Young growers shine a ray of hope
Published 4:26 pm Friday, August 16, 2019
By Neil Clark
COURTLAND
As typically happens the Tuesday before the Fair, many young (and a few ‘more seasoned’) folk who brought their plants and produce this year have definitely exemplified their knowledge and skill in producing something wonderful from the soil, water, and sunshine that the Good Lord has provided. There always seem to be folk in the area with green-thumbs no matter what the conditions. Variety selection, proper planting and tending to control for pests and pathogens as well as plant vigor, all play in to being able to harvest produce that is marketable.
Brother and sister team of David and Emily Cuthbertson captured the sweepstakes in youth field crops and youth horticulture, respectively. This came as a result of their many resplendent examples of tomatoes, gourds, cotton, squash, corn, sunflowers, melons, hay, peanuts, etc. They were very proud of their work and have impressive knowledge of horticulture for young people their age according to the judge. The judge comes from outside of the area to prevent biased results. The Cuthbertsons go one step further to share their knowledge of agriculture by producing informational posters. In this way, fairgoers who aren’t as familiar with agriculture can gain appreciation for what takes place out in the fields.
There were many other youngsters who brought items. Not everyone grows so many different crops. But still they can take extreme pride in producing one exquisite specimen. Such is the case with our local miracle, Miss Riley Porter. Riley brought in a splendid sunflower that was matched only by the bright smile that is always on Riley’s face.
As many of you know, Riley received a heart transplant and is now doing well enough to grow a HUGE sunflower to brighten everyone’s day. That flower is one representation of the hope that has brought many in this community together. So I encourage everyone to go plant something, water it, watch it, care for it, and bring it on out to the Fair in 2020.
Here are the results:
Youth Field Crops
Corn David Cuthbertson – blue
Corn Stalks David Cuthbertson – blue
Grass Hay David Cuthbertson – blue
Peanuts Sawyer Everett – blue; David Cuthbertson – red
Soybean s Sawyer Everett – blue; David Cuthbertson – red
Cotton Sawyer Everett – blue; David Cuthbertson – red
Sunflower David Cuthbertson – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – red; Jenna Cuthbertson – white; Brantley Gray – white;
Wheat David Cuthbertson – blue
Display David Cuthbertson – blue
Youth Horticulture:
Sunflower Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Luke Giles – blue (Exhibitor’s Choice); Brantley Gray – blue (Exhibitor’s Choice); Jenna Nurney – blue; Riley Porter – blue; Genevieve Busch – red; Luke Giles – red; Austin Busch – white; Jenna Cuthbertson – white
Blueberries Cody Thomas – red, Ansley Thomas – white
Cantaloupe Emily Cuthbertson – red; Jenna Cuthbertson – red;
Cucumber Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Grapes Emily Cuthbertson – blue;
Pears Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Ansley Thomas – blue; Austin Busch – red; Cody Thomas – white,
Eggplant Luke Giles – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red; Emily Cuthbertson – white Hot Peppers Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Peppers Jenna Cuthbertson – blue; David Cuthbertson – white
Sweet Peppers Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red; David Cuthbertson – white
Okra Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Luke Giles – red
Jalapeños Victoria Ross – red
Persimmons Jenna Cuthbertson – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – red
Potatoes Jocelyn Busch – blue
Southern Peas Luke Giles – blue
Browneyed Peas – (unshelled) Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red; (shelled) Emily Cuthbertson – white;
Butternut Squash Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red;
Yellow Squash Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red; David Cuthbertson – white
White Squash Jenna Cuthbertson – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – red
Zucchini Squash Jenna Cuthbertson – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – red
Cherry Tomatoes Jenna Cuthbertson – red; David Cuthbertson – white
Grape Tomatoes Emily Cuthbertson – blue; Jenna Cuthbertson – red
Tomatoes Genevieve Busch – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Watermelon Jenna Nurney – blue; Emily Cuthbertson – red; Jenna Cuthbertson – white
Oddity Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Display Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Ornamental Corn Austin Busch – blue
Gourds Emily Cuthbertson – blue
Gourd Display Emily Cuthbertson – red
Snake Gourds Jocelyn Busch – blue
Ornamental Gourds Genevieve Busch – blue
Vegetable Basket Emily Cuthbertson – blue;
Vegetable Sculpture Emily Cuthbertson – blue;
Cut Arrangement Victoria Ross – blue; Victoria Ross – white; Jocelyn Busch – white
Cut Flowers Emily Cuthbertson – red
Hanging Basket Brantley Gray – blue
Adult Field Crops
Corn Ears – non-irrigated Foxhill Farms – blue; Chris Drake – red; Plank Road Farm – red; Cedar Lane Farm – white
Irrigated Corn Ears Foxhill Farms – blue; Plank Road Farm – red; Cedar Lane Farm – white
Corn Stalks – non-irrigated Cedar Lane Farm – red; Chris Drake – white
Irrigated Corn Stalks Cedar Lane Farm – blue; Foxhill Farms – red; Davis and Sons – white
Cotton Plank Road Farm – blue; Foxhill Farms – red; Jason Francis – white
Grass Hay Rose Valley Farm – blue
Mixed Grass Hay Rose Valley Farm – blue
Milo Rose Valley Farm – white
Oats Rose Valley Farm – blue
Irrigated Peanuts Foxhill Farms – blue; Cedar Lane Farm – red
Peanuts Foxhill Farms – blue; Plank Road Farm – red; Jason Francis – white
Irrigated Peanuts Foxhill Farms – blue; Cedar Lane Farm – red
Soybeans Cedar Lane Farm – blue
Triticale (Exhibitor’s Choice) Rose Valley Farm – white
Wheat Davis and Sons – red; Foxhill Farms – white; Rose Valley Farm – white; Chris Drake – blue
Adult Horticulture
Container Grown Flowering Plant Betty Beale – blue
Potted Foliage Plant Louise Mears – blue
White Pumpkin Allen Applewhite – red
Sunflower Jason Francis – blue
Tomatoes Louise Mears – blue
Cut Flowers Allen Applewhite – red
We would like to extend our gratitude to Manry-Rawls Insurance Company for their support of the horticulture contest by sponsoring the building and prizes for these young exhibitors.
From fourth grade science we learn that plants are primary producers. From a biological point of view, humans cannot exist without plants.
Of course, agriculture is the number one industry in Virginia, and is for sure an extremely important component in our local economy bringing millions of dollars in revenue to our area each year from sunshine and rain …. and a lot of farmers’ hard work and faith that a crop will come.
There may be many reading this who don’t realize that nationally, our corn crop will be down drastically this year. A large swath of the productive area of our nations corn belt was not planted, or planted very late due to extremely wet conditions. Other areas that learned of this in time to shift their planting, added to the fact that modern genetics can still push reasonable yields despite less favorable conditions, may help this from becoming a disaster on a national scale. However, for the individual farmers in those areas, this is devastating.
It is a good thing that we have another generation of young people stepping forth with knowledge to produce the food, fuel and fiber that provide for the sustenance of 7.7 billion people.
NEIL CLARK is a Southampton County Extension agent. Contact him at 653-2572 or southeast@vt.edu.