Top producers

GRANT COUNTY — The best fruits and vegetables are not uniform when placed side-by-side.

To be considered the best, produce must be of a certain shape, size, color and maturity. Insect damage, dirt and blemishes must be at a minimum and roots and stems should be trimmed, too.

The Washington State University Extension Master Gardener Program judges placed ribbons next to the best entries of fruits, vegetables and other edibles at the Grant County Fair Tuesday.

Entries were submitted Monday and judged in a three-hour period the same day.

It’s not always the typical varieties being entered, either.

“There’s a lot of new things coming in all the time,” said co-superintendent and judge Dolores Hunt.

Hunt said the first time she saw flat-shaped peaches was at the Grant County Fair. Hunt noted a purple hybrid of carrots were entered in the fair this year. They are also rainbow carrots, she said.

Judge and master gardener Jean Anderson held up a dish with tiny red current tomatoes submitted by Shelley Robillard. Anderson said even though the tomatoes were small, the entry received a blue ribbon.

“It doesn’t matter the size,” she said. “It’s perfection.”

The number of entries submitted to the contest is growing each year. In 2006, 469 entries were turned in, Hunt said. The number increased to 577 entries in 2007, and 662 entries this year.

Master Gardener Program Coordinator Erik Lampi, who helped judge youth entries, spoke well of the entries.

“We’ve got some really nice stuff this year,” Lampi said.

He indicated to a set of gourds similar in size, entered in the youth category.

“You will never find three identical gourds in your garden,” he commented.

Lampi, a former teacher for the Grand Coulee Dam School District, said his degree is in botany. He said the change from teaching in school to coordinating for the master gardener program worked out well. As coordinator the past two years, Lampi still gets to teach — except to an audience of adults.

He used a bushel of fragrant rosemary to illustrate the importance of smell to a gardener.

“This is why we garden,” Lampi said.

The purple carrots entered in the competition are a comeback of the original carrot color, now grown as a novelty, Lampi said.

“When carrots were first cultivated as a food, they were purple,” he said.

The quality of entries was apparent by the fact that judges did not award any white ribbons, the lowest place, Lampi said.

“Everything was red or blue, so that was nice,” he said.

Lampi said the Washington State University Extension Master Gardener Program offers the competition, a booth with gardening tips, and scheduled presentations.

Presentations are in the domestic pets building and include “Water-wise Gardening” Thursday at 7 p.m., led by Mary Shinn.

Friday’s presentations are “Lawn Care” at 11 a.m., led by Deborah Moore and “What is an Insect and Beneficial Insects” at 7 p.m., led by Ruth Hardison. On Saturday Hardison again presents “What is an Insect and Beneficial Insects” at 11 a.m., and Sharon Villarreal presents “Composting” at 7 p.m.