Curly cuke first entry in Courier’s veggie contest

July 23, 2008 12:12 pm

— Curly cuke first entry in Courier’s veggie contest

Finally, the first weird veggie entry in the Courier’s annual Weird Veggies contest.
Norman and Lois Collins of Sigourney found a curled up cucumber in their garden.
It’s a burpless variety. “We have them growing up a fence and they usually grow down straight,” The Collins couple said.
Thank you for thinking of us.
We would like lots of entries for this summer’s contest. If you find something weird in your garden, please bring it in and we’ll grab a photo. You also may mail in a photo, or e-mail it.

q q q

Ron Carder of Ottumwa wanted us to check out his 9-foot-tall tomato plant.
Photographer Mark Newman found it next to Carder’s garage on Bluegrass Road.
Carder planted it in a barrel half and says at 9 foot, the plant is definitely tall enough now. A little fertilizer, a little pruning and whole lot of water helped the plant grow, he said. Hope the tomatoes are tasty!

q q q

Craig and Sue Sylvester of Hedrick and Dave and Peg Frushour of Ottumwa enjoyed another annual “adventure” with their classic cars.
They call it an adventure because they start out on a trip with no planned destination, route, reservations or anything else.
And, the best part of the trip is driving their cars — a ’69 Chevelle and a ’56 Chevy.
This summer they ended up Alexandria in west central Minnesota and traveled the Glacial Ridge Trail Scenic Byway — an area formed when glaciers moved through approximately 30,000 years ago.
Besides the hills, there are 300 lakes in Douglas County alone, and of course, beautiful scenery. They also went through the Minnesota River Valley and around Spirit Lake and Okoboji in Iowa on their way home.
They put 1,375 miles on the old cars “and again were awed by the beauty of this land,” Peg Frushour said.

q q q

Former Ottumwan Mel King of New Hampshire would like a good recipe for Iowa’s breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches.
“The folks in New England have never heard about them, and I want to fix some for my wife and myself,” he said.
I gave him my simple recipe, but I’m sure there are much better ones out there. So, readers, if you’d like to share a recipe, send it to: Mel King, 260 Sullivan St., Claremont, NH 03743.
I’m sure he will greatly appreciate it.
Now, if we could only get some really fresh lobster!

Photos

Mark Newman/The Courier Ron Carder feels 9 feet is tall enough for his tomato plant. A little fertilizer, a little pruning and a whole lot of water helped the plant grow, he said.

Judy Krieger