Extremely Large Cucurbits at Illinois & Indiana State Fairs

The Land of Lincoln likes its watermelon. How many other states have bronze statues of the succulent fruit?





Another 40 or so miles down Route 66, in Springfield, I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful melons, squashes and pumpkins at the Illinois State Fair. Watermelons were well represented. The blue ribbon went to this 74 pound behemoth.



Over in Indianapolis the biggest watermelon at the Indiana State Fair was a measly 58 pounds.



One of the must-sees at the Illinois State Fair is the largest pumpkin. I have to admit I was initially disappointed by this year's winner—less than 300 pounds, not even close to last year's 452 pounder.





But after looking at it a while I realized size isn't everything; this is one beautiful squash. The entire Cucurbitaceae family should be proud to be represented by such a specimen.

The Hoosiers are playing in a different league when it comes to big pumpkins. Even the tenth place pumpkin at the Indiana State Fair was far bigger than Illinois' blue ribbon winner.



You'd think a 1081 pound pumpkin (above) would be assured of victory but this year it was good only for second place. First prize went to this 1106 pound grotesque fruit that barely fits on a standard pallet.



As we were leaving the Indiana Fair we heard the world's largest pig was there but we had no time to seek it out.

jeez that's demoralizing. i've got a couple of pumpkins in my back yard. i'd guess they are about 120 lbs each. i was so proud of them. until now.

Watching TV last night, I learned of this website: http://www.bigpumpkins.com/

The mission of BigPumpkins.com is to provide an interactive web site to the giant pumpkin growing community! We would also like to promote the exciting sport/hobby of giant pumpkin and giant squash growing by helping new comers get started.

Yet again, there is something for everybody on the internet!

Regards,

Rene G wrote:As we were leaving the Indiana Fair we heard the world's largest pig was there but we had no time to seek it out.

Now THAT would have been one helluva pig roast!

Largest Pumpkin, 2011 Illinois State Fair — 251.25 Pounds


Largest Pumpkin, 2011 Iowa State Fair — 1295 Pounds




Even Iowa's 9th place pumpkin was over a hundred pounds heavier than our biggest. I'm almost ashamed to admit I'm from Illinois.

It was a somewhat disappointing year for giant pumpkins at the Iowa State Fair. First place went to this 933 pounder, 362 pounds lighter than last year's winner.



The contest was close though. Only five pounds separated the blue ribbon winner from runner up.

Rene G wrote:Largest Pumpkin, 2011 Iowa State Fair — 1295 Pounds

Standing in awe of these great squashes, it's difficult to believe the first thousand-pound pumpkin was grown as recently as the year 2000. Now, only a dozen years later, the one-ton barrier has been broken. Reportedly the same grower has another pumpkin in his patch that may be even larger than that historic 2009-pounder.

I was surprised to learn that the Indiana State Fair allows non-Hoosier pumpkins to compete, meaning there is no guarantee of provenance for these enormous squashes; specifically, "Growers from any state can compete." Official Rules here.

Do Illinois and other states allow ringers from outside their borders to compete? This is serious stuff. The freak from Rhode Island cited above could, in theory, have been trucked out to Indianapolis and smashed the 2009 Indiana State Fair. I'm going to retreat to my study to think this through more thoroughly, now.

Edited to add: The winner of the Indiana State Fair pumpkin contest in 2011 (1,308 pounds) and 2012 (1,293 pounds) was the same guy, a Hoosier, from Griffith, Indiana. However, the linked article confirms that out-of-state ringer pumpkins took three of the top eight slots in Indiana for 2012. The contender from Somerset, Kentucky (coincidentally my father's home town) is someone to be watched. (And people ARE watching.)

Hole will make giant pumpkin ineligible for fair

Sad news for a competitor at the Alaska State Fair due to a thumb-sized hole:

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Entries must be free of rot, chemical residue and serious soft spots. They can't have holes or cracks that reach the pumpkin cavity.

A scale on the crane indicated the big pumpkin weighed 1,500 pounds but Megchelsen estimates the state competition scale would have registered closer to 1,420 pounds.

"It's just killing him," said Pam Elkins, Megchelsen's sister-in-law. "He eats, sleeps and dreams pumpkins. All he does is pumpkins."

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His 2013 pumpkin probably grew too fast when it opened a hole in a "rib valley," he said. During the height of a growth spurt in the warmest part of the summer, Megchelsen said, he was feeding the pumpkin up to 300 gallons of water a day.

The hole likely opened the first week of August when the fruit hit its peak growth spurt of 41 pounds in 24 hours. That happened two days in a row, he said.
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