Lee familyıs garden projects are in full blossom for fair time

By TRACY KIEL
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 7/31/03

Gardening is a popular hobby during the summer. During the week people spend numerous hours planting, weeding, and watering. In most cases, the results of the garden are either admired or eaten.

Gardening takes on a different meaning for the Lee family. Amber, Heather, and Jason, children of Mark and Jackie, are turning the results of their garden into 4-H projects. The three 4-H participants are members of the Tibbets Brook Flyers club and plan to submit a variety of projects at the Mille Lacs County fair.

Several of the projects relate to gardening. Amber, 15, has been a 4-H member for 10 years. She will be entering green beans, peas, and carrots in the category of vegetable gardening. On the day of the fair, she will pick a gallon of each type of vegetable.

³Itıs more of a family thing,² she said. ³Everyone does it.²

Amberıs mother, Jackie, said that the whole family goes out the morning of the fair to help with the garden. Once the vegetables are picked, Amber will spend about an hour going through a gallon of beans. She must select 12 small ones, three medium, and one large one. The beans are selected in each category based on size, uniformity, and shape.

She will also be entering in the fruit categories with apples and, possibly, blue-berries. Each piece of fruit is different, she said. When choosing the fruit, one needs to be aware of bruises and bug-bites on each piece.

Jason, 10, has been a 4-H member for four years. He is entering a project in the category of flower beautification. Projects in this category receive a participation ribbon and are used to decorate the fair.

³I always bring a sun-flower,² he said. One year, his mom had planted some sun-flowers, and when they produced seeds, Jason had plucked the seeds off and planted them. ³They just grow,² he said. Although he watered them last year, he hasnıt really needed to this summer.

The sunflower he brought to the fair last year was six feet tall and about a foot in diameter. It hardly fit in the van, Jackie said. Jason wants to bring an even bigger sunflower this year if it will fit in the vehicle.

In addition to gardening, the Lee siblings will bring a variety of other projects to the fair. Amber will bring a dress that she has sewn with some help from her grandma. She needed a formal to wear since she is a dairy princess.

³It would be easier to sew a dress than to buy one,² she said. She found a pattern and purchased the material at Ben Franklin for $15 instead of paying $100, she said. The most difficult part of the dress was the straps. She had to sew them together inside-out from four pieces and then pull one end through the strap to reverse it.

Judging for the sewing category took place on July 22, and Amber received a blue ribbon for her work. She also plans to do a project on the geology of the moon.

Heather, 14, is bringing about 10 projects to the fair. For the creative arts category, she is submitting a picture of her house that she drew for art class in eighth-grade. The drawing took her about three or four days worth of class time to complete. The assignment was to draw a house in perspective on a horizontal plane as viewed from a distance, she said. The challenging part of the project was drawing the siding, she said. She had to use a ruler to make the lines straight to the vanishing point. Heather is also submitting an abstract chalk-drawing of a flower, another project she completed for art class.

She is also bringing projects involving animals. One project in the pets category involves her dog, Sammy, a yellow lab. Heather will make a poster that contains photographs of Sammy as well as words that describe his favorite activities, tricks, and food.

Heather is also doing a poster-board about cats, which will include pictures printed off from the internet as well as descriptions concerning their habitat and activities.

The Lee family has over 20 barn cats. ³They decided to have babies all at the same time,² Jackie said. However, Heather wonıt necessarily research the breeds of cats found on the farm.

In addition to his sunflower, Jason will be bringing a project in the fishing category. He plans to print a picture of a fish off from the internet and label its internal and external parts.

³I know they have like fins and organs and stuff,² he said. He knows some of the names of the external parts of the fish but still has to do some research. The project will probably take about one or two days, he said.

Last year Jason did a project on different types of fish, comparing their habitats and diet preferences. He enjoys fishing and feels that these projects will help him become better at it. His project last year has taught him about the habitat of different fish as well as how to choose the right bait. This year, learning about the structure of the fish will help him in learning how to fillet them.

Jackie, who has been a club leader for five years, said it is often difficult not to help her children with their projects. She wants them to do well, she said, but she also wants them to finish the projects without much help.

Last year she made an exception, though. When Jason was working on his fish projects, he had spent 45 minutes typing three sentences, so Jackie stepped in to assist him.

The 4-H projects give the Lee siblings many important skills.

³It kind of helps them get over their shyness,² Jackie said. ³They have to talk to the judge, so they have to know whatıs going on.²

When 4-H members bring projects to the fair, they meet with the judges to answer questions about their projects. After members meet with the judges, they can leave their projects at the fair for display.

The best part about the projects, Amber said, is letting everyone see what you did and how well you did it.