28 August 2008

Beans, Carrots, Garlic, Lettuce, Onions, Peppers, Hot pepper, Red sorrel, Tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes

  Controversy erupted on the farm earlier this week when the Estonian judge gave the American snap beans a score of 8.2 after assessing a 5/10s point mandatory deduction for seediness despite the fact that none of the other six judges saw it and replays clearly showed that the beans had committed no such infraction.  The beans’ head coach and representatives of the American Olympic Committee suggested that the Estonian judge was retaliating for a low score from an American judge at the World Championships that denied Estonia’s top Cauliflower, a precompetition favorite, the bronze medal in the heading vegetable finals.  A spokesman for the judging committee, responding to these allegations, said that he had full confidence in the impartiality of the judges and had no plans the launch an investigation.  A member of the Estonian delegation, who requested to remain anonymous, said the Americans were just being “crybabies.” The Americans threatened to withdraw all their lettuce from further events, but chose in the end to allow their full leaf team to compete and instead replied “am not.”  To which the Estonians answered “are too.” 

In other news, Habanero, as expected, took the gold beet in the tasty but so very hot event, one that it has dominated over the past several decades.  Despite a slow start—Paper Lantern got off well and led until near the halfway point—Habanero, in its customary orange outfit, cruised to victory by a comfortable margin.  In a slight surprise, Roberto’s Cuban Seasoning got the bronze, narrowly edging out Jalapeno, which appeared to run out of steam down the stretch. 

Over at the National Outdoor Bulb Stadium, in the preliminary rounds Candy and Varsity got the biggest scores, putting in some very impressive efforts that went well beyond what we have seen from them the past few years.  But with Redwing and Prince yet to compete, it is too early to tell who the top medal contenders will be.  It promises to be a highly contested event, with all the top onions going neck to neck.

The biggest disappointment to date has been in the root vegetable matches.  The carrots have failed entirely to live up to early expectations for success.  Weediness and excessive moisture set them back during training earlier this summer and despite repeated denials from their agent that this would in any way hamper their ability to perform at peak levels, it has obviously had a serious impact on them.  They appear to be significantly out of form and it is unclear if they can continue at all. 

On the other hand, the tomatoes, declared by most observers, to be completely out of it, have staged a remarkable comeback.  They have been producing notable results even while suffering from multiple diseases.  It is not at all clear that the can maintain this pace for much longer, but is inspiring to see them overcoming adversity even for a little while.

Weird cooking greens may not garner quite the attention of stars such as tomatoes and garlic, with their international following.  Many of them labor in obscurity for years, waiting for their chance to shine.  It is no surprise they can become bitter.  But it would be a shame to overlook them entirely, especially when an attractive entrant like red sorrel comes along.  Displaying great versatility, this potent performer can team up with salad greens, go it alone or play a pivotal role in soup. 

 Speaking of potent performers, these two weeks of vegetables have been brought to you by the proud members of FFA (Former Farmworkers of America).  Andrea, who worked here the past two years, and Ben, who spent a season on the farm five years ago, came back to help me while I had no crew and strict orders (from Liz) to stop picking up heavy objects.  It is because of them that you have these vegetables.