2012 Canfield Fair Pics!

Canfield Fair - Largest Squash "Only" 891 Lbs - Under Drought Conditions!

Wild Rose Farm was off to the Canfield Fair Saturday morning ....... it's an annual tradition and we go in the morning to beat the heat.  As large as this fair is, we actually manage to run into people we know every year.  This year it was a couple of friends who are normally vendors at the Sewickley Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings.   Even farmers need to get out sometimes!
The drought this summer did a number on the squash competition for the year.  Usually 891 lbs won't even get you into the building for 2nd place!  We don't usually study the other "largest" fruit & veggie section, but here they are ........

Largest Watermelon & Other Veggies!

One of the things apparently unaffected by the weather was the "Tallest Sunflower" category.  This was more of a Jack & The Beanstalk story!  All of the other sunflowers lined the side of the building where they lean against the wall with their heads in the rafters.  This is the 1st time we've seen one in the middle of the building supported by 2 x 4's!    How do you haul this to the fairgrounds?!?  I suspect it was tied to the 2x4 and came in on a trailer .......  :)

Canfield Fair Tallest Sunflower - 198 5/8" Tall! 

More of my favorites ........ Jersey cows .........

Canfield Fair - Jersey Cows

Canfield Fair - Jersey Cow Class

And finally, it's time to leave when we all feel like these sheep ..... all faired out!

Suffolk Sheep - All Faired Out!

923 lbs and you're an "also ran" ?!?

Since we're on vacation this week, we took a trip to the Canfield Fair in Mahoning County, OH today. http://www.canfieldfair.com/ One of the must see items at the fair is the "Largest Squash" competion. The 3rd heaviest Hungarian squash ends up on the porch outside of the building with all of the other "also rans" .......... imagine raising a 923# monster and being relegated to 3rd place. That said, here is a look at the King & Queen squashes for 2008.

Zoom in on the second picture to see the winning weights increasing over the years!

BTW, it takes a while to get any kind of picture, since folks are in a line streaming by constantly. The building is also manned so that they can answer questions and keep watch over the squash royalty.

Interested in trying this at home?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1646.html for "research-based information" - ho-hum.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ for a fun site!

http://www.howarddill.com/ hey, this is serious stuff!