Havi Hoffman wrote:
>
> Greetings Duncan--
>
> I wanted to let you know that I've linked to your Pumpkin pages on my
> Vegetable Gardens Web site at The Mining Company
> <http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com>
> in my *New Feature* article called "Pumpkin Envy". When the week is up
> this feature will be archived at:
> <http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa100997.htm>
>
Here it is for those of you who don't want to read it on the web.
Pumpkin Envy
Dateline: 10/09/97
"There were giants in the earth in those days." It's October, season
of the giant pumpkin harvest. Across North America pumpkins the
size of yugos are being coaxed onto tarps and pallets, into the back
of pickups, with the help of hydraulic hoists and teams of extended
family and friends. This is the grand finale to a nerve-wracking 130
day growing season, that begins sometime in early spring with
Dill's Atlantic Giant pumpkin seed, started indoors or direct seeded
in a protective cold-framed or mobile greenhouse shelter. The pumpkins
are fed and fussed
over, measured weekly. Eight to ten weeks after germinating flowers
appear. Time to
hand-pollinate. By July 10 if all goes well, the pumpkin sets fruit. By
late July one prize
pumpkin has been selected, and it's on with the show.
Here in cyberspace, Jeanie Dixon, a gourd grower and gourd-artist from
Pasco,
Washington has posted photos and results from several of this year's
leading contests on
her Gourds by Jeanie homepage. 1997's winner to date is a 977 lb.
California pumpkin
named JABBA, grown by Chris Andersen of Moraga, CA. Sherry La Rue grew a
larger pumpkin, tipping the scales at 1061 lbs. at the Pacific Northwest
Giant Pumpkin
Growers weigh-in on Saturday October 4. Sherry's pumpkin, (same weight
as the current
world record holder), was disqualified because of a small crack.
Champion pumpkins
must be solid-- no soft spots no splits. The judges failed to notice the
split, but Sherry
spoke up.
Some allege that sportsmanship and fair play are not always the rule at
these competitions,
where cash prizes, new pickup trucks, Guiness record book recognition
and a TV
appearance with Kathi Lee are just some of what's at stake. If you like
to read a good fight
story check out Michael Vitez' piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It
follows a
season in the life of a Wilkes-Barre,PA pumpkin grower. 1000 Pounds or
Pie covers the
cut-throat politics and eccentric characters of monster squash-breeding
as competitive
sport.
1996 was the year that the half-ton barrier was officially broken. Giant
pumpkin
competition really hit its stride in the early 1980s with Howard Dill, a
Nova Scotia dairy
farmer turned breeder of giants. In Canada, Ontario farmer Bill Greer
came up with a 1006
pounder. Across the border, at Ray Waterman's Collins, New York World
Pumpkin
Confederation event, Paula and Nathan Zehr set a new world record with
their 1061 lb.
giant, which Paula claims she hugged twice a day during the growing
season. If Howard
Dill is the founding father of this sport, and of the Atlantic Giant
seed strain, then
Waterman is its Don King.
I learned all this, and lots more, at Dan Gardner's world class Web site
for World Class
Giant Pumpkins. This is the Great Pumpkin site of every grower's dreams.
It covers the
pros, the fans, the venues, page after page of growing tips and
techniques, as well as links
to resources for gardeners, carvers and cooks. Dan grows Atlantic
Giants, but his real
calling is to chronicle the mighty Cucurbit maxima.
If your ambitions are less hefty, and you're a happy amateur looking for
a second opinion
or a word of encouragement, be sure to visit Duncan McAlpine's friendly
pumpkin
Web site. How to Grow Atlantic Giant Pumpkins walks you step by step
through soil
preparation, selecting and planting a seed, watering, feeding,
pollinating, protecting,
shading, positioning the vine, logging measurements. His pumpkin pages
offer the Web's
most thorough collection of pumpkin clip art, and his 1996 208 lb.
contender won special
honors as Washington state's "ugliest pumpkin."
Ohio State University Extension offer a plain text fact sheet on
Growing Giant Pumpkins In The Home Garden, that's easy to
print. If you prefer carving jack-o-lanterns to growing your own
Jack-O-Lantern.com is the Web site for you. They've got stencils
and designs that work on watermelons too (all in the family), so
stop back and try them for the Fourth of July. If none of this
pumpkin stuff appeals to you then maybe you agree with Tom
Clothier that pumpkins are worthless,...you should be growing
Butternut squash instead.
As for me, my greatest pumpkin-growing triumph came one October in
Alaska's
Matanuska Valley, with a USDA Zone 3 frost-free growing season of 90-100
days. I grew
Johnny's Seed Baby Bear variety, an All-America winner, sometimes called
"the perfect
mini-pumpkin." I was able to harvest 20+ lovely little jack-o-lanterns
before the snows
fell. There was one for each child in my 3 year old daughter's
pre-school class to decorate
for Halloween. They ranged in size from a softball to a soccer ball, and
glowed classic
autumn orange. Territorial Seed, an Oregon vendor offers an intriguing
collection of
heirloom and hybrid Cucurbit pepo and Cucurbit maxima, for pumpkins in a
variety of
shapes, colors, and sizes.
Want to speak your mind or ask a question on a vegetable gardening
topic? Do you have a
giant pumpkin passion to share? Send email to Vegetable Gardens.
--Havi
--
I hope you liked it
Duncan McAlpine, Federal Way, WA m*@eskimo.com
Why buy plants when you can grow them yourself.....?
http://www.eskimo.com/~mcalpin/
http://www.eskimo.com/~mcalpin/pumkin.html
-- BEGIN included message
- To: m*@eskimo.com
- Subject: link@Vegetable Gardens
- From: H* H* <v*@miningco.com>
- Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:30:01 -0700
Greetings Duncan-- I wanted to let you know that I've linked to your Pumpkin pages on my Vegetable Gardens Web site at The Mining Company <http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com> in my *New Feature* article called "Pumpkin Envy". When the week is up this feature will be archived at: <http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa100997.htm> Hope your 97 harvest was a success. Regards, Havi Havi Hoffman *************************************************** http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com vegetablegarden.guide@miningco.com *************************************************** this week's feature--Pumpkin Envy Garden Variety Newsletter--a new veg variety each week To subscribe: http://vegetablegarden.miningco.com/blvar.htm ****************************************************
-- END included message