IT could be said that the Farm Produce section is all about pumpkins.
Chief Steward Elwyn Steinhardt expects particularly good entries in the Kent pumpkins varieties and some entries in the grammas, the red and the grey cattle pumpkins, Jarradales and butternuts and even some in the Beaudesert blues class.
And of course, in the big pumpkin class as Marburg is the home of Geoff Frohloff the multi-champion giant pumpkin grower and Ekka record holder.
“Geoff is keeping the size of his entry a secret as always but it’s sure to be big and there’s the other growers who want to take home the champion ribbon … it’s always good to watch the judging.”
But as Elwyn says, the Farm Produce is not just about pumpkins.
The entries in many of the classes is dependent on the weather.
“The numbers are usually pretty good, but with all the rain this year, we are not certain about how much hay and chaff will be entered,” says Elwyn who took on the role of Chief Steward when his father, Merv Steinhardt retired.
He does expect to catalogue entries in the wheat sheafs, green fodder, sugar cane and grain (sorghum and corn) classes.
The Junior section is made simpler as … “the younger ones are usually involved in growing veges like lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and pumpkins in the garden rather than on a farm so they don’t have to enter a lot. The same goes for green fodder and grain – we just ask them to enter a bit.”
The judging of the section will be held from 10am today (Friday).
Elwyn will be there as well as his section steward, his son Tony.
But Elwyn’s main focus on Saturday will be on the gate.
“I’ve been helping out at the Show since I was 15,” he says.
“I started by handing out ribbons in the cattle section and then started on the gate” which is exactly where he’ll be from 5.00am on Saturday morning.
