Post by: RHPConsult on October 11, 2006, 01:44:56 PM
Grower wins weigh-off at Half Moon Bay event for third year in a row
By Julia Scott = , STAFF WRITER
HALF MOON BAY - Wieighing just more than a Model T Ford, Joel Hollands enormous squash took first place in the Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off Monday.
Holland of Puyallup, Wash., conquered the weigh-off for the third time in three years with a 1,223-pound giant that netted him $6,115 in prize money.
Last years winning weight was 1,229 pounds.
The money was good, said Holland, a retired firefighter. But the real thrill for Holland and many others who enter the contest is seeing what can be coaxed from the thick soil in their backyards.
Giant pumpkins are the ultimate thing to grow. Its the largest vegetable. These things can gain 30 pounds a day at their peak, said Holland, whoalso grows extra-tall sunflowers and giant cornstalks (up to 20 feet) for fun.
A special pumpkin seed, cooperative weather, a heavy dose of luck and a lot of practice are the essential ingredients for a giant pumpkin, Holland said.
"All the information is out there — there's no real secret. It's just who works the hardest and has the best seed," he said.
Holland gives one of his champion seeds to anyone who orders a copy of his how-to movie, titled "Holland's Land o'Giants." Holland sells 500 DVDs a year, priced at $30 on Amazon.com.
Few real farmers take part in the contest, which has become dominated by hobbyist growers who parlay their success into lucrative seed-selling businesses.
Half Moon Bay farmers John and Eda Muller, who set the all-time record for San Mateo County on Monday with a 679-pound Atlantic giant they named Vincenzo, were among the only full-time farmers to compete.
"It gives us some recognition of the hard work we all put in to survive in agriculture. We have to keep the tradition alive in San Mateo County, because there's so few of us left," Muller said.
No Coastsider has won the Half Moon Bay competition since 1977. Back then, the winning "giant" was only 200 pounds. A lot has changed since then: On Saturday, a Rhode Island farmer set a new world record with a 1,502-pound pumpkin at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Championship.
The process of cross-pollinating winning seeds with other giant pumpkins has accounted for the staggering increase in size for Atlantic giants over the past few decades, according to Holland.
"I think it's a process of natural selection — growers saving seeds from their largest fruit each year and crossing them with other giant pumpkins," he said.
This year, seeds from the Rhode Island winner would auction off for $500 each, estimated Gary Miller, a Napa landscaper whose 1,280-pound pumpkin set a state record at the Elk Grove pumpkin weigh-off this Saturday.
"Everyone wants to find that magic seed," he said.
For Miller, it's not about the money. The reaction he gets when he goes anywhere in public with his giant pumpkins makes the months of work to grow them worth it.
"They're magical. When children look at them, ... if you could read their minds, it's like they believe there really is a Santa Claus," he said.
Even though Monday's competition featured gigantic pumpkins scientifically grown, Monday's runner-up, 11-year-old Amanda Zunino of Los Altos Hills, says her secret has less to do with Mother Nature. She grew her 1,191-pound pumpkin in her backyard with her father's supervision and whispered Robert Frost poems to the gourd, which she named Artemis.
"I gave it a lot of love and a lot of manure," she said.
• • •
So, Paddy, how 'bout a dispatch from the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Championship.
And Beacher, notice the winner was from Puyallup!
Post by: Jack W on October 11, 2006, 02:47:06 PM
It musta took a LOT of B...S... ,
oh, pardon me , — manure to grow that one!Now, that was an OT worth looking at!
Jack
Post by: Paddy on October 11, 2006, 05:05:25 PM
For this year's winners (we grow 'em bigger on the right coast!
):http://www.topsfieldfair.org/tour/giant%20pumpkin2.htm
Post by: RHPConsult on October 11, 2006, 06:23:32 PM
It's easy to admire the winning harvest of the Topsfield Fair.
Thanks, Paddy.
Post by: Gregg on October 11, 2006, 08:49:56 PM
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 12, 2006, 06:15:49 PM
QUOTE
farmers John and Eda Muller, were among the only full-time farmers to compete.
How hard is it to grow giant pumpkins when you have to be among non-exisitent farmers? Were they among a few farmers or were they the only farmers? 
It must be tough being among the only...
Post by: RHPConsult on October 12, 2006, 06:32:47 PM
- There are many "full-time farmers" in the county on > 125 farms, with products >$150,000,000 annually
- Their products range from 75% of the nation's brussels sprouts . . . to a huge proportion of the cut flowers sold in metropolitan markets nationwide . . . to a sigificant crop of artichokes, etc.
- Only 2, ostensibly, decided to take the time to feed and water something that grows 30 POUNDS per day
Unless you'd rather have the brussels sprouts.
Post by: Gregg on October 12, 2006, 09:05:00 PM
ABD, perhaps there was a group of farmers there, and the winners were in the same tent - mingling. ....We once bought a brand of syrup that proclaimed on its label "Made with ONLY Grade A Butter". Uh, I believe that makes it butter, not syrup.
Post by: krissel on October 13, 2006, 04:34:27 AM
QUOTE(RHPConsult @ Oct 12 2006, 07:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Unless you'd rather have the brussels sprouts.
Post by: RHPConsult on October 13, 2006, 08:38:52 AM
And Greg, I think it can go "either" way, capitalized or not . . . another milestone of nouns becoming adjectives . . . sorta!
PS: Is this thread going to win the award in 2006 for Widest/Broadest Meandering?
Post by: RNKIII on October 13, 2006, 09:00:35 AM
Brussel sprouts.... they grow them on recycled yogurt don't they???
Bob K rnkiii
Post by: dolphin on October 14, 2006, 08:28:32 AM
that's a bigun...both on the west coast and from New England.The PUMPKIN Festival begins in Circleville, O-HI-O next week. I'll see if I can get a pic of the winner, to see how it matches up.
Post by: RHPConsult on October 14, 2006, 10:18:13 AM
QUOTE(RNKIII @ Oct 13 2006, 07:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Brussel sprouts.... they grow them on recycled yogurt don't they???
Bob K rnkiii
Before you waste your weekend trying to figger-out Mr. RNKIII, please know that this is a waaay inside joke appreciated by but a very small subset of TeeEssers. Bob K rnkiii
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 16, 2006, 04:37:21 PM
QUOTE
"Made with ONLY Grade A Butter". Uh, I believe that makes it butter, not syrup.
Depends on how sweet you like your syrup and how warm the butter is. I know what only I like! QUOTE
There are many "full-time farmers" in the county...
But "John and Eda Muller, were among the only full-time farmers". Besides, I kinda assumed they were among the same farm family ( by marriage or by parentage! ). I think what the writer meant was that John and Eda were the only full-time farmers among the competitors, not among the full-timers...Words misplaced an interesting sentence make?
Post by: weldiger on October 16, 2006, 08:09:05 PM
Course we got bigger ones than that on the Punkin Patch Mt., just a hoot & a holler from Loafer's Glory!
Fact is I kin see some 'em frum rite here, might near evry time I take a nip frum this here jug.
Post by: dolphin on October 19, 2006, 05:51:21 AM
QUOTE(RHPConsult @ Oct 11 2006, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
from yesterday's San Mateo County (California) Times . . .
Grower wins weigh-off at Half Moon Bay event for third year in a row
By Julia Scott = , STAFF WRITER
Holland of Puyallup, Wash., conquered the weigh-off for the third time in three years with a 1,223-pound giant that netted him $6,115 in prize money.
Last years winning weight was 1,229 pounds.
Pumpkin Growers Championship.
Grower wins weigh-off at Half Moon Bay event for third year in a row
By Julia Scott = , STAFF WRITER
Holland of Puyallup, Wash., conquered the weigh-off for the third time in three years with a 1,223-pound giant that netted him $6,115 in prize money.
Last years winning weight was 1,229 pounds.
Pumpkin Growers Championship.
WELL...the winner of this year's Circlville, OHIO pumpkin festival pales in comparison to this at a mere 433.5 lbs.
Post by: Gregg on October 19, 2006, 07:46:29 AM
Post by: gunug on October 19, 2006, 08:54:50 AM