One of the highlights each year in our small rural town in Ontario was, and still is, the Fall Fair. It was the ultimate mingling of farm families and city folk (all 920 of us). Tractors pulls, horse races, 4-H shows, a parade and a midway with rides including my favorite Ferris wheel were just a part of these weekend events. There were baking contests and an arena full of displays of various crafts, with ribbons galore. Because these fairs are partly a celebration of the harvest, the veggie display was/is most prominent.

It has been many years since I have been to my hometown fair. A couple of weeks ago I did spend some time reminiscing as my husband and I visited another local fair in southern Ontario. We watched young boys and girls proudly show their calves and horses. Children enjoyed the midway. And I was enthralled with the veggie displays! Giant pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, beautiful potatoes, corn, beans, apples, peppers and many, many more. What made this even more meaningful was the recent email I received from my cousin David, the great gardener in the Shetland Islands. They have an annual village produce show open to entrants from all of Shetland. He won a first prize with his courgettes, a 2^nd for his broad beans and third prizes for peas and two lettuces. He also sent me photos of some of the fun aspects of the show. There were also some of these at the Ontario fair, but I believe the folks from Shetland were far more creative.