What do oversized vegetables, a blue fish box, and thirteen prizes have in common? The very first adventure at the Bunessan Show for our group!

Back in March, during Garden Week, we were already dreaming of the Bunessan Show that would come in August. The weather has been kind, and with heaps of seaweed worked into the beds last winter, our seedlings grew into strong, healthy – and sometimes enormous – vegetables.

But as we discovered, prize-winning veggies need to be more than big. They must be uniform in shape, colour, and size… Easier said than done!

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The Challenge of Perfection

How many potatoes do you need to dig up before you find four identical kidney-shaped ones?
Which eggs look most alike?
How fine should compost be sieved?
And how exactly do you prepare rhubarb, cauliflower, and onions for the judges?

Finding the answers kept us busy, but also brought lots of laughter and fun along the way.

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The Famous Produce Basket

The most prestigious category for gardeners is the Basket of Varied Organic Produce. Rosa and Jess created the most stunning arrangement – but there was one small problem. Our oversized vegetables wouldn’t fit into any of our baskets!

So, with creativity (and perhaps a little mischief), we chose a bright blue fish box instead. Beautiful in our eyes… but not in the judges’. A basket is a basket, they ruled, and a fish box is most definitely not.

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Results to Be Proud Of

Although we didn’t manage a first prize, out of the fifteen entries submitted, we won thirteen awards – a result we’re absolutely thrilled with! Even more valuable were the lessons learned, which will make next year’s entries even stronger.

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More Than Just a Show