Hope springs eternal at this time of year when the snow is melting and the birds are returning to brighten our morning. It’s also the time for home gardeners to begin sorting seeds and starting tender plants.
When planning your vegetable and flowr gardens for 2025 consider your options for entering the horticulture competitions at the Prince Albert summer fair. You might decide to grow some spicey peppers which have become popular vegetables for competition at the Prince Albert Exhibition. Or maybe you think you can grow the perfect peas or beans that often fill a table ready for judging at the fair. Tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, rhubarb and lettuce are always winning cash prizes. But maybe there’s something you think nobody else grows that you excel at … there’s always a class for “any other vegetable not listed.” Maybe your entry could be the winner in that category!
Your flower garden might produce the best lilly, marigold, or petunias. Share the bounty of your garden with those who come to enjoy the agricultural display during fair week.
Apples, sour cherries, raspberries, haskaps are often in great abundance and win cash prizes at the fair. Maybe you have a new fruit that will interest fairgoers. Fun fact, the Prince Albert Exhibition was begun over a century ago as a means of educating agriculturalists about new varieties and methods. Today’s agricultural fairs can serve the same purpose by introducing new varieties for us to grow in our region.
Perhaps your gardening is done mainly indoors. There are plenty of classes available for competition in potted plants. Those who come to see the displays often say something like, “Oh I have a fern that is better than that one.” So this is your opportunity to bring your potted plants for all to admire.
In recent years flower arranging has expanded to fill a large part of the agriculture and horticulture show. You might consider a category that is new this year Class 613 Tea cup garden. Create a tiny planter with at least one live plant growing in a tea cup with saucer. First prize is $10.
One of the perennial favourites of the horticulture show was a children’s vegetables sculpture. Tiny hands transformed vegetables such as a zucchini into a school bus or a dinosaur. Adults and children alike enjoyed seeing these vegetables sculptures. Alas, fewer children are interested in exhibiting at the fair, so this year there is a vegetable sculpture class for all ages: Class 575 asks you to create a sculpture using vegetables of three different types grown in Saskatchewan. First prise is $10. (There will still be the classic vegetable model class open to children 16 and under.)
Another recently introduced competition is the People’s Choice Award determined by the votes of those who come to see the displays.
The 140th Prince Albert Exhibition is Aug. 6-10. Go to the Prince Albert Exhibition office to get your copy of the agriculture and horticulture prized book or phone 306-764-1711. There is no charge to enter.
