It's more than a hobby, it's food

MOSES LAKE - Green cauliflower, a 19-pound cabbage and two-foot long zucchinis were some of vegetables on display at the Grant County Fair.

Jean Anderson, the building superintendent and a master gardener, pointed out the green cauliflower grown by Karin Ausley, which won the best in show award in the adult competition. The same grower also brought in a purple cauliflower variety.

"It looks almost like ... something that should be growing in outer space or growing in the sea," she said about the green cauliflower.

The various fruits and vegetables entered into the fair were grown in people's yards, she said. They are judged against what it would look like ideally. To illustrate she pointed out two sets of string beans. The first place prize winners were straighter than their second place counterpart.

"You're looking at just the exhibit," she said. "(You're looking at) uniformity, freshness, no insect damage or anything like that. You're just looking for really good specimens."

People started bringing in the exhibits on Monday, she said; adding they received a lot from adults, but fewer youth entries this year.

"The quality is good. I was a little worried because of the weather," she said. "A lot of stuff is still green, a lot of the tomatoes are still green, some are ripe ... but the weather held us up by at least three weeks."

Several people return to enter the contests year after year, Anderson said. They have started a new prize aimed at attracting people who haven't entered before.

"That's donated by the Moses Lake Farmers Market. It's a $50 prize for the best new youth exhibitor and best new adult (exhibitor,) and that's helped," she said.

A table filled with the largest exhibits sits near the back of the building. The display includes two-foot long zucchinis, a 19.4 pound cabbage and several large pumpkins.

"The zucchinis are always big. They grow despite us," she said. "One year we had a (pumpkin) that was about as tall as (the table.) It was pretty and it was also the biggest."

Anderson didn't know how they made the vegetables grow as big as they did, she said.

Next to the largest vegetable display, jars of wheat sit on a table. The samples are part of the Wheat King competition. The entrants were competing for a $500 prize sponsored by the Washington State Crop Improvement Association. Anderson said a grain expert judges the entries.

The goal is to have the association certify the grower. She pointed out one sample where the judge said it was really good, but it wasn't certified.

"This $500 prize is to get farmers interested in getting certified," she said. "What they do is they have the (association,) they come out and inspect the field."