The winner of the 3rd Annual Johnstown Giant contest is Daryl Johnson, mayor of Johnstown. He and his wife, Kola, grew the 227 lbs. giant. They were the reigning 2012 champions as well. Congratulations, neighbors!
The Johnstown Giant weigh-in is always one of my favorite days of the season. I love the storytelling, music, dancing, and food!
Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch- McPherson, KS 2013
We entered the giant pumpkin contest at the Kansas State Fair. Our pumpkin wasn’t the smallest (yes). However, we were soundly tromped by a family from Wichita. Spoiler alert—499.8 pounds—that’s a lot pumpkin!
Ok, so they had a little poundage on us. It took two people to lift ours. They needed the forklift. Congrats to these awesome growers!
Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch-McPherson, KS 2013
1-2-3 seeds to a hill
What a great Spring day for planting!
It is always a tough call as to when to plant. Each variety has it own expected timetable; however, this timetable assumes a normal growing season. When does that happen??? So the planning begins. We spend way too much time watching weather patterns, checking the local weather forecast, studying planting grids and graphs, predicting when the rain will come (and not come), pulling out temperature assumptions, and consulting the almanac-all the time looking for the “perfect planting time”.
When it comes down to it, we always end up poking those seeds in the ground whenever the weather cooperates. The last two weeks of May and the first two weeks of June end up being reserved for planting-just in case.
So today ended up being the first day of planting-not too wet for Johnstown’s soil (fairly heavy on the clay), yet hopefully rain in the next few days. The Johnstown Giants were planted first because they should mature in 120 days (give or take). That is the longest maturation rate of the varieties we will plant this year. I can picture them now!
Papa has some great helpers this year! Thanks Charis and Ben.
Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch 2013 – McPherson, KS
The annual Johnstown Giant Pumpkin contest took place at Grammy’s yesterday evening. The largest pumpkin, a Dill’s Atlantic, weighed in at just over 160 pounds!
The giant was grown by Daryl and Kola Johnson of Johnstown.
The evening was such fun with filling food, conversation, and music! Corky explained the founding of Johnstown with several others adding in details as well. I love the stories of my family and heritage and last night was full of them. Leland led in singing, and the grandkids led in dancing. Quite the perfect night!
We enjoyed a great opening weekend at Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch! My favorite part was, as always, watching families connect, play, and make memories. I am looking forward to the week filled with our Agriculture Education classes “In the Class and On the Farm” program.
A brand new world for this little guy!
This little guy is too cute!
Johnstown Farm 