there were two Best In Show awards

and I've missed out on them both.

Only two rounds remain until the experts will decide

who will be crowned champion.

In this next challenge, gardeners will be judged

not only on how they grow flowers, but what they can make with them.

Gardeners, we're now on to your second challenge

which is, of course, Make.

Which is overseen, as always, by Jonathan, our floral expert.

This challenge tests your ability not only to grow flowers

but also how you arrange them.

And as this is the final, of course, we have a couple of surprises.

As you know, Jonathan has asked you to grow a perpetual carnation,

so he'd like you to present one stem of carnation in a vase,

alongside two other stems of flowers you have not exhibited before.

JO JO GASPS

The very big surprise is enormous.

Jonathan wants you to make a floral arch.

You have two hours to complete this challenge

and once you've gathered everything you need,

the clock will start as soon as you've got in to the greenhouse.

So good luck. Get picking.

JO JO WHINES

She's off!

I don't even know where to start with this.

A perpetual carnation produces one long, straight stem

and a large, big, bountiful head of flower.

In contrast, a border carnation or a pink are often multi-flowered,

smaller, shorter-stemmed, more bushier, much easier to grow.

Here's Jonathan's guide to growing perpetual carnations.

Buy young plants from specialist growers and plant them in small pots.

Keep them watered and for the best chance of success,

place them into the greenhouse.

Once the plants are 15cm in height, they need stopping.

This is done by nipping out the tips of each plant so that they can

then produce side shoots, to avoid only getting one flower.

When the roots have filled the pot, transplant into a bigger

five-litre container with some free-draining soil.

Carnations have long, thin stems

so it's vital you provide them with support.

A framework of canes around the plant will stop them from flopping over.

Whilst they're growing,

feed weekly with a balanced liquid fertiliser, like tomato food.

To grow a perpetual carnation is really difficult.

That's why it's so perfect for the final.

17 weeks ago, the gardeners' thoughts

turned to their young carnation plants.

This is my horti-folder - it's just full of horti-ness.

Full of just information and guides, how-tos, all kind of things

on all the specimen plants and different flowers and things.

It's quite useful.

The carnations that I'm growing are called Ann Franklin.

Just like these - yellow, creamy with, like, red on the edges.

They are more protected in the greenhouse

so I'm going to grow them indoors.

I only managed to get four of these perpetual carnations,

and then I have also got some other ones that are pinks.

I'm pretty sure there's a difference

between pinks and perpetual carnations.

I think they're a different type altogether.

These are carnations, they're perpetual flowering carnations.

If I let them grow, they'll just get one flower on each

and what I want to do is to cut it

so that they send some more shoots up and then eventually I can say,

"Right, it's a nice bushy plant now. I can let it grow."

And it'll grow some more flowers on.

I've grown carnations before in pots,

but I don't really grow them in the ground.

I've got one called a Moulin Rouge,

a pure white one called a Devon Dove,

pure pink one called Lily the Pink

and a scarlet red one called Lady in Red.

Just a week after stopping her carnations, Sandra,

who is known as the flower lady of the allotment,

has made a difficult decision.

I can't keep them in the greenhouse which, ideally,

I'd have liked to have done,

because the greenhouse is too warm for them.

It's essential for the greenhouse to be warm for the other things that

I've got in them, so they're having to come outside, unfortunately.

Not an expert flower arranger, but I think I have got a good eye

for colours and I understand about getting it right with the type

of leaf varieties that you want, you know,

that complement the bouquets and things so I understand that.

I think I understand that naturally.

I seem to have this aphid problem everywhere in the greenhouse

at the moment and I can see them all over my carnations,

which is not good.

Aphids don't like mint.

Because I haven't got enough mint plants,

I'm just going to see whether...you know, I don't know.

I've got these mint tea bags, which smell quite minty to me.

I'm making sort of a makeshift bush shelter for them -

it protects them from the rain.

And if there's going to be days when it's really bad,

I might try and make a shelter coming down the front as well.

These are to stop the flowers from blowing about in the wind.

I'm starting to keep things secret now.

I've got to start getting serious now.

Ten weeks to show day and disaster strikes for one of Jo Jo's

perpetual carnation plants.

Been growing these carnations in the greenhouse the whole while.

It's possible that I made a mistake with that

because it's been so hot

and, obviously, this carnation didn't like the temperatures

and has decided to give up and die.

Just under two months to go and Rob is deadheading his carnations.

If I left these flowers on, they'd go to seed

and the plant would put all its energy into making seed,

rather than producing new flowers.

So if you take the flowers off just as they're opening up,

then it puts into energy into the other flowers that are there

but will also throw up more.

So the more you deadhead, the more flowers you get.

Four weeks to show day and the gardeners are checking

on the progress of their perpetual carnations.

This is a very sturdy stem. That's a good stem, that is.

I just hope that if this is ready too early,

these are going to be flowering in time.

I found out that people who grow carnations for the show bench,

they grow something like 200 plants,

just to get the perfect carnations to win the first prize.

And here I am with two pots, barely three buds, you know?

I think my chances aren't great, to be honest!

Carnations need heat to help them flower,

so the gardeners are hoping Mother Nature will be on their side.

Rely on the weather now to be a beautiful, glorious week,

like we had the last few weeks.

I would be taking this top half off now

and get as much light to my little babies as possible.

But now, with the weather looking like this all the time,

it's so changeable, I just daren't leave them.

I'm trying to make a cloche for my carnations, just to try

and protect them from the weather.

THUNDERCLAP

I'm trying to get this made before the storm does arrive cos

otherwise, I think it might take off. Argh!

It works!

With one week until show day,

Jo Jo is still struggling to get her perpetual carnations to bloom.

If I just keep staring at it, any second now,

he's just going to burst open!

I've been saying that for, like, a week now.

I just really, really wish that it would just progress a little

quicker and then I would actually see this flower.

I feel the pressure.

After 17 weeks of hard work, it's time for the gardeners to

pick their perpetual carnations and two other flowers.

I'm asking them to present two other specimens in that vase.

It's what they select to work with that carnation that's going to catch my eye.

I've had people nipping at my ankles all the way through this

for the flower thing, you know.

I haven't managed to win them all, which is a bit annoying.

The one person that I haven't managed to impress is

Jonathan in the Make, so I've somehow got to really, you know,

push the boundaries today and make sure he gives me that award.

I'd like to think I can beat Jo Jo and Sandra.

I'm quite scared of Sandra and her flowers. She's the flower lady.

Which varieties are you growing here, Rob?

These ones are the pinks, on the front

and these perpetual ones are the dwarf mix.

-Dwarf mix? Sadly, these aren't perpetual.

-Ah!

-Oh, Rob. Don't worry.

-Just keep picking.

-Just keep picking.

There's nothing I can do, is there? I've got to pick everything else

and make sure I do the best at what I've got. At least I have a carnation to show,

just not the one that Jonathan wants!

As they head into the greenhouse for their final Make challenge,

Sandra and Rob are head-to-head, winning two each,

but Jo Jo is still yet to win a Make.

-It's bigger than me!

-Rob, it's solid.

Oh, my God!

Jonathan, have you got any last-minute

-words of advice for the gardeners?

-I have.

Gardeners, I'm looking for a symmetrical design that looks

visually balanced.

I want you to ensure that there's no visible mechanics left.

I really don't want to see any floral foam.

You have two hours, and the clock starts now.

Before starting to tackle their floral arches,

the gardeners select their three specimen flowers.

I've selected a scabious and a little pixie lupin

and my perpetual carnation.

I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

I haven't really got a clue where to start.

What the heck am I going to do now?

Oh, God! This is going to take forever.

With the flowers selected, they get to work on their arches

by attaching up to 20 floral shovels for the flowers to go into.

These are a multifunctional plastic florist's tool.

We use them for lots of different things.

Obviously decorating an arch is one of them.

Two down, 18 to go.

Well, first issue with this, remember, is stability.

They carry quite a lot of weight to them,

so the distribution of them is crucial.

Talk about fingers and thumbs!

I've got no experience of a floral arch whatsoever,

so I'm just trying to think how I can...

Do I want that there and things can flow down? Or do I want there?

If I have it there, it's going to be too low, isn't it?

Paddles secured, foliage is added to help create an even shape.

I'm trying to make it look sort of dreamy,

but it might look more like Stig of the Dump when I finish!

I have a series of mini plans

and then the grand plan will reveal itself when it does!

You go to a church, you see an arch, things sort of flow, don't they?

I don't want it to look static.

You're coming up for one hour, gardeners. One hour.

At this stage, I would have expected to see nearly all this arch greened

up, all this foliage worked into these frames, covering the mechanics.

Get a flippin' move on!

I've never made a floral arch before.

And I guarantee you this will be the last time I'm making a floral arch!

I just want to make sure it looks good. I'm in the final.

I can't...mess it up.

I wish I was a bit taller.

That would help, wouldn't it, if I was a bit taller?

Now, the gardeners begin to add flowers.

I think Sandra's already got flowers in, so I'm behind the flower lady!

The most important thing is the flowers,

at the end of the day, isn't it?

I've got to cover the foam, if it kills me.

They've all picked differently.

And if I look at Rob's selection, he's picked bespoke flowers,

he's picked the best. Sandra's really gone for it.

She's absolutely ransacked that plot, she's raided it.

But some of it's looking a little bit tired.

Jo Jo, I think, has adopted a bit of an approach of -

I'll get as much as I can, but without a thought process behind it.

Rob's at my heels. They're both at my heels, aren't they? Let's face it.

At the end of the day, whoever wins this flippin' deserves it, I tell you now!

Gardeners, you've got 30 minutes. Only 30 minutes left.

I almost forgot carnations have got to go in it!

So, better make sure there are carnations there, hadn't I?

Oh, my God! You can see the foam!

I need to just snip, put it in.

And you're getting a bunch together there, Rob.

I can see you're cutting down to one size. So they're all a standard size.

-Boomp, boomp, boomp...

-Yeah want to get those...

Yeah, rather than cut, do it again, come back, cut, do it again, come back.

Right.

You now, in this short space of time, need to ransack all that

and work it into here.

I've been told off by my schoolteacher.

So much for trying to create a masterpiece, eh?

Gardeners, three minutes. Three minutes left.

God! Hurry up! It's not time to panic right now.

Do not panic.

Where's my wire? Where's my wire?

Argh!

Gardeners, that's it. Time's up. Step away from your arches.

-That's it.

-Disappointed.

Rob, it was a tall order. Let's rub each other better.

Oh!

For the floral arch, Jonathan wants to see an arrangement that

looks good from all angles and is visually balanced.

There should be a selection of carnations on display

and no visible mechanics.

The specimen flowers should represent all

they have grown on their allotment.

The vase needs to include one perpetual carnation

and two flowers that have not been exhibited before.

-Big, bold dahlia. Le baron?

-Yeah.

Look at that colour! Quite sensational!

Really vibrant high summer colour there.

And then we move on to the rather delicate little scabious

and look how fresh that centre is there.

Really like a little pin cushion,

with all those little heads stabbing away there in the middle.

You very nearly brought me a perpetual carnation with some colour.

What you've actually brought me is a bud.

A few more days, it would have started to break,

so that's a good vase, but let's have a look at the arch.

The floral arch is atmospheric, it's moody, it's evocative,

it's summery and the amaranthus is the star performer.

And that's a really good attempt. Well done, you.

-Three interesting specimens.

-Yeah.

This pixie lupin's not previewed before, it's not been out.

I think I can understand why

because it's not a perfect specimen to present.

-It looks like it's trying to escape.

-Yeah.

Moving on to the scabious here, nice fresh specimen,

nice pronounced middle there, so a good strong profile to that flower.

I must commend you.

You have presented a perpetual carnation to the show bench.

We can see some visible petal damage here, where it's starting to

mature and age, but come on, let's go and look at the arch.

Now, one thing I did emphasise was I don't want to see any visible

mechanics.

Not looking bad on this side.

Can I have a peek on this side? Is that why you're guarding it, Sandra?

-No, you can't!

-SHE LAUGHS

Ooh!

A lot of floral foam visible there and then, if I move into this

middle, we've got another huge chunk mirrored on this side here.

These two big volumetric flowers like lilies...

Those two placed like that don't look good.

You need some repetition along here.

Beautiful sunflower.

That's a really good specimen.

And what I love about sunflowers is how those petals just

radiate around that centre. Moving on...to this wonderful cosmos.

That's a lovely thing to present to the show bench.

And then, we've got the border carnation. Sadly, not a perpetual.

Sometimes with gardening, we do get the wrong end of the stick

and you think you are growing the right thing but it wasn't.

Let's move on to the arch.

With an arch, we do view it from the front

and we want a nice crescendo of colour at the top.

And here we've got it. Those wonderful orbs of sunflowers.

I would have preferred to see a little bit more trailing material

linking these placements together and you've started to do some ivy

trails, which is starting to break up those rather solid heavy lumps.

I don't want to see visible floral foam. We've got a nice chunk here.

But it does make a statement and you've covered the vast

majority of the arch, so that's a really good attempt.

There is just one Best In Show up for grabs.

Jonathan will be taking into consideration both the floral

arch and the three specimen flowers.

Two people's have really caught my eye.

Jo Jo, you've created something that's very moody,

that's enticing me with the creative use of plant material and, Rob,

you've brought three good flowers in the vase

and you've used flowers throughout the arch.

After all, my challenge is about growing flowers

and then using those flowers creatively.

And that is why, Rob, you are my Best In Show.

APPLAUSE Well done, you.

Congratulations, Rob. And well done all of you.

Tomorrow, you face Thane in her Eat challenge.

After which, the experts will decide which one of you will be

crowned the winner of this year's Big Allotment Challenge.

You've had a long day. You need to get some sleep.

We'll see you back here early in the morning. Off you go. Good night.

-Good night.

-Good night.

I can't believe I've won Best In Show!

The fact that he had some praise today and the fact that

I managed to cover the floral foam, I was really happy about.

I do feel cheated.

I hope tomorrow I'll have a better day,

otherwise Rob will be winning, won't he?

I don't want that to happen.

It's the last day of the competition and before Jo Jo, Rob

and Sandra face Thane in the Eat challenge,

Grow expert Jim takes one last look around their allotments.

-So this is Sandra's plot, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Certainly Sandra's really come to the fore with the flowers.

You've just got to look around, the amount of colour,

the range of plants she's got, she loves her flowers.

She's called the flower lady because she's so good at them.

I came into this competition wanting to win it

and I do want to win, I've said it all along.

-Here we are on Rob's plot.

-Yes.

-He never grows the obvious.

He's very thorough, he does a lot of research

and he'd done a lot of homework before he ever got here - how

he was going to plan the plot out.

No, he's another very worthy finalist.

I can't believe I'm in the final, still.

And I can't believe it's now the final challenge,

all this hard work that I've put in. It's down to this now, isn't it?

Here we are. This is Jo Jo's plot. Look, here.

-Ah, this is the Jo Jo Bible.

-I've had a look in here.

For instance - growing for show. Potato cultivation.

Exactly, chitting them, the compost mix, and what did she do? Won it!

I can hardly believe that I am in the final three people.

The only thing standing between me

and winning the prize are...well, Rob and Sandra, really.

-All in all, we've got three cracking finalists.

-Absolutely.

They all deserve to be there.

-Good morning, gardeners.

-Morning.

It's time for your final challenge - Eat.

And, of course, this is your last chance to impress the experts before

they decide which of you

is the Big Allotment Challenge champion.

For the Eat challenge, Thane would like you to present to her

confectionery, canapes and cocktails.

Now, one of your recipes must contain the variety

of cape gooseberries or cauliflower that you presented to Jim,

yesterday, in the Grow challenge.

You have two and a half hours for the challenge

and your time will start, as usual,

when you arrive in the greenhouse with all your produce.

Best of luck. Go and start your collecting.

This final challenge gives the gardeners a chance to impress

by using all the produce they've grown on their allotments.

Look at me taties! I'm in the final and look at the potatoes -

-they're fantastic.

-It's more of a personal thing for me.

For six weeks, I've been trying to crack Thane and I've not been

able to do it, so that's my plan, today - just crack Thane.

It's the final challenge of the whole competition.

My goodness, we're finally here.

I've got to do a really good job, today.

Canapes, cocktails and confectioneries

is the perfect challenge for the final.

It tests an enormous range of skills.

It gives the gardeners great scope to use their produce,

and they can amaze and excite me.

Ingredients picked for the last time,

the gardeners head into the greenhouse.

Sandra and Jo Jo each have won a Best In Show for this challenge,

but Rob is yet to impress Thane.

Gardeners, it is now time

for the final challenge.

You have two and a half hours.

Your time starts now.

Today, the gardeners must present 12 canapes

and pieces of confectionery, and four glasses of their cocktails.

They start by preparing their confectionery.

I'm making my confectioneries, which are called cape roses.

They're little, like, gummies, in the shape of roses,

but they've got cape gooseberries inside.

I'm weighing some berries and everything out that are going in,

to make a syrup and, then, the syrup is set with gelatine.

I'm making my challenge bon-bons,

which are cape gooseberries with coconut.

You have to make, like, a jammy syrup type of stuff

to bind the coconut together.

I've decided to use the lavender from my allotment

to go into the confectionery.

It's actually a lavender and sunflower seed brittle.

Depending on how much syrup I get, I need between eight and ten leaves of

gelatine, so I'm just putting them in to soak

in some cold water now.

When you're using gelatine, you have to be exact.

You've got to soak it for exactly the right amount of time

for it to make sure it's completely dissolved in water,

the liquid, and you've got to make sure you've got the right amount.

Too soft and they won't be gummy bits,

I won't be able to pick them up.

-What are you doing?

-This is the gelatine, yeah, this slimy gelatine.

So, you used the sheets of it?

Yeah, the sheets and I have to squeeze out the excess water.

I know we're under pressure, but I can't let it boil

because it won't set properly.

I've never made my own jelly sweets,

so I'm really looking forward to this.

What I'm doing first is melting the sugar into the cape gooseberries

before I bring it to boil.

The cape gooseberry jam mixture

will make up the centre of Sandra's bon-bons.

Once I've made this, this has to cool. That's the thing.

Jo Jo's lavender and sunflower seed brittle

is bound together by caramel.

I'm using both granulated sugar and light brown sugar.

And that's going in.

As I'm doing this, I just really want to make sure that I watch

the temperature of this, as it's really important to get it right.

Caramel can catch and burn within seconds. Jo Jo needs to keep

a very close eye on it.

The only thing burning's going to be my desire

to win the competition, but, anyway.

Hey, Jo Jo. Why is this slow melting going on?

Well, because the sugar has to dissolve completely

before Jo Jo turns the temperature up, or

the caramel will be not that...crack, it'll be crystallised.

Ah.

Sandra adds her cool jam mixture to the coconut.

Consistency is key. If too much jam is added,

it won't bind properly.

She's wrapping her cape gooseberry jam balls in fondant icing.

I'm just going to test this, see if it works. Let's see.

What I've done is I've put quite a lot of the cape gooseberry mixture

into...

..my coconut and it's too wet,

and it's stopping the jam from binding it.

So I'm going to remake a bit of the mixture.

That's better. See how better than is? Right.

Rob is now on to the final stage of his confectionery, pouring

the syrup into moulds and adding the cape gooseberry centre.

I knew this would take the longest, and they need to go in the fridge.

They need to set - they need to set hard.

So this is why this was the priority.

Yeah, it's quite a tricky operation to get them in the bloody moulds,

without giving yourself third degree burns.

It's just one of those things where you have to get them in really

quickly, and I have practised.

And I think I also practised it with slightly less sunflower seeds.

I'm just going to put them aside and let them cool down.

Gardeners, would you believe, an hour has gone.

An hour and a half to go.

The next job is to make the canapes.

Rob is using his prize-winning purple cauliflower.

My canape is a white gazpacho, which is

a chilled soup and it's got almonds and my cauliflowers in,

and I know it's purple cauliflower, but once it cooks, it loses

the colour so it goes white, so it should all be white.

The canape I'm making, today, is called Summer Harvest On A Spoon,

so it's basically a harvest of vegetables

from my allotment, and it's all going to be on the spoon.

I am just putting together my dressing.

It's really a little bit of a Vietnamese-inspired

style of salad dressing, so it has fish sauce in it.

For her canapes, Sandra is making vegetable fritters.

In my fritters, I'm putting potato, courgette,

a bit of pattypan squash,

and a little bit of this green cauliflower floret,

and shallots.

It's just a nice simple little bite to eat, you know,

rather than a complicated canape.

Over at his bench, Rob's having a spot of bother with the

purple cauliflower he wants to use in his white gazpacho.

At the minute, this looks like something you'd

cook for Halloween, a nice blue soup.

You wouldn't believe there's no food colouring in that at all.

I thought something like that may happen, so I boiled

the white cauliflower off my allotment as well.

I've just added the salt and, once the sherry vinegar goes in,

I'll give it a little taste before the olive oil goes in,

just to make sure it's seasoned right.

Because it's cold, you've got to make sure the seasoning's good on it

because it won't hide anything.

We haven't got much time to go, so I'm just trying to hurry it up now.

I'm never like this at home -

I just bung it in, but this is a show bench.

Got to make sure that it's...

really, really good.

I think Rob's got the right idea, in terms of presenting the canape,

because that looks more like a canape than this does, you know.

Gardeners, you've got 15 minutes left.

With the canapes and confectionery underway,

the gardeners move on to their cocktails.

Right cocktail, cocktail, cocktail. Let's go, let's go.

This is my berry blush cocktail,

which is vodka, orange liqueur

and black cherry liqueur.

I'm making cape gooseberry Bellinis.

I've got to strain out the seeds

because there's quite a lot of seeds in these cape gooseberries.

SHE YELPS

Sorry! Sorry, sorry.

That's interesting - it didn't go like that at home.

God, it looks horrible! Oh, my God.

Look at my glass, it's just a mess.

Sandra is making a mint chocolate mojito,

with chocolate-flavoured mint grown on her allotment.

Now, I don't want...

to overdo the chocolate mint,

I just want to put a bit in to taste it.

One minute! One minute left.

Gardeners, that's it!

Sandra, you have completed...

..your final challenge. You can do no more.

One, two, three.

To be awarded Best in Show, Thane is looking for the gardener who

uses the produce grown from their allotment most imaginatively,

to create memorable party food.

First to be judged is Sandra.

Tell me about your canape, Sandra. What's in it?

Well, it's a potato and a vegetable fritter.

Very nice. Nicely fried on both sides.

I like that. It's cooked on the bottom and on the top.

I would have preferred a little more salt and pepper in there,

or a little more seasoning,

and I think you would have had something pretty good.

So, Sandra, your cocktail, what's it called?

It's a mint choc mojito.

There doesn't look to be any chocolate in this.

No, it's the mint that I grow that tastes of chocolate.

The chocolate hits afterwards.

It is quite sharp. The blitzed mint leaves do rather get in the way.

They sort of coat your tongue a little bit.

It's just not quite there, but it's a very good attempt.

-OK.

-Now your confectionery.

Those, Thane, are my challenge bon-bons.

-I don't think I can taste the cape gooseberry.

-No!

Because it's very sweet

and the coconut's got quite a good flavour, too.

A very pleasant confectionery, but not one, I'm afraid, that's

recognisable as being cape gooseberry.

Next up, it's Rob.

-They look lovely.

-Thank you.

Very, very visually pleasing. So, well done on that.

I want to start with your canape.

White gazpacho is a very traditional dish that uses almonds

and breadcrumbs, and yours has all those things in.

It's a little bland.

-OK.

-Cauliflower's a very bland vegetable.

We've got cucumber - not a lot of flavour.

Bread - almost no flavour.

Almonds - again, very light in flavour.

We needed a stronger hit of flavours.

Tell me about your cocktail.

My cocktail is called Basil Berry Blush.

This is a very beautiful colour and smells wonderfully fruity.

The lovely thing about fresh strawberries is

they have such a magnificent aroma.

Yes, that's lovely.

Very nice indeed. It has a good round flavour.

I can taste the berries.

Now, on to your confectionery. This is all about getting the gelatine

right and the syrup right, isn't it?

It should have the consistency of a gummy sweet. Right.

The consistency's right. They are firm but not too chewy.

I like the little hint of cape gooseberry in the middle.

My one thought is that while they're very, very pretty,

they're not quite big enough.

Finally, it's Jo Jo's turn to be judged.

Jo Jo, tell me about your canape.

It's called Summer Harvest On A Spoon.

That's very good. It's got a lovely Vietnamese kick. I mean those

lovely flavours that you associate with Far Eastern salads.

Now, this is a Bellini made from cape gooseberries.

Looks very nice, very attractive colour.

It's very good. The mixture of cape gooseberry and prosecco works very

well. You haven't over-sweetened it, which can be a bother.

Now, your confectionery and these lollipops are very visually pleasing,

and I don't know when I last had a lollipop.

So, do I lick or do I bite? That's the question.

Very good texture. The lavender works well - it's not too heavy,

too strong, because sometimes it can be a bit antiseptic-tasting.

That's a very good piece of confectionery, Jo Jo.

Very good, indeed.

Now Thane has tasted all the produce,

she must decide who will win Best In Show.

Before I award my Best In Show,

I want to say - what a brilliant display.

And what a wonderful use of all that produce you've been growing,

and my Best In Show, today,

goes for that amazing salad.

-Jo Jo.

-Jo Jo!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done. Well done. Very good.

Congratulations, Jo Jo.

So Jo Jo won the very last Best In Show of the competition.

You have all worked exceptionally hard,

for months on end,

and now all Jim and Jonathan and Thane have to do

is decide which of you will be

the Big Allotment Challenge champion.

Would you please all go back to your allotments while they decide?

Winning this competition would mean the world to me,

because it would prove to me that I actually managed to do this,

single-handedly, you know,

on my own accord.

Be over the moon. It would mean the world to me.

But all three of us deserve to win,

but there can only be one winner, and hopefully it's going to be me.

If I won this, it would mean...it'd mean a heck of a lot to me.

It'd be fantastic. It would be, probably,

one of the best things that's ever happened to me, to win this.

Well, you three are judge and jury.

You've got to decide not only

what's happened over the last two days, but how well Rob

and Jo Jo and Sandra have performed over the entire six weeks.

Jim, who's done the best for you?

Well, that's fairly easy - it's Jo Jo. She's won three Grows.

She was really close yesterday with that cauliflower.

She really does try with her vegetables.

She does, and I agree she tries with the flowers,

but sadly she's never won a Make challenge for me.

Her flavours are amazing and they've been consistently good.

She's a clever cook.

Uses interesting ingredients,

isn't frightened of pushing the boat out quite a way.

Rob produced stuff that looked incredible.

The cauliflower yesterday that Rob produced was absolutely...

what a time to produce one like that.

Absolutely stunning.

But he's never won an Eat challenge for me.

I thought it was close, today. It looks beautiful,

and meticulous attention to detail,

that's just bland.

But he's been consistently good for me, Thane.

Each week, he always brings something so creative.

He's a creative person.

Jonathan, what about Sandra for you?

Sandra's a fabulous flower grower. She grows brilliant flowers.

They're all there on her allotment,

and she has won a Make challenge twice. Timing's her issue.

Now, funnily enough, timing for me is good.

And, in fact, she's won at least one of each of our challenges,

so she is a good all-rounder,

but what I feel about Sandra is she hasn't really come on. I was hoping

she'd develop and I was hoping, on the cooking, especially, that she

would improve week on week, and in fact her best week was week two.

-But she's an all-rounder.

-Yes.

I'm going to move away while you make this decision.

Gardeners, well done.

To share in your success, we have a little surprise for you.

It's the old gardeners and their finalists' friends and family.

My money is on Rob. I think he's a terrific gardener.

He's been strong all the way through.

There's no doubt about it, Jo Jo put the work in

and it really has paid off.

It's got her to where she is now in the final.

I mean, I think Sandra's got a good chance to win it,

but then they have all got good qualities in different areas,

so I wouldn't want to be one of the judges.

Our experts have thought long and hard about this.

It's a very difficult decision.

But I can now reveal that the winner

of the Big Allotment Challenge 2015

is...

..Rob!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done! Very well done.

It's been a really, truly amazing experience.

One that I will probably, you know, never have again,

and I'll really cherish this garden. I'll miss it.

I would have liked to have won.

Of course I'd have liked to have won,

but Rob's won so, hey, here's to Rob!

It's been amazing all the way through

and winning's just been like the icing on the cake.

It's crazy. It's like nothing else.

You couldn't pay for this experience.

The Big Allotment Challenge winner, 2015.

That's coming home and that won't be used.