Calling all home vegetable gardeners! How are your gardens growing? The Pueblo County Fair is right around the corner and all amateur vegetable and herb gardeners should be ready to enter the Community Open Class Horticulture Competition. No entry fee or pre-fair entry is required to enter an exhibit into the competition, just show up during the exhibit check in hours with your award winning produce.

Exhibits can be dropped off Sunday, July 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in the Events Center. Judging will take place on Sunday, July 16 at 1:30 p.m. Judging is open to the public.

The Community Open Class Competition is open to any adult or youth living in Pueblo County. There are many departments for which exhibits can be entered, including pantry, food preservation, needle arts, leathercraft, wood working, photography, and of course, horticulture.

All crops entered into the competition with a known variety should have the variety identified on a card that will be turned in with the exhibits. Only home grown produce raised by the exhibitor should be entered. There are five Divisions that can be entered; Surface Crops (including a vegetable and herb class), Garden Fun, Vine Crops, and Root Crops. Pretty much anything you are growing, there is an entry class for it. Most of the classes require 2 or more of each entry so that uniformity can be judged.

Uniformity is one key to having a blue ribbon entry. Try and choose specimen from your garden that are uniform in shape, size, and color. Choose consumer sized items, not too large or too small. Good entries are free of damage, insects, and diseases. You can find information on how many of each crop you will need to enter, and the specific guidelines for all classes at this link: https://www.pueblocountyfair.com/open-class

Here are some guidelines for entry for some of the most popular crops grown in Pueblo County:

Peppers should be clean but not polished, with the stems attached. You will need three peppers to enter. Tomatoes should be entered without caps but with stems, the inside should be bright and meaty with no green around the seeds. Three tomatoes will be needed for entry. Summer squash should have a ½ inch stem, the skin should be tender, and the seeds should be immature and edible. There are also specific lengths that squash should be depending on variety. You will need two summer squash for entry.

The Pueblo County Fair begins July 14 and goes until July 23 at the Colorado State Fairgrounds. Check out the webpage: https://www.pueblocountyfair.com  or the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PuebloCountyFair  to see all of the great events they have planned this year. We hope to see you and your blue ribbon garden produce at the fair!