Champion Collection of Vegetables

The 2016 local show was a chance to showcase our produce. Plates of apples, pears and berries were in the fruit section. Tomatoes of all colours and varieties, pumpkins, squashes, beets, onions, marrows and lots of others were in the vegetable section. Brown and white eggs and potatoes have their own parts of the Dairy section.

 

The most valuable award is the 'Champion Collection of Vegetables' - six distinct varieties, two of each. I entered capsicum, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini and squash. The advantage of gardening at a lower altitude than most entrants gave me the edge and the award was won.

 

 

This year I also won the 'Collection of Apples', the overall winner of the fruit and the vegetable sections and between three of the kids they won a junior section and the encouragement award.

One daughter won prize money in the Junior Cattle and Junior Grain competitions. Two came home with show girl sashes and two won events in the horse events. 

 

Plenty of smiles, prize money and an endorsement of the lifestyle of being homesteaders.  

Preparing for the Show

In 2015 I first entered the local show. This involved learning a whole new language and protocols of how to present and what is meant by terms such as 'Winter Squash'  or 'Dessert plums'. The kids entered large and unusual vegetables.

We came away with plenty of awards including 'Champion Vegetable Exhibit' and 'Most Prolific Vegetable Exhibitor'. It was very gratifying so this year we were more prepared.

 

 

A day was spent collecting the best looking fruit and vegetables.

 

The biggest pumpkins and marrows were labelled.

 

Other items such as jam and preserved peaches were prepared to enter other sections. Then two car loads of produce, art work and cooking was delivered to the Show hall. The weather was unseasonally hot so the butter icing melted and the silverbeet wilted in the tin-clad Hall.

All that was needed was the judging.

 

Autumn Processing

A friend gave us a bag of plums. We have heaps of apples. Time for some preserving.

1. The plums were washed and the stones removed.
2. The apples were peeled and cored.
3. These were put into a large pot with a small amount of water and a couple of tablespoons of sugar.
4. Once the fruit was soft a stick processor was used to mush the fruit up.
5. The mixture was poured into Vacola jars and lids fitted.
6. The bottles were slowly heated up to 85 degrees Celsius (180 F) taking 45 mins to reach it.
7. This temperature was maintained for one hour.
8. Once cool the bottles were removed from the water and placed in a cool place.
9. One winter night we get to eat some tasty fruit.

Roadside Haul

A hour to spare while my daughter is doing her dance lessons. Three roadside trees about five kms out of town laden with fruit. Three empty boxes waiting for a purpose. A recipe for a productive haul of apples.
There were plenty of damaged and partially eaten apples on the ground where the parrots and cockatoos had dropped them but the fruit on the trees that was within reach was plenty. The first tree had plenty of marks on the skins, maybe a product of weather damage or blemishes in the growing period. The second tree had bigger fruit and was probably a Golden Delicious. The third was the most productive and the fruit was so ripe and unmarked that fussy children who usually object to 'homegrown' fruit eagerly ask for them to go in their lunchbox.
We have found that roadside apples make for good cider. This haul will form the base for this year's brew.