Tom Tasselmyer and Family at Valley View Farms for the Pumpkin Seed Contest

 On October 29th, Tom Tasselmyer, with his wife Laurie, will be here to cut open this year's giant pumpkin, Miss Amelia, and count the seeds. She weighs in at 2005 lbs, not our biggest, but one of two we've had weighing over one ton. While this tradition began with Norm Lewis back in the '80s, Tom has been doing the counting for decades since. I've collected a few photos over the years to share here. These are not in any order, but you can see the subtle changes over the years as Tom's boys get older, and the pumpkins get larger.

Norm Lewis oversees as Alan cuts the pumpkin

The Tasselmayer Family a few years ago

Tom and Bill

The Tasselmyer Boys (-1)

Taking the pumpkin a section at a time

The family is here to help

Concentration is key to getting the count correct

The seeds are grouped together in containers, then added up to get the final count

The VVF guys lend a helping hand to scout for seeds that may have been missed

Gloves are optional to sift through the goo

We look forward to seeing these two every year

The Sawzall is the tool that opens up the pumpkin

The Tasselmyers are experts

Pumpkin goo anyone?

Contemplation

Tim adds more seeds from the pumpkin

Thank you, Tasselmyer family!

The big question is how many seeds are in Miss Amelia? We will find out when the seeds are counted on Saturday. In the meantime, get your guesses in our book. 1st prize is a $300 Valley View Farms Gift Card, 2nd is a $200 card, and 3rd is a $100  card. Your guess needs to be in the book at the time of the counting. Winners will be notified with a phone call. Your name and phone number will not be used by Valley View Farms for any marketing or tracking information. 

Miss Amelia, the 13-year-old that our pumpkin is named after

Amelia will get all the seeds from her pumpkin sent back to her so she can grow another behemoth pumpkin next year. 

Pumpkin seeds are sent back to the grower

The rest of the big pumpkins (minus the seeds) will be donated to Whispering Rise Farm and Animal Sanctuary, a home for rescued Potbelly Pigs. The pigs love the pumpkins.  

It may take a few trips to get the pumpkins to the pig farm

We hope to see you Saturday! 

Get Your Best Guess In the Book by Noon on November 6th

Matt, Andy and Tim have cut the pumpkin open

Tom Tasselmyer is a good sport. Every year on the first Saturday in November, Andy, Alan, Matt, and Tim cut open the BIG pumpkin (this year's weighs in at 1540 pounds and is named Rolling Thunder) as Tom rolls up his sleeves in anticipation. Tom then starts to scoop out pumpkin guts and separates the seeds from the rest of the pumpkin mush.

The Tasselmyer Family 2006

I should mention that Tom's wife Laurie and their sons Matthew, Andrew, Michael, and Stephen have each assisted several times from year to year. The Tasselmyers count out the seeds fifty at a time and place them in clear cups.

Gloves are optional

Cups contain 50 seeds each

As the crowd watches, cups are lined up on two tables. You can see everybody second-guessing their entries in the pumpkin book. You see, since Rolling Thunder's arrival on October 6th, people have been writing their best guesses as to how many seeds are in the monstrous pumpkin in a book. Thousands of names fill many pages. The winner will receive a $300 Valley View Farms gift card. Second place wins a $200 card and third a $100 card.

Here are a few of the entered guesses

Donna will be searching the book for the winner

So, how many seeds will be in this year's pumpkin? Unfortunately, we won't know until Tom's job is through. Stay tuned.