This Pumpkin's Not Meant for Pie: Martin Grenchik's Giant Pumpkin Harvest

Every year, dozens of pumpkin growers from across Ohio and Pennsylvania travel to Salem, Ohio, to compete in the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers (OVGPG) Weigh-Off, one of OVGPG’s most popular events. The competitors aren’t just big—they’re behemoths, most weighing in at more than 800 hundred pounds. In fact, this year’s winner, grown by Dave and Carol Stelts, tipped the scales at 1,807.5 pounds.

Adams County pumpkin grower Martin Grenchik, 16, of Fairfield, was one of the contestants in this year’s OVGPG Weigh-Off. His giant pumpkin weighed in at approximately 1,018 pounds. Grenchik has grown ‘Atlantic Giant’ pumpkins before, but this year’s specimen was the largest the teenager has grown. Grenchik esimates he spent approximately 15 to 20 hours a week, from April to September, cultivating his pumpkin patch.

The process began in early spring when Grenchik obtained 3 cubic yards of alpaca fertilizer provided by Helen and Larry Hornbake, owners of Alpacas of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Rental Center, for his 600-square-foot pumpkin patch. In April, Grenchik started the seeds indoors, and a few weeks later, in early May, he transferred the plants to the fertilized garden. (Each plant, he says, will normally grow one main vine with several side shoots coming off the main vine on which several pumpkins can grow.) Since pumpkins do best with minimal rain and sun exposure, the 2011 growing season in Adams County proved to be challenging. With record rainfalls recorded in the area, Grenchik protected his pumpkin by covering it with sheets and a large tarp.

Grenchik estimates that during the pumpkin’s most active period of growth, it put on about 48 pounds in a 24-hour period. In September, the pumpkin was harvested by Grenchik and a team of men. “It was a nerve-wracking experience,” Grenchik says of the process. The pumpkin was harvested by Grenchik and a team of men who carefully cut the pumpkin from the vine, lifted into onto a tarp with a special lifting strap, transferred it onto a tractor and eventually transported it to Salem for the big day.

MORE INFORMATION

Don Langevin
How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins

Annedawn Publishing
Norton, MA 02766508-222-9069

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

BigPumpkins.com

Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers

Dedication Day, Remembrance Day Activities

On Saturday, November 19, Gettysburg commemorates the 148th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address during Dedication Day. This year, Remembrance Day (the Saturday closest to Dedication Day) is also held on November 19. Here's a list of highlights for Dedication Day commemorations:

148th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address — Soldiers' National Cemetery, 97 Taneytown Rd., Gettysburg: The Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania, Gettysburg National Military Park and the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College are sponsoring the annual observation with a wreath-laying ceremony, followed by brief memorial services. The wreath laying begins at 9:30 a.m. Stephen Lang offers the keynote address, while Jim Getty (Gettysburg's resident Abraham Lincoln) will recite the Gettysburg Address. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony is also part of the event.

Graveside Salute to the U.S. Colored Troops — Soldiers' National Cemetery, 97 Taneytown Rd., Gettysburg: A commemoration of the sacrifices of the U.S. Colored Troops during the American Civil War will take place immediately following the Gettysburg Address commemoration ceremony. Millicent Sparks, who portrays the famed escaped slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman, is the featured speaker.

Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremonies — Downtown Gettysburg: Sponsored by the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, this annual event is held in conjunction with the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. The parade begins at 1 p.m.

Ninth Annual Remembrance Illumination — Soldiers' National Cemetery, 97 Taneytown Rd., Gettysburg: This luminary ceremony commemorates the soldiers who lost their lives in 1863 and to all those who made sacrifices at Gettysburg. The ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, November 20, a headstone dedication for Sadie Shriver will take place at the Evergreen Cemetery, 799 Baltimore St., Gettysburg. Sadie Shriver was 7 years old when she witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg. She died in 1874and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, but her gravesite was never marked with a headstone.

On November 20, 2011, 137 years after her death, a headstone will be placed on Sadie's grave to commemorate the life of Sadie Shriver. Meet at the Shriver House, 309 Baltimore St., at 10 a.m. to join a procession to Evergreen Cemetery. The ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m.

Remembering Our Veterans

In the November/December issue of Celebrate Gettysburg, writer Jen Esposito and photographer Casey Martin share the stories of military families from the Adams County area in "A Legacy of Service."

This Veterans Day weekend we take time to honor those individuals in our communities that have made personal sacrifices in service to the United States. They may be members of your family, coworkers, neighbors, church members or your golfing partners.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that in 2010, there were approximately 995,135 veterans living in Pennsylvania.

The men and women who answered the call to serve our country have made tremendous sacrifices. They've left behind loved ones—not knowing when, or if, they will return home. And those who come home are often faced with trying to assimilate back into the patterns of everyday living.

On this Veterans Day weekend, we should take time to not only thank those who have served but also remember those who gave their lives to protect our freedom.