The Great Kaitoke Pumpkin Harvest

Activities:

Judging giant pumpkins
Tastiest homegrown pumpkin
Yummiest homemade pumpkin pie
Best carved pumpkin
And more

Tips on growing big pumpkins

Pumpkins being a summer crop require loads of sunshine and dry weather. The seeds you have are Atlantic Giant pumpkins which can grow to over 1500lbs which is a huge vegetable by any standard! However it can be tricky getting your pumpkins to that size. It involves some serious dedication a bit of guidance and a lot of luck!

The ideal place to plant your Atlantic giant seeds is 1.5 inches down with a lot of dirt below it as the roots like to go really deep. Another tip for picking that perfect spot is to find a place that has enough room for the pumpkin to grow as a 1500 lbs pumpkin is a monstrous beast and needs a good 6 feet around it as you don’t want the pumpkin killing any plants it grows over nor do you want those plants stunting the pumpkins growth.

Germination with this kind of seed takes any where between 10-14 days depending on conditions. A helpful website with a step by step germination guide is www.pumpkinnook.com. Once you seed has germinated you are ready to plant!

The Atlantic Giant pumpkin is a very thirsty plant and because its roots go down so deep it can be troublesome to ensure that the water reaches the roots. The easy fix to this is to “plant” a plastic bottle upside down next to it with the base removed and water through that. This way the water goes directly down to the roots and you do not have to drown your soil to water your pumpkin.

When planting make sure you do not use lime or seaweed as it is very bad for the pumpkin and you may erase any chance of you growing that beautiful giant pumpkin. A good idea is to use well rotted manure as it will provide an excellent source of nutrients for the plant and it is very good for the environment…

Please don’t hesitate to contact us a HUHA Animal Sanctuary as we have A LOT of surplus organic manure available!!

Rules

Pumpkin Pie making competition

You can use any recipe, even vegan!.
Pumpkin can be either grown or store bought.
Pie should be made at home BEFORE the harvest.
Judging will be made on presentation, texture AND taste.

Pumpkin Carving competition

Pumpkins can be either grown or store bought.
No limits to design – use your imagination!
Carving should be done at home BEFORE the harvest.
You will be judged on presentation, style AND creativity.

Largest home grown competition.

This MUST be a pumpkin you’ve grown!
Prizes will be awarded to the Biggest Home Grown Pumpkin, and also to the best medium sized pumpkin so don’t fret if yours is not huge!
NB: We have used Giant Atlantic Pumpkins so if you’ve used another variety we challenge you to grow a bigger pumpkin!

Prizes

Judging Judging of the Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Carving and Largest Pumpkin competitions will commence at 12pm on the Sun 28^th of March. All judging will be done by appropriate judges and take place at the Harvest (Kaitoke Country Gardens).

NB We will post winners + photos on our website after the event.

Prizes and rosettes will be given to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place winners.