Smallest Pumpkin Contest

Tiny Pumpkin Photo by Jerry Apps
As we slowly move into autumn, one national event captures attention each year—who has grown the largest pumpkin? I thought about the big pumpkin contests for a couple of years when I managed to grow a pumpkin that weighed nearly 150 pounds if I remember correctly. Perhaps a memory about big pumpkins is like big fish, they grow bigger in memory over time, but it was a big pumpkin.

I did a little checking and discovered that in 2019, 34 states held or are holding a big pumpkin contest, beginning with Alaska with its “Midnight Sun Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off” held last August in Palmer. California has eight different pumpkin festivals scattered around the state. New Hampshire has five, as does Michigan. Four pumpkin festivals are noted for Wisconsin including the Nekoosa “Giant Pumpkin Festival slated for October 5-6.

Wondering who got the prize for the biggest pumpkin in 2018? This giant of all pumpkins for the year weighed 2,528 pounds and was grown by a fellow in New Hampshire and exhibited at the Deerfield Fair in that state.

Quickly realizing that with my sandy, western Waushara County soil, my chances of growing a pumpkin weighing a ton were nil to none. So, taking the pumpkin by its stem, I decided to begin a new pumpkin contest. It’s a contest for the poor soil gardeners who never win anything in the “Big” category. Who can grow the smallest pumpkin? I offer the above as my entry. It is one inch across—a fully formed, orange pumpkin. Anyone with a smaller pumpkin?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Small can be beautiful.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 1, (Tuesday), 12:15 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, on the Square in Downtown Madison. Topic: The Land Still Lives.

October 5, (Saturday), 10-2:00 p.m. Dregne’s, Westby. Book signing with Daughter, Sue.

October 22, (Tuesday) 6;30 Sun Prairie Public Library, Sun Prairie, WI

October 24, (Thursday) 1:00 p.m. Friends of Muehl Public Library and Outagamie County Home and Community Education Assoc. Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 349 N. Main St. , Seymour, WI “Rural Wit and Wisdom”

November 9, (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. 2nd Sat. Plymouth Art Center, Plymouth, WI. Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. “Farm Winter With Jerry Apps

November 14, (Thursday) 6:00 p.m. Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose. The Land Still lives launch.

November 18, 1:00 p.m. Kiel Public Library, Kiel, WI. “Wisconsin. CCC”

To learn more about my gardening efforts, pick up a copy of my book, Garden Wisdom, Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
Available for purchase from your local bookstore or buy them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org