Saturday, August 19, 2006

Come to the Fair

Thursday the agricultural fair began.  I find it is for me a day like Election Day or Thanksgiving …  a day when the priority is voting, or preparing and eating a turkey, or in the case of the Fair preparing vegetables, delivering them and finally seeing how others judge what you have done.  

I am pleased to report that my leeks and my garlic were judged of blue ribbon quality.  I submitted a new stiff necked variety of garlic called “Pskem” that I purchased from Filaree Farm last year.  It was not the largest among the competitors but it was a clean, tight, colorful (purple stripe) specimen.  I agonized over the leeks, but the two I chose to submit seemed to impress the judges.  

The Fair is a great time to check in with other gardeners.  “I had trouble with crows, too this year!”  “I secure my deer netting with a cork over a nail at the top of my post.”  

This is high summer.  There is something timeless in these days as first the goats and then the vegetables and then the poultry and then the other livestock all pass before the judges.  It feels like the whole world is holding its breath before the final exhalation of summer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Leslie! Everything looks beautiful. The fair must be an incredible experience. High summer, I like that expression...

Liz said...

Those are some *gorgeous* leeks! Congrats on the ribbons. :)
Our fair isn't until the equinox so I still have time to decide what to enter. The fair is really *the* event of the year for me.

Bob said...

Awesome Leeks. Very well done! I am impressed.

I am preparing my Jerky submissions this week for the Virginia State Fair in late September.

Bob Lamons