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Share your garden success at the La Plata County Fair

Editor’s note: Get Growing, written by the La Plata County Extension Office’s Master Gardener Program, appears during the growing season. It features timely tips and suggestions for your garden and landscape.

By Deb Paulson

Tucked upstairs in a nice air-conditioned room above the main Exhibit Hall at the La Plata County Fair is the horticulture room.

There, intrepid gardeners will display the best of their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs and plant-related artistic creations, and they’ll compete for fame and glory. Well, actually, ribbons.

It’s always fun to see what people have grown, and this year, you’ll see some additions, including daily demonstrations (composting with worms, beekeeping and fairy gardens) and a drawing for a beautiful floral bouquet.

The more entries there are, the more fun it is, so consider making an entry or two. There are categories, such as houseplants, fairy gardens and scarecrows (for those who don’t garden), and dozens of categories for those blessed with a green(ish) thumb.

Entries will be accepted from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. For the first time, this year’s vegetable, fruit and herb entries will be taken at a new master-gardener booth in the southwest corner of the plaza between the Extension Building and Exhibit Hall. Flower entries will be taken in the horticulture display room. Several categories have a separate youth division, but for most, youths go toe-to-toe with adults.

The La Plata County Master Gardeners are encouraging gardeners to fill out a “growing information” card to be displayed with vegetables and fruit, so that others can learn about varieties and growing methods. Templates for the card are available at the horticulture page of the fair website (www.laplatacountyfair.org) and will be available at the registration booth. Also, please bring address labels, if possible, to speed registration.

Help make this year’s fair a rewarding community experience. Get a copy of the 2015 Fair Book (available at the La Plata County Extension Office, 2500 Main Ave., as well as other locations throughout the county) to see what categories you might enter.

And, be sure to visit the horticulture room and admire what gardeners managed to produce during this cloudy, cool summer.

Deb Paulson has been a Colorado master gardener since 2013. She lives in La Plata County.



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