As most of us farmers wait for the dry-down of crops to wrap up and give us a signal that it's time to roll the combines and tractors into the fields; there are still things to watch.The great pumpkin in our side garden, for one thing.
Last winter, we were looking through the online seed catalog and came across seed packets for growing giant pumpkins.
These are pumpkins that can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds.
That's a lot of pie!
As it started growing, we made sure to cut all the other blossoms off so all the vines energy could be poured into it's fruit.
We placed a pallet under it and cushioned it with some left-over siding insulation so we could move it before Halloween.
Best I can tell right now, this pun'kin must weigh around 500 pounds or more. Enough to know that without some equipment we aren't able to move it unless the football team comes over.
There's a little contest amongst a few of us to see who can grow the largest one. I tried to help ours along by building a tent so it wouldn't start to get ripe too soon and stop growing.
I think we're in good shape; it's certainly bigger than any pumpkin I've ever seen up close. The circumference method of weighing the pumpkin gives us a bit of an idea and this one is measuring more than 150" around - which should equal 739 pounds.
The kids are pretty excited about it. The want to know if we'll carve it (unlikely) or turn it into pie (even less likely). I think the women are planning to put the large gourd on display with the other autumn talismans out by the road in front of the house.
That's fine. I don't care that much where the pumpkin goes; I'm more concerned with how it grows and how big it might get.
In a couple weeks when we load it into the pickup truck for the weigh-in down at the co-op, we can see who gets the bragging rights for the largest pumpkin in 2014.
Catch up with the entire story here.
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