The Williamson County Pumpkin Growing Contest ends on October 26th, National Pumpkin Day with the announcement of Diana and George Jackson of Georgetown, Texas and their pumpkin βGus Gusβ awarded Grand Champion Pumpkin and Justin Covey and crew at the Williamson County EMS Medic 42 Station in Taylor, Texas, and their pumpkin βLil Pumpβ awarded Reserve Grand Champion.
The first ever Williamson County Pumpkin Growing Contest started back in May with 13 seeds planted by the Williamson County AgriLife Extension Office in Georgetown. Seedlings were offered to residents and plants were adopted out with unique names such as Pump-Kenny, Gordo, Punky Brewster, Patches, etc. Each contestant cared for their plants and shared both good and catastrophic experiences along the way. Some plants surrendered to insect attacks, drought conditions, extreme heat, and even hungry bunnies; but a few survived! We rejoiced when beautiful yellow flowers and baby pumpkins soon appeared. When it was all said and done, just two contestants were left standing.
George and Diana adopted βGus Gusβ and with their gardening experience he emerged as a strong front runner early on. βGusβ was nestled in the heart of their garden surrounded by okra, tomatoes, peppers, and various herbs. While still just a young plant he had a setback when squash bugs invaded causing vine damage, but thanks to the quick action of his family he was treated and started to recover. He was the first to bear fruit and even after βGus Gusβ was harvested he still has three other sibling pumpkins growing on the vine. His community pitched in to care for him, with trusty neighbors enlisted to babysit while his owners were away, and plans are being made to save his seeds to share for next year. George and Diana are avid gardeners and have done a ton of research to learn to care for these pampered pumpkins. Their efforts have paid off with this huge Grand Champion win. George said he is excited about his placing, is going to expand his pumpkin patch, and canβt wait to compete again next year.
Justin Covey, Eduardo Calderon, Chelsey Lawson, Logan Davis, Travis Willgren, Lucia Tannehill, Eddie Pineda, and Debbie Brunner make up the crew at the Wilco EMS Medic 42 Station. They had a plant that started off as a bit of an underdog. They contacted our office after all the plants had already been adopted but they were so enthusiastic about this project we propagated a seed for them and they picked up a tiny, barely sprouted βLil Pumpβ three days later. Their plant was a full three weeks younger than the other contestants but that did not deter their resolution to be top competitors. The crew at the station worked in turns to make sure that the plant got daily care and this group effort paid off. βLil Pumpβ was doing well and had a few pumpkins on the vine when disaster struck, and he was afflicted with a mysterious rapid leaf loss. They called us at the Extension Office and our Agriculture Agent, Gary Pastushok, made an emergency site visit. Upon examination it was determined that he had contracted Downy Mildew fungus. This station jumped into action and immediately began resuscitating the plant. βLil Pumpβ was treated for his ailment and against the odds one lone pumpkin survived the attack and began to grow. Justin said he is proud of how everyone at the station has come together to raise a pumpkin large enough to claim the Reserve Champion spot.
We are thrilled to recognize these two winners and are honored to award bragging rights along with amazing champion banners sponsored by the Brown Distributing Company for their efforts.
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