Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

County fair in March/April

Jan. 3, 2009

It has been awhile, four years in fact, since we have had a fair here in Brevard County, but this year we will have a fair again! The Brevard County Fair will be held at Wickham Park from Friday, March 27th through Sunday, April 5th, 2009. On Saturday, March 28th we are planning “A Gaden Affair” at the Fair with the Container Gardens, Hanging Baskets, and African Violets competitions are planned. On Saturday, April 4th, the Oddest Shaped Vegetable, Largest Vegetable, Best Quality Vegetable and Best Quality Fruit competitions will be held.

Pre-registration will be required for all competitions. Read on to find out more about the rules for each of the sections.

Container Garden, Section 1, will have three classes which are ornamental, herbs and strawberry jar. The rules for the classes are as follows (unless otherwise noted):

  • Containers for the ornamentals & herbs must have an 18-24 inch diameter measured at the inside of the container at the top. The strawberry jar should have a 6-10 inch diameter measured at the inside of the container at the top.
  • Container must have a drainage hole.
  • Use a potting mix, not a native soil.
  • Container must contain no fewer than five (5) plants and no more than ten (10) plants.
  • Container must include a minimum of one vertical element.
  • Container must include a minimum of one weeping (or trailing) element.
  • Container may only include plants (no artificial elements may be included.)
  • The label must be on a white 3”x5” paper or white index card.
  • The label must include a botanical name of each plant species in the container. Check our website or call our office for help finding botanical names.
  • Labels must be typed (no handwriting.)
  • Labels must include the name of the entrant.
  • A label must be taped on the back side of the container.

The Hanging Baskets, section 2, has three classes, ornamental, foliage plants and herbs with the following rules:

  • Containers must be 14”-16” inches in diameter.
  • Use wire hanging baskets filled with sphagnum moss.
  • All of the rules, as stated above, starting at the use of potting mix, on down apply.

The African Violets section has no separate classes and has the following rules:

  • The container can be of any size.
  • Plants must be at least three (3) months old (purchased from the store more than three months prior to exhibition.)
  • One plant per container.

The category for fruits and vegetables will have four sections. Section 1, Oddest Shaped Vegetable and Section 2, Largest Vegetable have the following rules;

  • Vegetable must be grown by the entrant.
  • Vegetable must be displayed on a plain, white paper plate.
  • One vegetable per plate.
  • Label must be typed and attached to the bottom of the plate.
  • Botanical name of plant and entrant’s name must be on the label.
  • Vegetables must be washed and clean.

The Largest Vegetable section has the following classes; radish, bell pepper, tomato, carrot, cucumber and cabbage.

The Best Quality Vegetable section has 10 classes which are; green beans (12-18 beans on a plate), radishes (6-8 per plate), sweet pepper (3-5 per plate depending on size of the pepper), hot peppers (3-5 per plate depending on size of the pepper ), tomatoes (3-5 per plate), cherry tomatoes (12-18 per plate), cucumbers (3 per plate), carrots (5-8 per plate), eggplants (3 per plate) and cabbage (1 displayed on a plate). All of the rules listed above apply here also (except for one vegetable per plate).

The last category, Best Quality Fruit section has the following six classes; carambola (starfruit) (3 fruit per plate), papayas (1 fruit per plate), strawberries (8-12 fruit per plate), tangerines (3 fruit per plate), Grapefruit (3 fruit per plate) and oranges (3 fruit per plate.) The rules are as follows:

  • Fruit must be grown by the entrant.
  • Fruit must be displayed on a plain, white paper plate.
  • Label must be typed and attached to the bottom of the plate.
  • Botanical name of plant and entrant’s name must be on the label.
  • Fruit must be washed and clean.

In addition to these exhibits, we are also planning on having lectures, demonstrations and other exhibits in the large pavilion at Wickham Park.

For more information (including how to pre-register), you can check out the website http://brevardcountyfair.com/ or give us a call and we send you the information. Hopefully a lot of you will bring entries or at least come out and enjoy the fun learning experiences!