How cute is this little twin pumpkin? This is a shot from Apple Tasting. They have all these tiny pumpkins and the kids get to paint and decorate them. They all look so cute, shelves and shelves of little drying pumpkins.
If anyone remembers, it was once again time for Lord of the Gourd. I have to say that as a neighborhood function, it is a great time! We get all the neighbors to come with their pumpkins to weigh them, eat lots of food and gab the afternoon away in the front yard while all the kids get silly playing, climbing trees,getting wheelbarrow rides and trying to eat apples dangling from strings. Plus this year the reigning two year champ brought his motorcycle and let all the kids sit on it and rev the engine. Great fun for the kids but a little noisy and nerve wracking for the moms! For those who don't know him, my husband is the Pied Piper of Pumpkins around these parts. He loves a little competiton, loves to get everyone together doing something fun and he loves to grow his pumpkins. We take our pumpkins sort of seriously around here even though we have yet to have a really big one. Here is a shot of this years vines.
If you look toward the back you can see this guy:
The vine crawled up the neighboring hedge and this pumpkin was growing, dangling in mid air about four feet off the ground. My husband made a little perch for it so it could keep growing. It turned out to be 60 pounds! we had to keep adding supports to it as it grew- It was right in the front yard so it was quite a conversation starter. Well wouldn't you know that all these years of reading pumpkin books and tending his precious vegetables finally paid off and he made out as Lord of the Gourd this year! The crazy thing is he won by one pound! Ours came in at 108 and a friend up the street came in at 107. It was a nail biter those last few weeks because you could see they were neck and neck, plus we weren't sure if there were any big ones hiding in someone's back yard. Besides bragging rights, this now sits proudly on our mantel:
I found it at a garage sale this summer for a buck! I took the weights off and put the pumpkins in their place. If you look closely the guy has this grimacing strain on his face which is funny to me. I didn't know we would end up with it this year- the idea being it will pass on to the winner each year. Here he is cutting his pupkin into a jack o lantern last night. Artwork compliments of my daughter.
And check out the thickness of the wall! One thing I will say, even with all that thickness, home grown pumpkins are nice and soft to cut into.
I hope everyone has a really great and safe Halloween!
That's such a cute post! We live in an apartment complex and my neighbors are nice, but beer-guzzling bachelors...somehow I don't think that I could challenge them to pumpking growing contest, hahaha! The trophy is the best!
Posted by: geek+nerd | October 31, 2007 at 05:04 AM
Just checking on the Lord of the Gourd... I look forward to this post every year. You guys have a safe and fun Halloween... and enjoy that massive Jack-o-lantern.
Lori
Posted by: Lori | October 31, 2007 at 03:45 PM
This is great! I love that pumpkin on the perch. We moved into a new house this summer and I have big plans for a pumpkin patch next year. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!
Posted by: Paula | November 01, 2007 at 05:10 PM
Yay, Dave, Pumpkin Man!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!
Posted by: kristin Jones | November 02, 2007 at 11:34 AM
Lord of the Gord! Love that!! such pumpkin goodness!!
I have a THING for pumpkins..you may know...
Posted by: stephanie | November 02, 2007 at 11:34 AM