B.C. Quiz
Answer: zucchini
FALL FAIR
Zucchinis on wheels
Left on the vine, zucchinis can grow to a menacing size on Saltspring Island. Gardeners can’t give them away and even wild deer won’t touch them. Five years ago, John Unrue, one of the organizers of the Gulf Island’s annual fall fair, came up with a fun way to deal with the abundant crop.
“He suggested we race them,” remembers Noella Fraser, who runs the Zucchini 500 event at the 111-year-old agricultural fair with her husband, Mike.
The mainly oblong green squash are fitted with wheels and other salvaged toy parts and powered by gravity down a steeply inclined, 7.6-metre-long track. Creativity is encouraged and there’s only one rule: if a zucchini hotrod measures more than 38 centimetres in girth—the width of each track—it can’t run.
“One of last year’s favourites was Hot Wheels,” laughs Noella. “It was a zucchini inside a big tire.”
She recommends choosing a medium-sized zucchini and a good, sturdy frame. “But people work with what they have,” she says. “The point is just to have fun.” Zukes that crash or can’t make it down the track are serviced at the Zucchini Garage. Mike, who owns a body shop on the island, keeps wire cutters, mechanic’s wire, duct tape, screwdrivers, and spare wheels on hand for repairs.
With luck, it’ll be another good year for zucchinis on Saltspring. Just in case, Fraser intends to do the unthinkable: she’s putting a few extra plants into her garden.
Info: Saltspring Island Farmer’s Institute (250-537-4755; www.ssifi.org/FallFair.html).
—Jane Nahirny