St. Johns is Home to Big Pumpkins and Watermelons

So the blog is back from a lengthy vacation, and all ready to fill in the many happenings of AgroLiquid around the blog-o-sphere.  In fact, there is a basement full of back-logged adventures that will be making their way to the Land of Liquid files.

So on Saturday, if you were in St. Johns, you no doubt would have dropped by Andy T's Farm Market and the annual Pumpkin and Watermelon Weigh Off.  This is a big deal for people who follow such things.  I have reported on this before as there is an entry of note.  Here is a pic of the pumpkins lined up awaiting their chance to be weighed.  

 But first the watermelons.  Now I've seen wat'melons and I've seen wat'melons, but this one is huge.  It was grown by Tim Brussel of the NCRS.  He really pushed himself this time.  That's Andy T himself watching on the right. While the melon is being weighed, Tim is interviewed by the Weigh-Off Emcee, and he attributed the size to the use of AgroLiquid.  Good answer!  How much did it weigh? 

 A whopping 206 pounds!  This is a record for Tim, and good enough for Second Place.  It was nine pounds short of first place, but that one was from Ohio. So Tim is the Michigan champion.  Tim said that he has a bigger one he is saving for the state finals contest in Dundee next week.  Good job and good luck.

 But Tim has diversified.  Here he is by his pumpkin.  He is pretty optimistic on how it will do, thinking he will be in the top 10.

 There is his in the corner, next to some pretty big ones.

 Here is how they bring them up to the scale.  They remove the harness lines and get a weight.  That's proprietor Andy T himself on the tractor.  Pump kin is a big deal.  Seeds of the winners are pretty valuable.

 I went inside Andy T's store and look what I found.  If you want a big pumpkin (or any garden plant), choose your nutrient here.

 Andy T's also bought quite a few apples from the NCRS orchard.  Honeycrisp apples are a big hit.

 OK it was Saturday afternoon, and there was football to watch, and there were so many pumpkins to weigh, that I wished Tim good luck and went home.  I had to stop by the NCRS and saw this maple tree with a hint of red in it.  Could that mean colder weather is coming?  Hope it takes a while...I'm never ready for cold.

 Well thank goodness I am well connected.  Stephanie sent me this Facebook posting of the results of the Andy T contest on Saturday night.  It seems that Tim placed third in the pumpkin contest with a weight of 1534 pounds.  That is his biggest pumpkin by a large margin.  That's him in the picture below.  I will have to pump him for his secret, although he is pretty secret.  Other than using AgroLiquid that is.

So that was a fun morning.  I'll let you know how Tim does at State.  Hopefully it will be on ESPN or something.