2021 Wayne County 4-H Fall harvest Roundup

The 2021 Wayne County 4-H Fall Harvest Roundup was held on Saturday October 23^rd, at 10:30 am, at the Wayne County Park and Recreation Complex in Beach Lake. A total of seven 4-H members exhibited: 11 pumpkins in 7 different classes, 1 potato entry, 1 turkey entry, and 4 meat bird entries.

This year’s Potato and Onion Judge was Edward Pruss, former Penn State Extension Educator. The judging criteria for the 4-H Onion entries included: (5) uniform – in-size onions that are free from disease, insect damage, defects, and blemishes. Each onion should also have its green “tops” trimmed to about 1 ½ to 2 inches long, and root hairs should also be trimmed to ½ inch length. The outer layer of the onion should be removed to re-veal the clean bulb underneath for a polished look.

This year we had three members entered into the onion project but due to weather conditions this spring no entries were made into roundup.

Potatoes

The judging criteria for the 4-H Potato entries included: Potatoes must be entered into one of the three classes of potatoes: red-skinned varieties, white-skinned varieties, or russet-skinned or baking type. Each entry must include (5) uniform—in-size potatoes that are free from disease, insect damage, defects, and blemishes. Potatoes should be cleaned gently using a soft bristle brush after air drying to remove excess soil while keeping the integrity of the skins intact.

This year we had 1 entry into the 4-H Potato Round-up by one 4-H member, and the results are as follows:

Grand Champion 4-H Potatoes: Karleigh Weist (Explorers 4-H Club)- Red skinned variety

Red-skinned variety potatoes: 1^stplace- Karleigh Weist (Explorers 4-H Club)

Pumpkins

Three Wayne County Master Gardeners, Mary Fenton, Wanda Eisenhauer, and Pat Nelson, served as official Judges for the 2021 Wayne County 4-H Pumpkin Round-up. The judging criteria that they used to judge the different classes of 4-H pumpkins included: pumpkins had to be uniform in size and shape, have uniform "orange color", have a strong stem or handle, show no insect damage, no bruising and/or cuts and have no obvious skin defects.

This year we had 11 entries into the 4-H Pumpkin Round-up by 3 4-H members, and the results are as follows:

Grand Champion 4-H Pumpkin: Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club) with her pumpkin in the 11-15lb division.

Reserve Grand Champion 4-H Pumpkin: Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club) with her pumpkin in the over 20 lb division.

Class #1 – Miniature Pumpkins and Pumpkins Less Than (1) Pound in Weight – 1^st place & 2^nd place

Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club), Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #2 Pumpkins (1) Pound to (5) Pounds – 1^st place

Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #3 Pumpkins from (6) Pounds to (10) Pounds – 1^st place

Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

Class #4 Pumpkins – From (11) Pounds to (15) Pounds – 1^st place

Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)- Grand Champion Pumpkin

Class #5 – Pumpkins from (16) Pounds to (20) Pounds – 1^st place

Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #6 Pumpkins Over (20) Pounds – 1^st-3^rd place

Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club), Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount Go-Getters 4-H Club), Karleigh Weist (Explorers 4-H Club)

Class #7 – Tall Pumpkins – 1^st & 2^nd place

Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount Go-Getters 4-H Club), Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

The Wayne County Master Gardeners, in addition to serving as judges, also supported the 4-H Pumpkin Round-up by awarding monetary prizes to each Pumpkin class winner and had an educational discussion for members on selecting pumpkin varieties to plant, soil amendments, good management practices, disease, and more.

Meat Bird and Turkey

This year’s roundup for the Meat Bird and Turkey Projects were judged by former Penn State Extension- Wayne County Educator Edward Pruss. Meat Birds and Turkeys were judged for the following desirable criteria: broad and meaty breast, back, and wings, large meaty legs, and indication of some body fat with skin that appears "yellow". Each entry consists of two birds that should be of similar weight and equal conformation to indicate uniform management practices throughout the entire members’ flock. Members were required to exhibited two dressed, and packaged market ready birds for their entry. To be able to compete, each entry had to pass a temperature control test for food safety purposes.

Some of the defects to avoid and keep to a minimum would include: overscald, poor bleeding, excess water in the poultry bag, dirt on the skin, pin feathers, skin tears, bruising and breast blisters. If any of these defects were observed, points were taken off of the 20 points each entry starts with.

Results of this years’ roundup are as follows:

Grand Champion Meat Birds: Drew Rutledge- (Bethany 4-H Club) with his 9 and 9.5 pound birds.

Reserve Grand Champion Meat Birds: Timothy Schuman (Cherry Ridge 4-H Club) with his 8.5 and 9 pound birds.

Junior Division- 1^st place- Timothy Schuman (Cherry Ridge 4-H Club)

Intermediate Division- 1^st-3^rd place

Drew Rutledge (Bethany 4-H Club), Paige Gries (Laurella 4-H Club), Karleigh Weist (Explorers 4-H Club)

Grand Champion Turkey: Charles Moran (Bethany 4-H Club)

The 4-H Pumpkin, Onion, Potato, Meat Bird, and Turkey Projects are just a few of the over 100 projects offered through the Wayne County 4-H Program. For additional information please contact the Wayne County Extension Office by email at: WayneExt@psu.edu, or, by telephone at: 570-253-5970, extension 4110, or by visiting the Extension Office located at 648 Park Street (Park Street Complex), in Honesdale, PA.