The competition was fierce on Friday, April 1 as local gardeners and growers placed the best of their season’s harvest on fold-out plastic tables at the EXPO Arts Center.
The occasion: the Long Beach County Fair Blue Ribbon Urban Agriculture competition—gardeners going head to head with their neighbors for the bragging rights that ultimately come with a blue ribbon. (A year’s worth of bragging rights, I might add, since the fair takes place annually.)
I was offered a seat as a judge by Long Beach Fresh, an honor in its own right, and jumped at the opportunity.
At 7 p.m., I and other judges feasted our eyes upon a bounty of submissions: a hefty stalk of green bananas, pods of mung beans—with a tasting sample of de-podded beans, a cabbage with a delicate flower springing forth from the top, and a stack of more dried loofahs than I’ve ever seen in my life.
These fruits, vegetables and leafy greens would undergo strenuous evaluation from a panel of six “expert” judges, including myself.
We began with the fruits, all of which came with samples for us to taste. A bundle of Persian mulberries won the judges over, winning first prize. I cannot be certain what won over the judges—the fact that we couldn’t get enough of the berries or that most of the judges had never tasted a mulberry before.
Second place fruit was won by Kerrina Sanchez, who served up a massive bowl of guacamole made from hybrid avocados (courtesy of her dog’s unintentional cross-contamination of seeds many years ago). Despite winning second place for fruit, her avocados went on to win best of show.
Long Beach resident Darryl Ike won first place for his bouquet—a scene of purple with an entire cabbage and multiple artichokes springing forth from rosemary and sea lavender. He said he heard about the competition and “threw together” the bouquet using a leftover cabbage he had from his winter harvest, not expecting it to bag a blue ribbon.
The vegetable category was surprisingly the most difficult to pin down, with one judge exclaiming, “This is impossible!”
Between mung beans, the pile of loofahs (one has to wonder how long it took to peel back their outer casing), a jar of purple artichokes, a feathery fennel and a basket full of gourds, the judges were open with their endorsements.
I rallied for the gourds and fennel, but democracy was in action and the artichokes prevailed as first-place winners, followed by the mung beans and loofahs close behind.
In the root vegetable category, a thrilled Elodie Rodriguez, 7, secured second place with her bundle of radishes, beating out a basket of turnips. A bundle of rainbow heirloom carrots won first place.
The leafy green category had the largest number of submissions, and judges seemed set on their winners until a competitor chimed in that it was essential that we tasted each submission.
“That’s the whole point,” he informed us.
We obliged, picking morsels off each leaf at our hearts’ desire. A bit of arugula here, a crunchy piece of kale there and we were closer to making our decision.
Two different lettuces won first and second, followed by a beautiful cabbage flowering from the center. What are the odds that a cabbage decides to flower in perfect timing with a county fair? Either luck or keen gardening was on the side of this third-place winner.
With all the judging over and done with, I couldn’t help but think how, in retrospect, there weren’t that many submissions to the county fair compared to the number of urban gardeners in the city.
I may not be able to beat out a hybrid avocado, but competitors like Ike were able to throw together a last-minute submission and sweep the floor. Nothing says “county fair” like a bouquet full of vegetables.
For urban gardeners who didn’t submit their harvests this year, I’d urge them to sow the seeds of competition and get to plowing, fertilizing and pruning. These winners will only hold onto their bragging rights for one year, and there are plenty of ribbons to go around.
