This year’s Potato Growing Challenge will run from 15 March to 12 July, giving you just short of four months to produce a winning crop! A massive thank you to our friends at the Abergavenny Garden Centre for continuing to sponsor the challenge.

We’ll have two classes as usual – Children (aged up to 16) and Adults (16+), with Garden Centre vouchers awarded to the top two heaviest harvests in each class as follows:

ADULTS

• 1st prize: £20 voucher

• 2nd prize: £15 voucher

CHILDREN

• 1st prize: £10 voucher

• 2nd prize: £5 voucher

Our potato growing kits (1 x 10L pot, 1 x Charlotte seed potato and growing instructions) cost £5 each and will be available from Class Assistant Allen Cleveland. Or you can buy direct from our stall at the Abergavenny Garden Centre on the weekends of 15-16 March and 22-23 March.

How you grow the potatoes is entirely up to you: you can use compost or soil, add your choice of fertiliser and choose to grow outside or under cover. Just make sure you use the supplied pot and potato, and just one potato per pot!

The weigh-in will take place at the Garden Centre on Saturday 12 July from 2pm, when your pots will be emptied and the winning harvests revealed. Here’s hoping for a warm start to spring, and plenty of sunny weather to get those spuds growing!

Challenge Rules and additional information

1. You must use the kit supplied to grow your potato – ie 1 x Charlotte seed potato and 1 x 10L pot, as supplied by the Abergavenny Garden Centre.

2. You can buy multiple kits, but you can only plant 1 x seed potato per pot.

3. You can fill your pot with any compost or soil and add any kind of mulch, manure, fertiliser etc.

4. The Children’s Class is open to all children aged up to 16 years old. The Adults’ Class is open to anyone aged 16 and over.

5. The Grand Reveal and Weigh-In will take place on Saturday 12 July from 3pm. Please cut off all stems and leaves before you leave home, but leave the soil/compost undisturbed in the pot.

6. Make sure your pot is clearly labelled with your full name and the class you are entering (Adults or Children).

7. We’ll empty out your pot, weigh the potatoes and record the results, with prizes awarded to the top two heaviest harvests in each Class.

8. The 4 x prizes will be awarded as Garden Centre vouchers as follows:

Children

1st prize: £10 voucher

2nd prize: £5 voucher

Adults

1st prize: £20 voucher

2nd prize: £15 voucher

9. The judges decision is final, and vouchers cannot be swapped for cash.

10. Please take your containers and potatoes home after the prize giving.