The other day while channel surfing I came across a commercial on my local PBS station for a program called "Lords of the Gourds: The Pursuit of Excellence." Once I got past the cheesy title of the documentary and saw that the program was about a competition involving the growing of giant gourds (pumpkins in particular) I made a mental note to watch it when it airs on Wednesday in Chicago. The PBS website doesn't have a good description of the documentary but I found one on the Rocky Mountain PBS website.
Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence
The extreme gardeners who compete at the annual Cooperstown Weigh Off have one obsessive goal – to raise the biggest giant pumpkin in the world. These gurus of the gourd nurture their fruits through harsh weather, floods, animal attacks and even sabotage to produce glorious pumpkins of gigantic proportion. This program follows Joe Pukos and his fellow competitors through the final harrowing days of harvest and the journey across New York State with the bulging behemoths strapped into the backs of their pick-ups. Joe is a real contender – at least until last minute rumors circulate that another grower may be set to smash the world record.
Ever since reading Jack and the Beanstalk as a kid I've had a fascination with growing giant veggies. Now that I'm an adult with two young nephews I'd really love to grow some giant vegetables but I'm held back by the small urban lot on which I garden. I guess I'll have to settle for now to sit in front of the television and watch others grow giant pumpkins and reading the giant vegetables forum on GardenWeb.
3.9.07
2 comments:
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I watched this tonight. It was awesome. I think you'll like it when you see it. In fact, I was googling it which is how I found your blog.
ReplyDeleteSadly, my attempt to garden this summer has yielded on measly, pale, little pumpkin and one even smaller watermelon. No Cooperstown for me!
Hi Mary-lue,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delayed response. I saw it and thought it was really well made and I liked the people profiled in it and their stories as giant pumpkin growers.
Maybe next year you'll end up in Cooperstown. :0)