UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

458 Highway 98 North

Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578

Phone: (863) 763-6469

E- mail: okeechobee@ufl.edu  

March 15, 2010

 

Feature Article - for release the week of March 17, 2010

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

See Green at the Fair

Tucked away in a corner of the Okeechobee County Fair Entrance tent are several classes of exhibits.  They represent the hard work of a dedicated group of local residents that are showing off their talents in a number of creative areas.

I’ve been honored to assist with the horticulture exhibits at the Fair.  The number of exhibits has started to “grow”, and the quality has improved over the past four years.  Master Gardener Fran Everly and I served as judges for the ornamental horticulture exhibits, while I sloshed through the exhibit tent to evaluate the vegetable entries at this year’s fair.

Today’s column announces these winners, and I’ve placed a few photos on-line.   If you haven’t been to the fair yet, please go, as some of these items will be removed when they are too faded to show off.

Horticulture Classes

In the Succulent class, youth exhibitor Andrew King took top honors with a Jade Plant. The first place adult exhibitor in the succulent class was David Hench for his Kalanchoe, which was in full bloom.  Next year, we hope to see some entries in the separate cactus class.  

Among the Bromeliads this year, a second place award in the youth division went to Andrew King for his Pineapple cutting.  The Flowering Plant class award winner in the adult division was earned by David Hench for his geranium plant.   

Foliage Plants - Youth exhibitor Andrew King showed off a ginger plant in this class.  Adult Foliage class winner was David Hench for a Dwarf snake plant, while second place honors in this class went to a Pothos plant grown by Larry Trent. 

 

 

Orchids - We received a youth orchid entry this year that at first threw us for a loop. (At first I thought it was not an orchid at all, but local grower Jesse Hoffner assured me that it is an orchid. Andrew King submitted a Jewel Orchid, Ludisisa discolor, grown more for its attractive pink and green foliage.  Adult Division winner was Barbara Hench’s Vanda, and second place winner was David Hench’s Oncidium.

Last year we had many exhibitors that brought in various vegetable plants, so a new class was created for vegetable transplants and seedlings. Shelby Sumner presented a beautiful cherry tomato plant, complete with tomatoes. Second place was John Allen’s Swiss chard plant. Third place was Chance Dean’s cabbage transplant, while Andrew King came in fourth with a radish seedling. In the lone adult division entry Jill Allen earned top placing for her lettuce plants.

Some exhibitors had created mini-gardens in containers that could not be judged as individual specimen plants, so we appealed to the Exhibit committee that allowed us to create a new class, Container Gardening.  There were two youth  entered that fit this mold: David Daniel created a Herb Garden and took first place, and second place honors went to Gavin Driggers for his Cucumber box. The judges were presented with one additional entry that could not be placed in any other category, so we laid it out on a table as a horticultural demonstration class.  Allison Murphy – brought in a series of Avocados that have been grown from seed, and her series of containers demonstrates how this is done.  Go take a look at this unique exhibit and its first place award.

Vegetable Classes

To say the least, vegetable growing has been a real challenge this year, with many excellent garden products never making it to the fair because of our prolonged cold temperatures.

The first class of vegetable exhibits is the garden basket, where exhibitors choose five different kinds of produce from their garden and arrange it into an attractive display for the Fair. Youth exhibitor John Allen took top honors with onions and various greens from his garden. Adult Division winner in this contest was Carrie Muldoon who had a variety of onions, potatoes tomatoes and various greens beautifully arrange in a traditional basket. Second Place adult basket winner was Jesse Hofner, and third place honors went to Jill Allen.  

A second competition was the produce plate, where three or more specimens of the same product are entered. Three youth entries battled it out for top honors this year. John Allen took first place with his Swiss chard entry, Hannah Woods came very close behind with her leaf lettuce, and third place honors went to Andrew King for his radishes. Jill Allen was the top adult produce plate winner this year with her lettuce. Howard Bowyer submitted a bunch of snap and pole beans, good for second place this year.

A third class is one of my favorites – the largest vegetable competition. In this event, growers submit the largest kind of vegetable they have in their garden, and a multiplier is applied to the ounces of the product so smaller products may compete on par with bigger produce. The winners stay on a list of the county’s biggest vegetables, which is updated each year and can be found on-line.

The largest Youth vegetable entry came from John Allen, who grew a 1 pound onion, good for 28.8 pts . Second place big youth vegetable came from Hanna Woods, who entered a 6 oz radish, earning 10.2 pts. Third place came from a 2 oz radish grown by Andrew King, good for 3.4 pts. In the Adult division, Jesse Hoffner entered a radish (25 ozs, cv: Minowise) which earned 42.5 pts and took blue ribbon status. His entry is the second largest all-time entry at the Okeechobee Fair. Coming in second was Jill Allen’s elephant garlic, with 24.8 pts. for her 8 oz. entry. Third place adult entry came from Howard Bower’s 25 oz. cabbage, good for 7.5 pts. See Ya at the Fair! The quality and creativity of these exhibits has improved over these three years of the Fair, however, what is missing is YOUR entry. I have heard many comments such as “mine is bigger,” or “I have a nicer one of those in my garden”, but unless you enter it, you will not win.  Contact our office if you need more advice on growing bigger vegetables or prettier ornamentals.

Be sure to visit the fair – there are lots of fun things to see and do. The Youth Livestock show ratchets up into full gear this week, and will end with the traditional livestock sale of 4-H & FFA livestock on Saturday at 2 pm. 

If you are hungry and want to help the Okeechobee Farm Bureau support their Young Farmers and Rancher’s program, why not buy an advance ticket from a 4-H’er or FFA member. It promises to be one of the best barbecues of the year, Saturday March 20^th, 1-5 pm at the Agri-Civic Center.

I’ve placed more information on our Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.  If you need additional information on horticulture or the Fair, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 3 PM on Tuesday afternoons.  Go Gators!

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