Estes: It’s crunch time for 4-H projects

The old saying that “time flies” couldn’t be more true. There is still so much to do and the Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair is less than a month away.

Last minute, my son decided to change his 4-H Lego Project and go with a different idea and he is currently on the second bag of a 1,355-piece creation.

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad that he loves doing Legos and trying ones that are challenging, but it makes me nervous because once the Lego is done we have to find a wood board with size requirements that it must be on, and to make the board look less tacky, Graham helps me spray paint it with a color that accentuates and makes the Legos look good.

On top of his Lego Project, he has also been busy with his sheep and spends several days at my parents’ house in Johnson County, helping work his sheep, wash and shear them and spend time walking them.

When it comes to Addy’s projects, her drawing falls into the fine arts category. Despite having more than 20 years of experience related to 4-H, none of my siblings or parents have done or judged fine arts and we have never entered a drawing.

For an 8-year-old in her first year of 4-H, I think her drawing is very creative and good. However, on her sky and grass, she got a bit uneven with her coloring lines.

However, after spending four days drawing it, she didn’t want to start over. She was so proud of her work, which made me proud of her.

Yesterday, we went to a local arts and crafts store and got it framed to the specifications in the fair handbook. Once it was framed, she was even more proud of her drawing and is excited to turn it in during judging week.

On the vegetable gardening side of things, her herbs are still alive, which I count as a win. When it comes to her pepper plants, she is doing a good job taking care of them, but they are getting too tall and are bending at the base of the plant, so we are going to try staking them and see if that helps.