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The Quest for the Great Pumpkin

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Global Competition to Grown ... ( AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) ... By Sara Blask, Karen McCabe and other news reports. October 11, 2005, Warren, RI Tis the season. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The Quest for the Great Pumpkin


1
The Quest for the Great Pumpkin
  • How Teamwork, Sharing Knowledge, and Alliances
    are creatingthe World Largest Pumpkins

2
Global Competition to Grown the Giant
PumpkinObesity Triumphs Pumpkins have tripled
in weight in the last 25 yearsThe ONE TON
Pumpkin will arrive in a few years
Simon McKim, 2, of Rehobeth, Mass., checks out
the 1,443 pound champion pumpkin grown by Scott
Palmer of Coventry, R.I., at the Southern New
England Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off in Warren, R.I.,
on Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. Palmer's pumpkin set a
new New England record, just 3 pounds shy of the
World Record held by a Canadian from Ontario.
Maddison Harder, 3, climbs on Joel Holland's
prize-winning-record, 1,229-pound Atlantic Giant
pumpkin at the annual Safeway World Championship
Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif.,
Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. The pumpkin is 3 feet, 9
inches high. He wins 6,145 for his efforts, at
5 per pound. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
3
The Great Pumpkin Story 2005
  • 1,443-Pound Pumpkin Wins CompetitionBy Sara
    Blask, Karen McCabe and other news reports
  • October 11, 2005, Warren, RI Tis the season.
    The super-sized pumpkin season. Scott Palmer took
    top honors at the 12th annual Rhode Island
    Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers
    Championship yesterday with a behemoth entry
    weighing 1,443 pounds, making it the third
    heaviest pumpkin ever weighed. Palmer was one
    of 33 entrants in yesterdays contest held at
    Frerichs Farm in Warren, Rhode Island. Weigh-off
    competitions are held in the United States,
    Canada, Germany, and Japan. Entrants arrive at
    the farm on weigh day, lugging their oversize
    fruit in on trucks and trailers, where a forklift
    awaits the pumpkins arrival as if its royalty.
    From there, the pumpkins are placed in a ring and
    then weighed by a certified technician. Best
    day of my life. I got my family here, helped me
    grow it all year, what else is there to say?
    Palmer, a welder, told the Associated Press. A
    3,500 check made Palmers victory all the
    sweeter. Its really family-oriented, this
    sport of pumpkin growing, said David Frerichs,
    owner of Frerichs Farm, There are many
    inter-family competitions, as well as husband and
    wife competitions. Usually the rule is that the
    other person has to buy dinner. I think the wife
    won this year. Frerichs estimates that the
    entrants pumpkins weighed a combined total of
    ten tons. Competitors can use a tape measure to
    approximate the weight of the pumpkin but are
    forbidden from weighing their pumpkin before the
    contest. Palmer missed the world record by a
    mere three pounds. A 1,446-pound pumpkin was
    grown last year by Al Eaton in Ontario, Canada.
    Guys all over the country will now want some
    Scotty Palmer seeds, Frerichs said.
  • Steven Sperry of Johnston Rhode Island was the
    2004 giant winner with a 1,253-pound pumpkin, and
    Fred Macari of Coventry, R.I., placed second with
    a 1,173.4-pound pumpkin. Some giant-pumpkin
    growers spend thousands of dollars and some spend
    a few hundred on what many refer to as their
    obsession. Its roots may have begun in Canada,
    with a man named Howard Dill, and the craze
    appears to have spread from Canada to Australia
    and almost every continent in between over the
    past 20 years
  • Most prized pumpkins are Atlantic Giants,
    developed by Howard Dill, a farmer in Nova
    Scotia, about 30 years ago. The seeds, now
    cultivated on 20 acres, are distributed by more
    than 50 seed companies worldwide. They are sold
    on the Internet at www.howarddill.com. ''It's
    just amazing to me how this has taken off," Dill,
    71, said by telephone from Nova Scotia. ''People
    all over the world dedicate their whole growing
    season to this.
  • Although somewhere along the line a Dill seed got
    them growing, giant pumpkins can also be grown
    from the seeds of a past giant gourd. Growers
    scoop out seeds, dry them, and plant them the
    next season. Cross-pollination has also led to
    pumpkins tripling in weight since Howard Dill
    himself set a world record with a 438.5-pound
    pumpkin in 1979 in Philadelphia.
  • Pumpkins thrive on organic matter. While there is
    no contest ban on artificial fertilizers,
    pumpkins grow best with cow manure, compost, and
    seaweed as fertilizer. Growing a giant pumpkin
    requires a lot of time, patience, and money. From
    April to September, growers spend as much as 50
    hours a week fertilizing, weeding, pruning, and
    adding as much as 50 gallons of water a day in
    August, the peak growing season, when the
    pumpkins can gain 35 to 40 pounds a day or more,
    growers said.
  • Farmers often track the pedigree of their
    pumpkins by figuring out where their seeds
    originated. In fact, people often auction their
    big pumpkin seeds on the Web site,
    www.bigpumpkins.com, which aims to promote the
    exciting sport/hobby of giant pumpkin growing by
    helping new comers get started.
  • The challenge to grow giant pumpkins is time
    consuming, intensive and rewarding but can
    sometimes be downright disappointing. "Theres
    a lot of luck involved, and my family and I have
    been extremely lucky," Daignault, winner of the
    Topsfield contest said, "You can do everything
    right and things can still go wrong." His
    family has had pumpkins rot from the inside from
    too much watering. One hailstorm can destroy a
    seasons work too much rain wont leave enough
    time to fertilize, and drastic changes in the
    weather can cause the pumpkins to split and
    explode.

4
The Quest for the Great PumpkinInnovation can be
a Back Yard Affair
  • Its about Co-opetition!
  • WARREN, Rhode Island Dick Wallace, director
    for the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin
    Growers Association (SNEGPGA), said there is
    "quite a contingency of growers in Rhode
    Island."Wallace said the SNEGPGA works with a
    goal for the common club. He described the group
    as being "like a band of brothers," but added
    that each member has to do their own work in
    their patches. However, if a grower is in
    trouble, they have other members who are willing
    to help out.Wallace said the SNEGPGA had
    members competing in individual competition but
    said they also compete as a club against other
    Giant Pumpkin clubs.The 12th Annual Rhode
    Island Giant Pumpkin Growers Championship, held
    at Frerichs Farm in Warren, was the number one
    weigh-off of 26 sites worldwide under the Giant
    Pumpkin Community banner. According to Wallace,
    this year's weigh-off in Warren broke the world
    record for the average of the top 10 pumpkins'
    weights with a mean of 1,174.8 pounds. He said
    the top 10 included one pumpkin over 1,400
    pounds, three over 1,300 pounds and "a couple"
    over 1,200 pounds. Scott Palmer, winner of this
    years contest, said he met Wallace three years
    ago and that one of the first things the director
    did was sit with him in his garden and show him
    what he needed to do to grow giant
    pumpkins."I'll never forget any of that stuff,"
    Palmer said. He said members often visit and
    help one another and described the group as
    close-knit. Palmer said that the SNEGPGA had
    worked hard all year holding fund raisers and
    that Wallace and other directors have brought the
    club to "another level.
  • The Ipswich Bay Pumpkin Growers, a group formed
    last year by a handful of growers from Ipswich
    and Topsfield, regularly get together. Their
    official uniform is a denim shirt with a pumpkin
    logo.They swap seeds and planting tips. They
    talk about the newest fertilizers, and lament
    high water bills. They also are pumpkin
    ambassadors, hosting picnics for members of the
    New England Pumpkin Growers Association, , a
    group of about 140 members, based in New
    Hampshire.They go on peeping tours of each
    other's patches. And on the day before the
    Topsfield Fair, they use a homemade
    crane-and-pulley, to help each other hoist the
    giant orbs into pickup trucks. And then it's off
    to the fair.''There aren't that many people
    interested in growing world-class pumpkins," said
    Lancaster, 59, an eight-year grower, whose
    1,100-pounder placed eighth at the Topsfield
    Fair. ''We all pretty much help each
    other.Growers are typically not professional
    farmers, but average people who work other jobs
    and use small acreage plots to grow their
    pumpkins as a hobby.

Warren is the Smallest Town in the Smallest
County in the Smallest State in the US
5
What you BELIEVE affects the OUTCOME
6
What you BELIEVE affects the OUTCOME
7
What you BELIEVE affects the OUTCOME
8
What you BELIEVE affects the OUTCOME
9
What you BELIEVE affects the OUTCOME
10
2006 World Largest Pumpkin!1502 lbs
  • Ron Wallace from Scituate, Rhode Island

11
  • 2006 - Ron Wallace and his 1502 pound World
    Record! See the collection of photos
    submitted...Created on 10/14/2006 ----- Last
    updated on 10/14/2006 2005 - Larry Checkon and
    his 1,469 pound World Record! See the collection
    of photos submitted...Created on 10/1/2005 -----
    Last updated on 10/3/2005 2004 - Al Eaton and
    his 1,446 pound World Record! See the collection
    of photos submitted...Updated with Scott Cully's
    carvings...Created on 10/11/2004 ----- Last
    updated on 11/12/2004 2003 - Steve Daletas and
    his 1,385 pound World Record! See the collection
    of photos submitted... Created on 10/5/2003
    ----- Last updated on 10/5/2003 2002 - Charlie
    Houghton and his 1337.6 pound World Record See
    the collection of photos submitted... Created on
    10/31/2002 ----- Last updated on 10/31/2002
    2001 - Geneva Emmons and her 1262 pound World
    Record See the collection of photos
    submitted...Created on 10/14/2001 ----- Last
    updated on 10/14/2001 2000 - Dave Stelts and
    his 1140 pound World Record See the collection
    of photos submitted...Created on 10/10/2000
    ----- Last updated on 10/10/2000

12
  • 1,502.00 Wallace, Ron Greene Rhode Island United
    States
  • 1,450.00 Wallace, Dick Greene Rhode Island
  • Most championship pumpkin growers plant in April
    with special seeds, keeping them warm in the
    first weeks and then gorging the squash with
    water and sunlight. Many are of the Atlantic
    Giant species (cucurbita maxima) and can gain
    more than a pound of weight every hour in the
    months before being picked. Some of the growers
    spend hours every day tending to their pumpkins,
    which can thrive on plots as small as 500 square
    feet. Holland, who toted a video camera during
    the contest, sells DVDs with his growing secrets
    and produces seeds that are coveted by other
    growers.

13
(No Transcript)
14
  • OK Charlie Brown, you have nothing to compare to
    Rhode Islands giant pumpkin. On October 11,
    2003, the State held its 10th annual
  • giant pumpkin championship at Frerichs Farm in
    Warren, RI. While rumors were being heard there
    might be a pumpkin grown right here in the Ocean
    State weighing over a half a ton, it was
    difficult to believe. Who could imagine a pumpkin
    weighing a 1000 pounds. When pumpkins were being
    unloaded for the weigh in, everyone in
    attendance was mesmerized by orange color and
    behemiths of pumpkins.
  • Frerichs Farm provide a setting and aura for a
    spectacular fall day. The Farm provided hayrides,
    small pumpkin painting, and face painting for the
    children. Adults had the opportunity to purchase
    fall mums, sugar pumpkins, fresh vegetables, and
    visit the Christmas Shop. There was something for
    both young and older a like to enjoy. Nothing can
    compare in watching a young child or adult
    viewing their first site of a giant pumpkin. But
    the site of viewing a new Rhode Island record for
    a giant pumpkin is impossible to describe. In
    fact, has the Frerichs tractor was ready to
    unload its new record pumpkin from a truck it
    appeared this would be one unusual and difficult
    task. Finally, the tractor lifted the pumpkin out
    of the truck and suddenly appeared a beautiful
    huge bright orange pumpkin. Sometimes pumpkins
    may be large, but lack that bright orange color.
    It is important to note, a giant pumpkin must be
    a minimum of eighty percent orange. If a pumpkin
    is less than eighty percent orange, it is
    considered a squash. Rhode Islands Giant Pumpkin
    Championship had over 40 entries. From large to
    larger, it was evident Rhode Island was about to
    break a State record. A 1222.5 pound pumpkin
    grown by Joe Jutra of Scituate, RI took the new
    State record and this years Castellucci Cup.
    John Castellucci started the Rhode Island State
    Championship just ten years ago. The State named
    the Cup after him. Mr. Castellucci won the cup
    last year with a 951 pound pumpkin. Each year,
    the Castellucci Cup is forwarded and presented to
    the individual who grew the largest pumpkin in
    the State.
  • No one ever dreamed, just ten years ago, Rhode
    Island would ever grow a pumpkin weighing over
    1222 pounds. Now, the real question is, when will
    the Ocean State grow a giant pumpkin weighing
    more than 1500 pounds?
  • Attend and watch next years Rhode Island Giant
    Pumpkin Championship at Frerichs Farm on October
    9, 2004. A new State record is more than likely
    to occur. Congratulations go out to all Rhode
    Island giant pumpkin growers for a great year.
  • The Rhode Island Great Pumpkin Contest Results
  • Rhode Island DEM
  • Jan H. Reitsma, Director
  • 235 Promenade St.
  • Providence, RI 02908
  • Vol. 2, No. 3
  • Visit us at www.state.ri.us/dem

15
  • According to Gail Damerow, author of The Perfect
    Pumpkin, competitive pumpkin growing got its
    start in 1893 when William Warnock of Goderivch,
    Ontario, Canada grew a 365-pound pumpkin. He
    broke his world record two more times, each time
    displaying his world record-breaking pumpkin at
    the Worlds Fair. In 1905, Warnock wrote down the
    basics of growing colossal pumpkins, and these
    basics are still followed today by giant pumpkins
    growers 101 years later.Dills Atlantic Giant is
    the most popular pumpkin seed used by competitive
    growers.
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