Thursday, August 18, 2016

Update: How Does Your Garden Grow? : All Is Fair in Homecraft and Horticulture

We have been enjoying the fruits of our labour from our community garden plot for many weeks now. This weekend, the gardening experience culminated in our trip to the fair. The children each chose a vegetable to enter in the horticulture category for their age group. They were so excited to pick vegetables that they planted as seeds, watered, weeded and cared for all summer. My son chose his beets while my daughter chose her carrots. Then we gathered up all of the crafts and works of art that they have been working on this summer, and headed to the fair. This has been a family tradition for years.



I have fond memories of entering projects in the fair when I was a child. It gave me something to do all summer and I must admit I was motivated by the extra spending money. I thought it would be a fun tradition to pass on to my children. They have been both entering projects in the fair since they were old enough to finger paint. I get in on the fun too, and usually enter some photography, crafts or baking. This year I couldn't bear to turn on the oven, so I entered photography and some artwork as well: a page from an advanced colouring book, a hand-crafted bookmark and a watercolour painting.

We always enjoy going back to the fair on Sunday to see all of the displays. I was surprised and a more than a little excited to see that my watercolour painting came in second place! Then came the realization that mine was the only entry in that category. I'm still feeling pretty good about it though--I mean, I could have come in third, or not even placed at all. Right?

The big moment though, was seeing how the children fared with their homegrown veggies. Since they were competing against each other in the "3 vegetables not already mentioned" category, they were very pleased to discover that the carrots placed first and the beets were second. They were happy to receive their ribbons from all their various projects, as well as envelopes with their prize money. We ended the night with the demolition derby and homemade taffy. There were flips and flames and all kinds of drama. Thankfully no one was hurt. It was quite a show. 



The only thing I don't like about the fair is that it is a sign that the summer will soon be coming to an end. But we have tried new things and acquired new skills, we have seeds from the garden to plant next year and we have next year's Prize Book. Maybe we'll get started now. Summer 2017 here we come!

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