One highlight of autumn is pumpkin festivals. Pumpkin growers have nurtured those seedlings through to full growth from spring until fall. If you like to attend festivals, visit a pumpkin festival in your town or nearby.
Pumpkin growers who attend festivals use the growing season to find a winning specimen from the rows and rows of orange beauties. Careful watering, fungicides, fertilizers, and debugging, all work together to grow large pumpkins.
One part of the pumpkin festival is the weigh-off. This is when contestants enter their prized unblemished pumpkins in a contest to see who has grown the heaviest pumpkin for that year. Many growers live for the weigh-off.
Depending on the pumpkin variety you are growing, some grow larger than others. Super large pumpkins can grow to be over 150 pounds each. That is a big pumpkin. I struggle with carrying a ten pounder out of the patch for decoration.
Pumpkin weigh-offs occur all across the country in every state. Depending on the state, they are held between September and November each year. Most weigh-offs center around pumpkin or fall festivals. The heaviest pumpkin gets to hold the title and the ribbon for an entire year. Now, the pumpkin may not survive that long, but the ribbon will look great on the mantle attached to a picture of the winning squash.
