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Wv

i was recently at a pumpkin festival and noticed a couple things. one was the kids stepping on and hopping from pumpkin to pumpkin. i noticed this all evening. i know kids will be kids but the parents just watch and laugh. another thing i noticed were all the fingernail marks in the pumpkins. especially the ones along the major walkways. i think someone should be there to keep an eye on them. people just dont realize the amount of time and work that goes into growing these. ok i ll step off of my soapbox now, lol.

9/25/2005 8:33:36 PM

Butler, Ohio

I will have to chime in on this one too. Although mine wasnt at an offical GPC weighoff, I took it to the fair and not only were kids sitting on it eating Ice cream, the frekin adults were flopping down on it, like it was some kind of lazy boy chair or something. This thing had some major battle scars on it after the fair was over. lol I'll have to make some suggestions for next year.

9/25/2005 8:53:03 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

They will never understand....as long as they are put on display this will occur..Maybe the should put a sign stating the time,effort, and value of these pumpkins. Or we should find their cars and treat them like pumpkins.

9/25/2005 9:34:54 PM

Grants Pass, Oregon

Is there any way we can string barbed wire around them while on display or is that not fair? Oh hell who cares if its fair or not, we do work to hard at these things...

9/25/2005 9:43:13 PM

Rhode Island

at our weigh off we rope off the area around the pumpkins so that little friggin johnny and his sister broomhilda cant abuse our pumpkins

we also leave a minimum six ft curtain between the rope and pumpkins so spectators cant get close enough for a reach around lol

we strictly inforce this and do not tolerate people abusing the pumpkins or their growers ( only growers can abuse other growers ) lol

9/25/2005 9:54:00 PM

addison Il

I will tell you this my very first time taking my son to a pumpkin farm we went to a place in joliet illinois called cotton wood farms and on the back of a ole fashion pick up truck i saw too large pumpkin i honestly thought they where fake there was a sign saying do not climb on the pumpkins which we did not but i did poke the fruit to see if it was fake realizing that it was real i wigged out wow what a big pumpkin i truthfully did have my son pose in front of the pumpkins and still have the pic to this day as other parents where letting there kids climb on the giants my son was crying mommy should let him too and my response as loud as i could state it was no honey someone worked real hard to grow a monster that big and its not nice to climb on it so if anyone on this site has ever seen finger marks and such its not out of disrepect its out of pure wonder that something that big can be grown the more marks the more awe your pumpkin is getting and i am sorry real sorry to whomevers pumpkin i poked that day at the farm and now know that all pumpkins large and small deserve respect and have taught my son to have respect to. Yes there are parents out there that care not about anything but little jonny having fun but i for one am not going to be poking any more pumpkins anymore becasue i now know giants can and do grow have fun everyone may all your weighoffs go well and may your pumpkin be mark free and beutifull lol

9/25/2005 10:20:35 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Maybe somebody should breed a line of pumpkins that poke back! :-)

9/25/2005 10:26:51 PM

Midwest

I think it could be prevented by keeping them from public access until after the contest. It's part of the draw of these collosal fruits for kids to want to touch them, even adults. It's a novelty and kinda fun. This all goes into the fair atmosphere. Nobody but the growers thinks of how much effort, expense and pride that go into these pumpkins. I attended my first fair last year with my kids. There was a rope surrounding the pumpkins but, the kids would jump the rope to climb on for a picture. I expect that it will be repeated this Saturday at Didier Farms but this time, I will probably be watching more closely because my pumpkin will be there, (at least I hope). Maybe, someone should say something when they register in the morning and make some kindof barracade before everyone arrives? After the weigh-off, then people can be allowed to climb, touch, pose or whatever...

9/25/2005 10:33:10 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

If your pumpkin has already been weighed in, and you can't stand to see little children laugh and smile and touch and poke at your huge pumpkin and stare in general wonder and amazement, then I think you have forgotten the main reason to grow these things in the first place.

A young mind could be inspired by such magnificent things.

9/25/2005 10:51:16 PM

Livonia Michigan

i think sassquash opened a huge can of worms....

9/25/2005 11:28:40 PM

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Just after our weigh-off yesterday, I had several kids actually ask me if they could climb on my pumpkin. I told them go ahead. They had a great time. One child sat on top of my pumpkin for at least five minutes. As far as I can tell, my pumpkin is fine.

9/25/2005 11:43:05 PM

Taber, Alberta

The important thing about Beet's comments is that the kids' asked. It is great to see children having fun, But asking permission doesn't happen very much these days.

9/26/2005 1:00:48 AM

Greene R.I.

I remember a couple of years back , at topsfield fair was the most beautiful , deep orange, largest pumpkin i have ever seen!the famous Jutras 1225,as i stood there i saw this young boy and his mom walk up to this wonder of nature, the boy walked right up to the pumpkin and grabbed the to pieces of vine on the sides of the stem, and he pulled and pulled, mother watching of course, he ripped the stem from the pumpkin.i rember that pumpkin being weighted with the stem sitting on top of it. its not the kids its mommy and daddy who have to but the brakes on the kids when the wonder and amazement turns to pumpkin violence! lol

9/26/2005 7:07:51 AM

Ohio

Yanno,I was wondering the same thing,seeing a guy holding his girlfriend sitting on my pumpkin with a chain wallet on with the chain as big as a loggers chain digging into my pumpkin I cringed. Watchin Broomhilda (LMAO PAP) jumping from pumpkin to pumpkin like She was jumping on rocks in a creek trying not to get her feet wet,then when She gets to mine off her leap her foot slips (since my pumpkin was so smooth) and Broomhilda goes down for the count.Had to smurk when then happend but still left a mark down the front of the pumpkin non the less.LOL

9/26/2005 7:42:46 AM

Framingham, MA

Small children don't know any better. It's the parents that are at fault. No sense of responsibility. We live in the age of "it's all about me" - the adults all too often couldn't care less about anyone else and this gets passed on to Johnny and Broomhilda.

9/26/2005 8:58:32 AM

Cameron,ontario Team Lunatic

I think a sign posted by the pumpkins saying "Please do not sit or stand on the pumpkins" should do the job. Your right though, most parents just want to keep the kids quiet and if jumping on the pumpkins is what it takes then some will let them do it. Next time, instead of letting them do it, go over and politely ask them not to. A kind word warning them not to do it would likely go a long way. Another thing to consider is that if a kid fell and really hurt himself, the weigh off could be liable and sued. Once I have them on my front yard, I let parents sit their youngsters on top for pictures. If they are older than 5, I ask them to stand beside it.

Phil

9/26/2005 9:07:31 AM

Sequim, WA

When they ask what I feed them to get them so big I usually reply anything they want, but they seem to prefer small children.......this is also one of the reasons I no longer grow mine in a public "P-patch" garden.

9/26/2005 12:43:37 PM

Long Island,New York

Ya know...to each his own......and to nobody goes mine. Obviously Orangeneck never had a pumpkin come back from a fair mostly destroyed. 114 fingernail digs and no stem...a few deep gashes and one long 4 fingernail rip...thats my fruit after the Long Island Fair in 1999. That can of worns need to be opened every year until a little respect is delivered. I bring my fruit to show...not to be destroyed.

9/26/2005 3:43:41 PM

Joliet, IL

hey curvy1,

glad you enjoyed my pumpkins displayed at cottonwood farms here in Joliet. do not worry about how you poked them...that is ok with me because when i donated them to be on display, i knew they have bus load after bus load of kids showing up every day until halloween and i figured that would happen. i understand how the weigh off is different and many growers want to keep their pumpkins damage free without kids climbing all over them. this is when courtesy should be given to the growers and their pumpkins and kids should be on a tight leash so to speak around them.

that year i gave my pumpkins to cottonwoods for display so that they could get hands on experience from all the kids and adults and i still have a framed picture from the front page of our newspaper with a bunch of kids touching them and poking them to see if they were real.

but the point being is that i allowed them to be on display with intentions of them being hands on. that was my choice.
etiquette should be used, and parents should watch their kids at the weigh off, and no one's pumpkin should be allowed to be poked, prodded, climbed on and have the stem tugged on and cracked off without the growers consent.

just my 2 cents and glad you enjoyed them curvy1 and i will see you this weekend at the weigh off. i would be proud knowing that your poking them that day was the inspiration for you to take up this crazy hobby. i hope to see you this weekend at the weigh off.

shazzy

9/26/2005 3:55:48 PM

Missoula, Montana

I figured after the guy helping to load pumpkins at our weigh-off busted of his first 3 stems he would get the picture but nope......he felt the need to use my stem as a handle as well and pulled it off.

9/26/2005 4:54:51 PM

Hayes, Virginia

The Virginia State fair keeps the pumpkins fenced off. thanks God cause some fatA** would crush my little 351lb pie pumpkin. the weights at the fair were light-lite.757 took first place 574 2nd. down hill from there.
we grow'em so small down here the kids dont even wanna sit on'em. lol
we still had a blast on weigh day ,great bunch of guys down here . still looking for 1k....
Ed

9/26/2005 6:30:00 PM

Montoursville, PA

Heck...I have to rope off my garden, to keep my one neighbor and his freaking friends out, of the patch. He is a national flower judge. One would think a bit, of respect would be in his log. It is not!

9/26/2005 8:08:58 PM

addison Il

thanks shazzy we will see you at the weigh off lol and yes i was shocked at the size of the pumpkins you and george j although i did not know it at the time have turned my life upside down i love to grow and theres nothing like it and this time around i will bring my camera and my support team but still respect the other growers as my son stated today mom i can climb on your pumpkins but not anyone elses lol have fun everyone may everyones weigh offs go well

9/26/2005 8:26:01 PM

Ohio

LOL @ Bassthumb!! I know that feeling too.We are so careful about the stem at all times because its the life line to our pumpkin and we also tell the guys that help us load these monsters from out patch to please watch the stem while lifting. When weighoff was over and they loaded my pumpkins back up onto my truck both stems are gone and my buddy that helped me load it says,did they disqualify your pumpkins for that?,LOL. I think the only thing that bothers me about it is that we as growers dont get to enjoy it after its grown. We cut it off the vine day of weigh off and really dont get a chance to see our masterpieces at home after weigh off like they looked before weigh off. I think we would like to see our pumpkins returned almost like we brought them there. There is just to much blood and guts spilled and pride put into growing one of these giants.Just let me enjoy it for a couple days and then I would let all the kids in the world use it as a jungle gym to have fun on,I really wouldnt care then.

9/26/2005 8:34:15 PM

Montoursville, PA

The Altoona Weigh-off pumpkin field is roped off and patrolled. Mostly it is only growers that enter the field or growers with potential buyers.

9/27/2005 1:03:35 PM

Utah

well ... humm I guess from my point of view... it's difficult to tell parents that their kids can't climb on them ... espeically after I just had my picture taken standing on top on of my biggest one. lol.
we'd all like to keep them in good shape but I figure I bring them to show them ... so why not let the kids climb on them.
I hope they don't, but I figure sooner or later all the stems will be broken off. So far we haven't had any finger nail gouging problems at our weigh off.

9/27/2005 1:21:46 PM