speaking of pumpkins

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HALF MOON BAY

12-year-old's near-upset in pumpkin contest

A mere 32 pounds between her gourd and the winner's

Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

 

 

 

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Amanda Zunino fed her giant pumpkin " a lot of love and a lot of manure, " and the

12-year-old from Los Altos Hills nearly walked away Monday with a stunning upset

in the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.

 

But pumpkin-growing juggernaut Joel Holland brought a squash from Washington

state that weighed 1,223 pounds -- 32 more than Amanda's -- to win the contest

for the third straight year.

 

The event is meant to whet the appetite for the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin

Festival, which takes place this weekend. Although it's a Bay Area festival,

out-of-staters have won all but one pumpkin contest since 1990.

 

Holland won $6,115 ($5 per pound) for the pumpkin, which was 6 pounds short of

the Half Moon Bay record that he set in 2004 and 2005 (each of his previous

winners weighed 1,229 pounds). After hauling this year's winner from his farm in

Puyallup, Wash., the 57-year-old retired firefighter said he was pretty sure he

wouldn't be setting any records.

 

" I'm surprised on the weight, " Holland said, moments after his pumpkin won the

contest. " I was just hoping it would go 1,200 pounds. "

 

Holland's winner was the size of an elephant seal and needed a forklift and four

men to slide it onto the scale. But his pumpkin, the final weigh-in of the day,

appeared to be slightly smaller in dimensions than Amanda's enormous gourd,

which she grew on her family's property.

 

Amanda didn't win the Half Moon Bay contest this year, but in a day she went

from virtual unknown to becoming the Michelle Wie of competitive pumpkin

growing. Amanda comes from a pumpkin-growing family -- her brother Tony won $500

yesterday for the " most beautiful " pumpkin -- and her 1,191-pound pumpkin was

the first that she grew on her own.

 

" Her name is Artemis, after the Greek goddess for the hunt, " Amanda said.

 

She won $2,000 for second place plus a $1,000 bonus for the biggest pumpkin

grown in California. Safeway sponsors the contest and provides the prize money.

 

This was one of the few times where a record wasn't set at the World

Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, which started in 1974 with a 132-pound winner

grown by John Minaidis of Half Moon Bay. Despite the name of the contest, none

of the entries was close to the real world record -- a 1,502-pound pumpkin that

was entered in a contest on Saturday in Warren, R.I.. And Gary Miller of Napa

entered a 1,280-pound gourd in last weekend's Elk Grove 12th Annual Harvest

Festival in Sacramento County.

 

Most championship pumpkin growers plant in April with special seeds, keeping

them warm in the first weeks and then gorging the squash with water and

sunlight. Many are of the Atlantic Giant species (cucurbita maxima) and can gain

more than a pound of weight every hour in the months before being picked. Some

of the growers spend hours every day tending to their pumpkins, which can thrive

on plots as small as 500 square feet. Holland, who toted a video camera during

the contest, sells DVDs with his growing secrets and produces seeds that are

coveted by other growers.

 

Cindi Glasier of Napa came in third in the Half Moon Bay competition Monday with

a 1,147-pound pumpkin, followed by Sherry LaRue of Tenino, Wash. (1,116) and

James Martin of Castro Valley (1,092).

 

In a separate contest for San Mateo County residents only, Half Moon Bay pumpkin

patch co-proprietor Edith Muller grew a 679-pound pumpkin, followed by her

husband John " Farmer " Muller's 645-pounder.

 

Contest spokesman Tim Beeman said this year's competition and festival hold

special significance because of the recent reopening of the Devil's Slide area

of Highway 1. The section south of Pacifica that leads into Half Moon Bay had

been closed since April because of storm damage. Locals were worried the repairs

might last into pumpkin-selling season, but the road reopened on Aug. 4 -- more

than a month ahead of schedule.

 

" It means a tremendous amount to our community, " Beeman said. " Not just for the

festival, but to get back to normalcy in the area. "

 

Holland's winning pumpkin will be on display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday

and Sunday at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival.

 

 

 

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If you go

The Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival takes place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday on Main Street in downtown Half Moon Bay. For more

information, go to www.miramarevents.com.

 

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas