Creative at Heart: AGRO Art Contest

The quirky competition will happen at the annual Castroville Artichoke Food & Wine Festival.

LEAVES, HEART, ART: Not playing with one's food is generally important while sitting at the table, for multiple reasons. But the leaves of an artichoke, especially after you've munched upon them and they're now piling up on a plate nearby, are especially tempting. You can make a mini-fan, or created a tiny structure, or imagine several other ways for those oblong-amazing leaves to be re-imagined. In fact, where the leaves first sprung from, the artichoke, is a pretty spectacular edible object, too, with its iconic shape, and spiky-tipped leaves, and the thick stem at the bottom, the one that leads to the delicious, cooked-tender center of the green globe. It's a thistle with kapow, so much so it appears on illustrated posters created specifically for the kitchen and oodles of kitchenware, too, from teapots to potholders. Can the artichoke, though, transform into a quirky 'n cute figure, complete with a personality of sorts? Find out at the...

AGRO ART... competition at the 2017 Castroville Artichoke Food & Wine Festival. The delish to-do will once again take place at the Monterey County Fairgrounds & Event Center, but note that it happens on the first day of the festival, Saturday, June 3. (The full fest stretches out for two days, June 3 and 4.) "Area artists, culinary whizzes, and school teams are encouraged..." to take part, and participants should be at least 5 years old. The goal? Fashion a "sculpture" from fruit and vegetables. Artichokes are frequently involved in the final artworks, but pineapples, squash, and other yummy things from the produce aisle have been spied in years gone by. Are you an artist and artichoke aficionado? This may be your ultimate event. There are details to know, so read up before making for Monterey for this slice of late-spring, get-creative sweetness.

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