Pumpkins! From the tiniest baby gourd to this year's 1852 lb. behemoth, named My Man Mason, pumpkins are an important part of Valley View Farm's history.
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| Bill Foard and son Andy were the original pumpkin hunters |
Way back in the seventies, when I was helping out at the cash registers, we were selling "all you could carry" pumpkins for $1. Talk about entertaining; watching families load up stacks of pumpkins into Dad's arms was hysterical. Watching him walk to the registers carrying all that weight was even funnier. Years later, we stopped the practice after the price had risen to $14.99 an armload. Was it the broken, smashed pumpkins all around the store that finally taught us to price them individually?
The seventies also brought school buses full of young students coming out to one of our planted fields, now the home to Hunt Valley Town Center, to pick out their very own pumpkin. Their next stop was Valley View Farms to get a fresh cup of apple cider.
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| Gordon Thomson 1989 World Record 755-pound Pumpkin |
In 1989, we had a 755-pound pumpkin, grown in Quebec by Gordon Thomson, on display through October, which was then the largest pumpkin ever grown. As we do now, we cut open the giant orb, counted the seeds, and offered a prize to the person who had guessed the correct (or closest) number of seeds. We then cleaned the seeds off and sent them back to Thomson to try growing another giant pumpkin.
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Ian and Stu Paton
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This year, the world's largest pumpkin was grown by twin brothers in England, weighing in at 2819 lbs.
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| Laurie and Tom Tasselmyer with Pumpkin Hunters Andy Foard and Matt Stromberger |
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| Andy, a few years back, Jeff M in the background |
Our own, My Man Mason, is 1852 lbs, huge by any standard. We have asked Tom Tasslemyer to count the seeds on Saturday, November 1, at noon. This is usually a family affair for Tom; Laurie, all four sons, and their wives may be here to help. We will send the seeds back to the grower as usual. The pumpkin remains will go to The Whispering Rise sanctuary, where rescued pigs will dine on the finest of foods.
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| A few years ago |
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2025 Tasslemyers with Andy and Tim
It's your turn to guess the number of seeds in this year's giant pumpkin, My Man Mason. Guesses must be in the book on the podium next to the pumpkin by noon on November 1 |
