Betsy's Backyard Blog

The vegetable show was the big attraction at the Warren County Fair last night. No it wasn't -- that was the figure eight races. But there were some anxious moments as judge Barb Osborn, Iowa State University, placed the top three entries in white and red potatoes. My red potatoes won the class! Whew.

Here are tips on showing veggies.

Never let your zucchini get this big unless you are entering a giant zucchini contest. MIne weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces and placed third out of five.

The ideal zucchini size for show is 8 inches long, uniform width and color with no blemishes. The plate third from bottom won this class easily. I placed third.

You can see the beets in the background. My beets were smaller, golfball-sized, and won the class. Large beets can be woody.

The key to onions is not size as much as condition. Pull onions two weeks before show time and let them cure. If the stems aren't dry at the show they won't do well. The largest onions here did not place because their stems were green and wet. My plate (bottom middle) placed third. They were very small, but dry.

I won the largest potato contest for the second year in a row with this 10-ounce spud, but it was nothing compared to last year's giant at 1 pound, 1 ounce.

I also won with my red cabbage and peaches. A key to cabbage is keeping a few outer leaves for display, as long as they don't have insect damage . Size matters, but one cabbage was so big it split -- a no-no.

Good luck at the fair!

Our wonderful cat, Marvin, died on Friday, age 18. We got Marvin when he was four from my friend Natasha. He had bitten her young daughter when she pulled his tail. Marvin was a large neutered male with claws, so he wasn't the perfect cat for toddlers. We weren't sure how he would do on our farm, but he quickly became a part of the family. His favorite spot was on Bob's lap. He loved any man who visited, often leaping into their laps when they sat down (scaring a few). He was a guys' cat.

Natasha says he got his name because he looked like Marvin the Martian with his antenna whiskers. You can see that in the photo above.

Marvin's ear was mangled years ago in a fight with a coon. After that we always made sure he was in the house at night. His best friend was our other cat, Mario. Mario wandered around our house in a confused state all weekend, looking for Marvin.

It's so sad to lose a pet. We will miss Marvin.

Marvin is inspecting the sheep herd from an upstairs window.

So relaxing.

This is the last photo I could find of Marvin, taken in April at his favorite spot.

At daybreak I let the sheep into the west field to graze. Heads down!

At work we had a visit from the American Lamb Board and chef Adam Sappington of The Country Cat in Portland, Oregon. He showed the food editors at Meredith how to cut up a lamb carcass. We also dined on lamb burgers.

Here are photos of the process. For recipes, go to americanlamb.com. Farm to Fork!

I was filling the water tank at the well the other evening and found myself staring at the magnificent walnut trees in our grove. In the 26 years we've lived there I haven't fully appreciated their beauty. The size and scale of these 100-year-old trees is impressive.

Walnuts are my favorite tree. I grew up on Walnut Springs Farm in Maryland, and my father built two corner cupboards for my house from walnut on the farm.

As you would imagine, we have fat squirrels.

This squirrel barks at me every time I try to sit in the yard and read.