Puyallup Spring Fair

The sailors and Shakespeare were right! Red skies brought on a gorgeous weekend. After our usual shopping, we went to the Spring Fair. Lucy wasn't too sure about the animals but they were fun from a far. Petting them seem pretty risky, so she let us do the petting. You've got to be careful around the chicks, bunny rabbits, and baby goats. 

She also went on her first rides. I think that deep down she wanted the extreme scream and the zipper, but for our sakes she only went on the merry-go-round and a short canoe ride. 

After that we walked through their large area of "stuff for sale." It is truly amazing the booths that a small fair can bring. Specialty candles, rain gutter systems, magnetic bracelets, shoe cleaning, garlic sauce, knives, and many many more. I was more interested in the other end, what was labeled the horticultural area. 

We only stopped at a few because not everyone was as interested as I was, but we did make it to the master gardeners booth. Victoria gave me lots of good advice (check out butterflygarden.biz). I asked her about companion planting and it being one of her pet subjects, well I learned quite a bit. A few things, which normal people probably already know, are the following: companion planting works well in one way because the roots on the plants put off chemicals (if you are scientific you can insert a large word that starts with a "c" and is unpronounceable) which the other roots of neighboring plants love. Example Apple trees like my columnar apples like onions like green onions or chives. So you plant them around the roots of the tree (next week). Also, tomatoes like lots of support (they had a string contraption they were selling, but I can make with stuff around the house), sunlight, roses (more companion planting) and under the eaves of the house. The "eaves of the house" part is because they don't like rain on the leaves, they do like the extra warmth of the house, and you can support them with a trellis on the side of the house. The last tip was to plant green onions and carrots next to each other. The fancy way if you aren't too fond of thinning (like me) is to get Charmin toilet paper, put dabs of flower/water paste every inch or two, and put a carrot and onion seeds alternatively in the paste (so that they stick to the toilet paper). Then plant the toilet paper with seeds down and sprinkle a little dirt. Now they will all grow at the right distance and no thinning!

The next stop was the monster pumpkin grower. His secrets (they are on a paper so they aren't too secret) are to file the edges (but not the tip) off of the pumpkin seed, place in 80 degree water for 1 hour, put in a damp paper towel for 3 days @ 80 degrees (sprouting should happen), then plant them in a pot until May 1st. After that put them outside and over fertilize all year (fish fertilizer and steer manure is the best). He says we'll be the talk of the town. Only time will tell!

The last stop was the Puyallup rose society. The lady and gentleman told me how to prune, fertilize and otherwise love the roses and make it easy for them to bloom! Also what pesticides and miticides to use. Last, if you are looking to get roses, check out raft island roses in Gig Harbor. Get the roses with the canadian rootstock. The website isn't too amazing, but the green house has around 3000 roses (so I was told). We may need to go on a drive next weekend, and who knows? It may even be since we happened to be in Gig Harbor, we may need to stop in!

After that was more rides and food - elephant ears are still the best. 

Hope your weekend was loads of fun also!

1st Merry-go-round horse ride!

At the Master Gardeners booth! (Helen had some questions)