Sometimes the way to find common ground is through the absurd.

Nearly every year we rally whoever is around to join in the inimitable yet under-represented Vegetable Sculpture category (5c-89) of the Horticulture and Floriculture exhibition at the Alberni District Fall Fair, a way for art and agriculture to intersect, soil to studio. The process is improvisational and even a little stressful at times. You have to commit (register) a week or two ahead of time, so you might have an idea of what will be ready to harvest, but it's not 100%. Then, you need to harvest your vegetables and create your sculpture the day it is due. The sculptures have to be able to survive four days of late summer heat and crowds walking by; we have learned the hard way, even sturdy leaves do not hold up. In 2025, Tawney Lem's ridiculous bird-thing complete with zoodles nest and hatching baby-bird-thing won a coveted President's Award of Excellence ribbon. That's actually a pretty big deal.

In addition to participating in growing and harvesting dialogues and community agriculture and events, this annual practice is a way to loosen up, to work quickly, to work with materials we don't usually use, and to not take things too seriously.