The Great Pumpkin Challenge!

There is no doubt that we live in very interesting times. So far this year we have seen worldwide, multiple occurrences of such previously rare events as mass bird and fish deaths, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, cyclones and mega snowstorms. The omens are kind of, well, ominous. Change on a planetary scale seems to be happening, and happening fast! So what to do?

For us, the events above have prompted us to make sure we have a lot more fun this year…. Go to more plays, dinners, concerts, parties and talks. The only time we have is the present and the present is still pretty damn good, and not to be wasted!

And the usual advice to safeguard your welfare against any eventuality – be as self sufficient as possible, grow and store food, and strengthen ties with your local community network – is still as relevant as ever.

So what has that got to do with Giant Pumpkins? As it turns out, plenty!

As part of our local community strengthening, we’re helping organize Produce Markets in our area and someone came up with the brilliant idea of running a competition to see who could grow the biggest Giant Atlantic Pumpkin by the time the markets are on, 20 March. So seeds were sold late last spring and the race is on.

Apart from being a wonderful marketing and promotional tool, the Great Pumpkin Challenge as it has become known is turning out to be a fantastic way to encourage people to have a go at growing food. The competition is the motivation, and the experience will hopefully inspire them to do more. It’s win-win as the more people who grow food in your local area, the stronger you all are. Just by following the simple steps on the instruction sheet given out with the seeds, people automatically learn the basic principles that go towards growing great vegetables.

These were, in a nutshell:

• Plant into a mound of well rotted compost – that takes care of the need for good drainage and plenty of organic matter to feed on.
• Water adequately.
• Mulch well to preserve ideal moisture and temperature conditions for soil life.

And there are plenty of categories for the “failures” including best decorated pumpkin and best carved pumpkin…. I’m still hoping ours will top the comp for heaviest pumpkin – grow baby grow!