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Will another one-ton giant pumpkin tip the scales?

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED OCT 1, 2018

This is one of Ron Root's mega pumpkins, displayed at the Heirloom Expo in 2012.
Root, of Citrus Heights, won the world title in 2010. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Countdown is on for weigh-ins at Elk Grove, Half Moon Bay contests

It's giant pumpkin time! See these mammoths of the gourd world compete in two major Northern California contests.

Of course, it's the farmers and backyard gardeners who do all the sweating, transporting and lifting these back-busters into place. The pumpkins just have to sit there and look plump.

First up is the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival. Weigh-in starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at Elk Grove Park. Walk-up registration ($10) is open from 7 to 9 a.m.

Besides gigantic pumpkins, the Elk Grove fest also has categories for biggest zucchini, sunflower, other squash, watermelon, cantaloupe and tomato as well as longest gourd and tallest cornstalk. (Go to www.yourcsd.com and follow the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival links for details.)

Last year's big winner traveled cross country for the $7 a pound prize money. Josiah Brandt of Wisconsin won $14,665 for his 2,095-pound champion pumpkin.

Celebrating all things pumpkin, the Elk Grove festival is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6 and 7. Admission is free, but parking is $10. Elk Grove Park is located at 9950 Elk Grove Florin Rd, Elk Grove.

On Monday, Oct. 8, comes the big daddy of giant pumpkin contests -- the 45th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay.

Starting at 7 a.m. Monday, giant pumpkins from throughout the country will tip the scale for top honors and $7 a pound plus a chance at a $30,000 bonus for a world record. Joel Holland, a retired Washington firefighter, set an American record with last year's winner, which weighed in at 2,363 pounds.

The weigh-in runs from 7 to 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 8, on Half Moon Bay's historic Main Street. Details: https://weighoff.miramarevents.com

Sacramento-area pumpkins have had success at the world championships, too. Citrus Heights' Ron Root won the 2010 world crown at Half Moon Bay with a 1,535-pound specimen.

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gardening pumpkins Sacramento vegetables Elk Grove events Citrus Heights gourds melons Half Moon Bay fall festival

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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