Ciscoe Morris gives away a pair of gloves at the fair on Thursday.

“Holy cats!” rang through the air at the Pole Building early Thursday afternoon, and you knew gardening guru Ciscoe Morris was in the house.
“Oo-la-la!” was the introduction for Morris, Seattle TV and radio gardening celebrity, who spoke, actually shouted, to about 50 people on the first day of the fair.
“I come to Whidbey Island all the time, but I usually bring my Boxer,” Morris said. “This time
I came by myself!”
The hyper Morris challenged the audience to “Stump the chump!” for prizes.
“I used to throw Brussels sprouts at people who give the wrong answers,” he said. “This year it’s beets — they go a lot farther and go splat!”
He said his questions are so hard, “they send people into tizzies of fear!”
Then he turned to tomatoes and potatoes. He showed a canvas contraption from which you could grow tomatoes hanging from a beam.
He said the Sun Gold variety of tomato tastes the best, and always wins the contests.
As for spuds, which can turn toxic if left in sunlight, he said: “Never eat a green potato!”
Sharon Lundgren of Langley grabbed a front-row seat for the program.
“I love my garden and thought I could learn something,” she said.
“I need help!”