YOU can’t have an agricultural show without a prize for the biggest pumpkin, and this year’s event at Tyrendarra is certainly not going to buck that trend.

The organisers of the farm and garden section want your fruit and vegetables at the footy sheds (a new venue) at the Tyrendarra Recreation Reserve on February 12 – and they want them to show off their environmental credentials.

Senior steward Sue Flood said there would be two categories – one for those who lived within 5km of Tyrendarra and the other for those outside that boundary.

There would be a points system in each category – three for first and two for second in each of the 41 sections (there are also three for children and an ‘extra’ for the sweetest honey) – and the winner of each category would get a sash.

Thanks to sponsor Des Gray of Heywood Hardware there would be a further prize for the overall winner.

The section would be judged by Jane Perkins, the owner of Admellas Fruit ‘N’ Veg, another sponsor of the event.

Fellow steward Jen Hutchinson said organisers were keen on making the section as environmentally friendly as possible.

“They usually bring it on a paper plate but we want them to jazz it up a bit,” she said.

“Presentation is a big thing, and lots of entries.”

Another of the organisers, Michelle Sparrow, said “we want something that’s re-usable and environmentally friendly – our whole thing is avoid bringing it in a plastic bag (or plate)”.

That might include a pot for the boiled vegetables or wok for the stir fry – really, anything but plastic.

“They’re all points as far as the judge is concerned, it’s just about using your imagination,” Ms Flood said.

“There’s no plastic, if you turn up with a plastic plate you’ve just lost points.”

Ms Flood said kids were encouraged to enter as well, and the Show needed all the support it could get.

“The whole Show is one where some people only meet once a year and it’s at the Tyrendarra Show,” she said.

“It’s a real agricultural show, there’s no sideshow alley or anything like that.

“Please, even if you don’t enter, come along and support it.”

To see the schedule for this year’s Show, visit www.tyrendarraagriculturalshow.com.au.