The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair has wrapped up for another year, and a number of local exhibitors have achieved outstanding results.
Holland Marsh resident Joanne Borcsok once again proved she is the queen of giant vegetables, taking home the Grand Champion Giant Vegetable Exhibitor Award for overall points, and the Woodville Farms Award for largest cabbage by weight.
The cabbage weighed in at 11 kilograms (24 pounds) — hardly a giant at all for Borcsok, who in past years has entered cabbages weighing up to 25 kg (54 lbs).
“The weights were not as good as they should have been — they should have been more,” said Borcsok, who lives on the King Township side of the marsh. “It was the weather.”
Asked how many years she has entered her oversized veggies — which this year included a carrot root measuring more than three metres (10 feet) and a marrow weighing 34 kg (75 lbs) — Borcsok wasn’t sure.
“That’s what we tried to figure out. It’s got to be 15 years at least,” she said.
When she first started showing the oversized vegetables, the late Frank Weening dominated the horticultural exhibits at the Royal — showing everything from braids of onions, to giant squash.
And for many years, the rivalry between Borcsok and Bradford resident Howard Tizzard was legendary.
But for the past few years, Borcsok has been unequalled in coaxing the maximum growth from her horticultural crops, grown in the fertile soils of the Holland Marsh.
This year, Borcsok took firsts for largest red/violet beetroot, cabbage by weight, ornamental kale or cabbage by diameter, carrot root by length, carrot by weight, marrow by weight, parsnip by weight, and ‘other’ giant vegetable.
She brought home second-place ribbons for kohlrabi by weight and rutabaga by weight, the latter coming in at 12 kg (27.4 lbs). The winning rutabaga at the Royal was 16 kg (about 36 lbs).
Borcsok also took third place for parsnip by weight and fodder beet by weight, and she was fourth in the Giant Pumpkin Challenge. Her pumpkin was "only 398.2 lbs. (181 kg) – it was the baby,” she said.
There were no world records set this year in the giant vegetable categories — but that doesn’t mean Borcsok won’t continue to try and keep on growing for the Royal’s giant vegetable show.
“I still want to do it,” she said, adding there’s both fun, and satisfaction, in winning the title.
In other Royal competitions, exhibitor John Fennell of Bradford West Gwillimbury, showing his Leicester sheep, took second place for ewe (first pair incisors in place); third and fifth place for ewe yearling (third pair temporary incisors in place); fourth for his Leicester ram, third for progeny of dam; and fourth for breeder’s flock (group of four).
In the TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic, competitors came from across Ontario, Quebec, and as far away as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. South Simcoe 4-H members and brothers Jack and Matt Lange placed well.
Jack Lange, showing homebred calf VC Langelands Solomon Kahlua, placed 13th in Summer Yearling Conformation — and third overall in Intermediate Showmanship (ages 15-17).
His brother, Matt Lange, placed 10th in Senior Showmanship (ages 18 to 21), with Dandyland Sid Abigail, bred by the O’Hara family of Schomberg — and eighth in Conformation for Summer Yearling.
In the Masterfeeds National Jr. Beef Heifer Show, Spencer Harrison of Bradford West Gwillimbury tied for ninth in Beef-Commercial, Yearling.
Ben Gilpin of Thornton tied for 11th in the same class.
Nicole Brown of Lefroy placed eighth in Jr. Showmanship (ages 12-14) in the Jr. Sheep Show, and second place in Jr. Sheep Conformation (long wool) with KHN Fable 4F.
Brooklyn Lloyd, showing her Jersey calf Taz in the National Jersey Show, struggled a bit with the “Jersey attitude” of her homebred calf. She was eight out of 15 on Day 1, and midway in the standings out of 40 entries on Day 2, but she finished fourth for 4-H calf.
As her mom, Lisa Lloyd, summed up for all exhibitors: “It was a great experience!”
Do you have Royal results to share? Contact [email protected].
