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| Harvest Hall tableau Royal Canberra Show |
Let me set the scene. At the back of the Harvest Hall was a sweeping tableau next to the wool classing section. An array of perfectly positioned fruit and vegetables created a harvest pattern at the centrepiece of which was the opening stanza of Dorothea McKellar's most famous poem. The harvest tableau was flanked by the dahlias in all their gaudy glory. The Floral Art Society had some way out arrangements but I wanted to get down to business and check out the chutney, vegies, kids' sculptures and so on. I also had a secondary mission, to view the junior cookery so that Imogen can enter iced cupcakes next year (without paper).
I looked up and noticed about 20 vases of naked ladies arranged on top of the display cabinets - I have never seen so many of these old-fashioned beauties gathered together at once. The produce was wonderful and the kids' sculptures delightful in their interpretation and whimsy too. The lavender was gorgeous and I particularly loved the pot pourri. Not sad, bitsy and dusty like our grandma's tired versions but pink, purple and vivacious with hunks of bright orange peel and rose petals. Lavender vinegars, lemon butters, jams, cakes, biscuits and slices showed off the untapped potential of this flower as a flavouring.
Here is a slideshow of some of the entries.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dharmic_dove/sets/72157626165230406/show/
Dave the horticultural demon dropped around with some of his bountiful harvest for us and gave me a few top tips:
Collar rot and blossom rot can be prevented by using dolomite and gypsum dug into our clay soils.
Vegie seedlings need lots of water to establish good tap roots and will be more robust later on.
Fungal diseases are prevalent at the moment and need a good low toxin treatment if crops are to survive.
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| Dave's eggplant |
After the stewards check the correct class against the produce schedule each class of garden produce at the show is judged on:
- Quality such as ripeness
- Commercial comparison such as what a shopper would like to buy
- Lack of blemishes.
- Uniformity in size
- Depending on variety (like Dave's eggplant here) size - bigger may not be best.
If you want to enter visit the show website www.rncas.org.au or phone the show office (6241 2478) around December to request a horticulture/produce schedule be sent to you.
Honey honey
The apiarists have a honey and beeswax competition too with displays of beehives, honey and beeswax products. Beeswax candles, are in my opinion, one of the most beautiful objects in existence. I'm not into wildly irrational unscientific claims but I do genuinely believe a beeswax candle has the power to purify the air when in burns. The smell of a beeswax candle is nothing more than glorious.
Wednesday morning (2 March) from 7.30am the beekeepers are holding a breakfast on the front lawn of Parliament House for everyone who is interested in the future of food in Australia. It's a free honey breakfast to highlight some of the issues around honey and beekeepers.
www.securefoodsavebees.com
Stranger than fiction
Forget Agatha Christie - seeing the beekeepers reminded me that Australian Story featured the most bizarre murder mystery last year. It was very sad about a lovely man who lived by himself and kept bees and had done a lot to highlight bee quarantine issues such as imported pests like the varroa mite. He lived in Qld where this terrible crime occurred and was knocked off in a cruel and brutal way by a competitor who was stealing other people's honey stockpiles.
A sting in the tale
Hi Jemima, when I was last in Beechworth we visited the Beechworth Honey shop and took a tour of the honey journey - it was quite a novel tour but very interesting and the last room told us all about the varroa mite - even thought i had heard about this before, it was interesting to hear that it was still very prevalent, but still not getting much press. Why is it that big issues which concern agriculture are passed over by the media. Do we have to wait until there is no food in Woolies before people will realise that honey is born in a plastic tub! Not only that the bees do much more than produce honey. They pollinate all our fruit and veges. Signed a concerned honey and vege lover (alias Carolina)
ReplyDeleteCarolina (great alias) - I agree. Bees and honey are such a fragile industry and of course, what would we do without pollination. I heard on the radio someone echoing your very point about lack of media interest in agricultural and biosecurity issues. I had no idea that myrtle rust is threatening our native forests and native wildflower industry. Large tracts of the south coast are affected and there is nothing anyone can do about it. The guy on the radio who was from an industry group I think, said there had been several management groups meeting at a federal level but that was it. Didn't seem to be much action being taken.
ReplyDeleteHere's a good link to myrtle rust. It is bright yellow.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/plant/myrtle-rust
I'm so glad you raised the issue of bees.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that half of the bees in the USA have disappeared? The ABC's science show devoted two whole hours to this mystery a couple of years ago. Luckily, there is more genetic variety in the Australian bee population but that doesn't mean Australian bees aren't at risk. Sadly, society cares more about sportsmen than beekeepers!
Mel
Well said. That's scary to think those bees have gone forever!
ReplyDeleteMel - I just mentioned it in a post but Dr Doug suggested planting sacrificial chillis for your possums.