A family tradition of entering the Moss Vale Show pavilion has entered its 64th year.
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When Owen Ragg and his family moved to Avoca in 1958, his parents quickly became involved in the Moss Vale Show, entering produce in their first year.
"My father was really into vegetables, and my mother did a lot of jams, preserves and sewing," he said.
"My parents were tied up in the horticultural society and used to do a lot with it.
"Mum and Dad always had difficulty setting it up and putting it away, so I used to come and come and help for a long time.
"Then I started entering produce in the 70s. I started with a few vegetables.
"It's just a rural thing."
Over the years, Owen has won several awards for his produce, including pumpkins and potatoes, a fact he was quite humble over.
This year, Owen has entered potatoes and cited the poor weather conditions as a poor growing year.
"It has been a very bad year. The weather, the cold, nothing would grow," he said.
Owen is also a bit of a pumpkin buff, with his largest pumpkin growing to about 300 mm.
"It's not enormous," he said.
"I like the Queensland blue pumpkin, it's good for baking and stays firm."
"A lot of people like Butternut and Kent because they're softer."
When Owen isn't busy at the pavilion, he's with his wife Wendy and daughter with the horses, however this year due to the poor ground conditions the horse events have been cancelled.
"We do a lot of shows," he said.
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"My wife used to have always had before we got married, but I've only been involved for 35 years."
"We got a Sydney, we used to get a Melbourne sometimes, but there are no horses this year."
As for his favourite Moss Vale Show memory, Owen said it was from when he was a kid.
" I think back when I was a kid, on a farm in Avoca," he said.
"The whole family would come down, and there were all these trees.
"You'd have a family get together at the Moss Vale show and sit under the trees for a picnic."
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
