Milton Showground is the venue for 2023's Milton Show (theme: A Country Fair with Ocean Air) and South Coast Wine Show. And, yes, it's raining on Show Day 1. (Mudboots and umbrellas are recommended.)
Farmer Rob, competitive as ever, has fruit and flower entries in a number of Milton Show sections this year. Timing and weather, plus the farm's insects and gastropods (i.e. the voracious snail and slug contingent that rule the garden), influenced what was ripe and picture-perfect for entry this year.
Image 1: You say tomato; I say tomato
Image 2: Roses, like the truth, come with thorns
Agricultural shows in small villages and country towns, like Milton, are fiercely-fought competitions. Locals and (gasp!) non-locals invest time, emotion and money in growing, nurturing or preparing their section-specific entries. Blindsides and alliances are not limited to Survivor Australia: Milton's ag show uber-competitors are as adept as "George, King of Bankstown" at outwitting, outlasting and out-displaying one another in pursuit of bragging rights, ribbons and access to the exhibition halls and parade rings of RA Sydney.
We'll update this blog post as soon as the results are in.
Updated 6 March 2023
2023's Milton Show sure turned out to be a memorable one. With a handful of awards now in his possession, plus the wonderful Special Award in memory of Liz Brook, Milton's versions of the War of the (Garden) Roses and La Tomatina will resume in 2024. (On a serious note: a big thank you to Angela and the stewarding teams for selecting our yellow roses for the Liz Brook Special Award.)
Enjoy the photographs of Farmer Rob's results - good, bad and WTH - from this year's Milton Show.
Image 3: Special Award in Memory of Liz Brook for our yellow roses
Image 4: Her, him, some yellow roses and a special award
Image 5: A 1st place for the yellow tomatoes and a second place for the little ones
Image 6: A disqualification for presenting kumquat jelly in incorrectly sized jars. Boooooo!
A big congratulations also to various members of the farming community who did extremely well at the Show over the weekend. We're sincerely thrilled for the Murrays on their major win, and pleased for, and very proud of, Narrawilly milking team member, Mal MacDonald, who had one of his best show-jumping performances ever.
