A 4-year-old Northland girl has been awarded for her giant pumpkin-growing skills for the second year in a row.
Hazel Blackwell of Tītoki won the award for heaviest giant pumpkin at 53.5kg at the Celtic Harvest and Giant Pumpkin Festivals in the Mangakahia Valley near Whangārei on Sunday.
Some of the region’s largest, best-crafted and also ugliest pumpkins were on show among the 60 entries at the second annual event.
About 90 visitors helped raise close to $2000 for the Northland Rescue Helicopter from koha on the day.
The size of the top pumpkins had halved compared to the year prior, where some came in at nearly 100kg. The dramatic drop in size was put down to a shorter season disrupted by drought.
Grower and organiser Susan Pryor of Tītoki said low soil temperatures pushed out planting from October to November, which was then followed by the midsummer drought.
“Last year our pumpkins were nearly 100kg in the first, second and third categories – they were all in the 90s,” she said.
A scene at Celtic Harvest and Giant Pumpkin Festivals in Northland's Mangakahia Valley on Sunday. Photo / Steve Macmillan
“This year, all of our pumpkins were around the 50-60kg mark, so that’s about half the weight they were last year.
“They still look fabulous, but I think that they probably didn’t grow as quickly before the drought hit, and then just keeping them watered is a major job.”
Pryor said young Hazel Blackwell’s secret to success – after coming second behind her mum Nelly Cullen last year – was planting the pumpkin in a swampy patch in the garden, as the crop needed lots of water.
“It is cute when you see little kids standing beside these giant pumpkins or sitting on top of them, because the pumpkin is bigger than them.
“The pumpkin is probably four times bigger than Hazel, so it is really cute.”
Families enjoyed the pumpkins at the Celtic Harvest and Giant Pumpkin Festivals in the Mangakahia Valley. Photo / Steve Macmillan
Pryor said old-fashioned community events like this were more important than ever for isolated and rural communities.
“Community and rural places, that’s something that has been gradually eroded by the removal of schools in these small villages and also the necessity for people to go to town to work. As farms become big, small farms have been gobbled up into great big enterprises.”
Pryor regularly took giant pumpkins to plant at local schools and rest homes to help reconnect children and older people with their kai.
“I think it’s really important for people to know how to grow their food or at least know how it gets to be food fit for their table,” she said.
“As well as planting at the schools, I plant at rest homes. The residents in rest homes often haven’t got a lot to do and it can be quite boring for them and a giant pumpkin is anything but boring to watch it grow, because if you sat there quietly with it, I’m absolutely certain you could just about measure it in the morning and measure it again in the evening and you would know that it had grown before your eyes.
