Tuesday, October 21, 2008

State Fair! And Pumpkins!

So it's that time of year again... the only time of year when it's totally worth it to fight the crowds, and pay outrageous prices for greasy food. Carnies! Mullets! Rickety Rides that barely pass inspection! The North Carolina State Fair!!!

A certain part of the fair is bittersweet for me- I once had aspirations of growing the state's largest pumpkin, and blowing those other guys out of the water! I could even imagine the headline: "Novice pumpkin grower sweeps record, angers and baffles longtime growers!"

Problem is, I tried to grow my pumpkin in the middle of the hottest summer on record, and I also abandoned it for a week when I went to Alaska. These anomalies (plus a dog that treated the vine like his own personal playground) didn't lend to any easy pumpkin growing experience. Needless to say, I had 200 feet of beautiful vine, and no pumpkin. It just wasn't meant to be. So, for your viewing pleasure, I have below a picture of me with this year's winning pumpkin (in the back at 612 lbs):

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It's not THAT big. So let's put it in perspective- the next photo is the WORLD RECORD holding pumpkin (1689lbs!), grown in 2007 in Rhode Island:


So what do you do with a world record holding pumpkin after the fair? Yep, that's right. World Record pumpkin pie! 2020 pounds of it!!! Just kidding, it's not the same pumpkin. That wouldn't be a very dignified end befitting a world champion. But it's still funny....

3 comments:

Heather McKeon said...

I'm pretty impressed that the pumpkin pie looks so evenly cooked. And no obvious cracks in the top either - they had some master pie-makers cooking that thing!

Kim and Ken Carlile said...

I am excited for the fair this year. We are going on Thursday.

Unknown said...

I am impressed that you tried to grow pumpkins, that is something I have always wanted to try. Someone in my ward last year let their halloween pumpkin rot in the yard on the side of the house because they were too lazy to throw it away and the next year, they had pumpkins! Maybe that is the secret -- HA!