Pumpkin Lunacy - Out of my Gourd over You!

Pumpkin Lunacy is again upon us and for 2011 I am going to give you a few new tips, factoids that will bore your friends and also where to get the best pumpkins in our area.

First off, let's state that this year has really been tough on pumpkins. Bad weather across most of the U.S. with hurricanes and drought have made it tough on these guys. But, out of all this comes the absolute pumpkin 'king' this year weighing in at 1487 lbs. out of Connecticut. No flood could carry off this pumpkin that's for sure.

Time elapsed video of the gargantuan winner below. These guys take this pumpkin growing thing way too far. It's not right to have a time elapsed video of your pumpkin and not your kids! I'm just sayin'.

Pumpkins the size of cars? The smallest car that I know is the Honda Fit and it's weight is at 2500 lbs. So really not the same weight as the winning pumpkin at all. Myth busted! But ..... picture that pumpkin behind the wheel and I'm sure that Honda is not going anywhere!



Largest Pumpkin Pie was 14 feet in diameter from the Circleville Ohio Pumpkin Show. Ingredients needed:

• 795 lbs. of pumpkin
• 360 lbs. of sugar
• 60 lbs. of powdered milk
• 60 dozen eggs
• 75 gallons of water
• 400 lbs. of flour
• 15 people to mix it all wearing funny hats I'm sure
• 10 hours to bake
• What! No mention of whipped cream?

Pumpkin Chuckin' - This is my favorite time of the year when you get the old 'trebuchet' (that's French babe) aka your 'trusty catapult' out of the garage, dust it off and lob some sizable pumpkins in an open field. The longest 'chuck' is 4,483 feet which is 3/4 of a mile using an air cannon.

Pumpkins are marvels of mother nature but unfortunately cannot stand 'g forces' required to be thrown into space at this time. Still I find it fun to watch. Morton IL (near Peoria) is the Pumpkin growing capital of the world and sponsors the Pumpkin Festival every year and is the closest home for Pumpkin Chuckin'.

How could you sleep at night without knowing these facts?

• Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
• Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
• Pumpkins are fruit.
• Cinderella had a pumpkin coach.
• They're made in the USA!

New pumpkin carving ideas
How to make 'Human Sized' Ghosts
Pumpkin Masterpieces
Extreme Carving Ideas
Pumpkin Farms by County
Carving with Power Tools (for the manly men)

Corn Maze Craze