Celebrating Summer's Bounty at the Fall Fair

It is always sad to think of summer's passing, but the feeling is bittersweet, combined with the excitement of the changing of the seasons and the anticipation of fall and winter festivities.  As the weather cools, we tend to nest, and our creative juices start flowing at the the thought of all of the more artistic and  homey pursuits we have put aside while living summer to the fullest, out of doors.

A good way to honour summer's bounty while celebrating the coming of fall is by attending your local fall fair.  In our neck of the woods, we are fortunate to have the Comox Valley Fall Fair Exhibition Association (CVEX) to organize a fun-filled family event, providing entertainment, midway rides, and good eats while displaying exhibits both vintage and modern, on an amateur and professional level.  In addition to featuring agricultural produce and animal husbandry, home arts and crafts are also entered into the competition, with cash and gift prizes awarded to the "best in show."  All of the exhibits are entered in good fun, but perhaps with a smidgen of healthy competition thrown in for good measure.

I respect the judges' dedication to the CVEX--there were certainly a lot of items entered, all of them fabulous, and the number of entries just exemplifies our community's spirit and commitment to supporting local horticulture and agriculture, be it from their own gardens or from one of the many great farms located in the valley.

Of course, Gardens Without Borders and Innisfree Farm entered some things into the Fall Fair!  Here is what they were:

Vinegar of the Four Thieves (recipe to be shared soon!)

(Our Teacup Garden)

                                                                                                            

(Our Flowering Wheelbarrow)

(Thierry's beautiful French heirloom "Cinderella Pumpkins," (Rouge vif D'Etampes) entered on behalf of Innisfree