Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival returns Oct. 5 and 6
Extra-extra-extra-large pumpkins will face off in a weigh-off this Saturday in Elk Grove. Photo courtesy Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival
Bring on the giant pumpkins! It’s time for a weigh-off!
This weekend, the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival returns to Elk Grove Park, headlined by its Giant Pumpkin and Produce Weigh-Off.
Check-in is 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5; for entrants, advance registration is $10 (including parking and breakfast) or $25 at the gate.
“For 30 years, Elk Grove Park has transformed into the ultimate autumn celebration, attracting pumpkin enthusiasts from far and wide,” say the organizers. “Since 1994, the festival has been a beacon for giant pumpkin growers competing for glory. Over the years, we’ve seen some incredible pumpkins, like the 2,138-pound record-breaker from 2018. Imagine the size of that pie!”
Spectators can watch the actual weighing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the awards presentation at 4 p.m.
This contest could produce a record breaker. The top contenders will all weigh more than 1,000 pounds. Last year’s heftiest pumpkin nearly topped a ton – 1,940 pounds. The biggest Sacramento County-grown pumpkin (which has its own award): 1,589 pounds.
“Giant pumpkin growers from all over California and beyond will be vying for the top prize – and perhaps a world record – as each of their enormous gourds hit the scale,” say the organizers. “Enter your own produce or pumpkins for a chance to win cash prizes, or cheer from the stands as the monstrous orange orbs are moved with a forklift to a special scale.”
Not just pumpkins will be competing. There also are categories for the heaviest zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomato, squash and other members of the squash/pumpkin family as well as longest gourd, widest sunflower head and tallest corn stalk.
Judging by last year’s winners, contestants will have to bring some whoppers. Taking home top honors in 2023 were a 3.7-pound tomato, a 220-pound watermelon and a 54.4-pound zucchini.
Meanwhile, the Giant Pumpkin Festival has many other opportunities for people to compete with pumpkins including recipe contests and bake-offs, a pie-eating contest, scarecrow decorating and the always popular pumpkin regatta (where giant pumpkins become canoes for a one-of-a-kind race).
Besides all the pumpkin, the festival features entertainment, music, food trucks, vendors and more. There’s a pumpkin patch, too; take a gourd home!
With free admission, the festival runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5 and 6. Parking is $20, but a bike valet is available free.
Elk Grove Park is located at 9950 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Elk Grove.
For full details including a festival map and contest rules: https://www.cosumnescsd.gov/392/Elk-Grove-Giant-Pumpkin-Festival
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
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June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude
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May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs
May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power
May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens
May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend
April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look
April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower
April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact
April 7: Calendulas do double duty
April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come
March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)
March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots
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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 2
Get out early in the morning and monitor your garden’s moisture needs. Deep water and add temporary shade structures for plants that are feeling a little burned. In particular, protect developing peppers and eggplant.
* Put off fertilization until this heat passes; plants need to concentrate on hydration instead of growth.
* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.
* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.
* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don’t let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.
* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.
* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.
* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.
* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.
* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Make sure to keep seeds and seedlings consistently moist.
* Plant potatoes.
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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series
Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening
WINTER
Is edible gardening possible indoors?
Hints for choosing tomato seeds
Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees
When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
How to squeeze more food into less space
Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Win the weed war by tackling them in winter
Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables
Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
Ways to win the fight against weeds
FALL
Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden
Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it
Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air
Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets
Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty
Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
Sept. 16: Time to shut it down?
Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you
Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water
Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers
July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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