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British Columbia, Canada

I read today in the Skinner's diary that the 2150 had a very low seed count and that the weigh-off site gets to keep half of the seeds from the winning pumpkin. From what I understand, the festival site sells the seeds to fund money prizes, awards etc...I think this is fine, growers get to support their weigh-off and have the option to take their entries elsewhere if they disagree with the rules. The problem that I see is that growers don't know how many seeds are in their pumpkin until the deal has been made, the fruit has been weighed and then cut open. I don't know the exact number of seeds in the 2150 other than it's very low. Is it unfair that the grower could have very few seeds for themselves and friends? Likewise, could splitting an already low seed count potentially put unfair pressure on the grower when it comes to donating their seeds to other clubs for auction? Is it unfair to the other clubs?

What does everyone else think?

10/30/2017 3:53:36 AM

Dillonvale, Ohio

Seed count can't be controlled. I talked to Todd and was supposed to get seeds from him, I may/probably won't now, it is what it is. I don't see it as unfair to anyone, club or otherwise, I'm honestly surprised that more weigh-off sites don't do it.

10/30/2017 7:12:09 AM

Dillonvale, Ohio

Clubs should only be asking for seeds... not begging for them, I would think most growers/clubs have experienced low seed count and would understand that he only has so many to give out.

10/30/2017 7:16:05 AM

Dillonvale, Ohio

Stupid phone only let's me put so much in 1 post.
I think it's also important to note that no one would bat an eye if that same pumpkin weighed 1000 lbs instead of 2150. Just my .02

10/30/2017 7:18:15 AM

Alex, IN

As the president of a club I see no issue with this. If it is in the rules of the weigh-off when you enter your fruit, you understand and take the risk that you may have a low count. If someone does not want to be tied to donating seeds to the club which is offering the prize money for that contest, go somewhere else.

Raising prize money has gotten harder these last few years. When a seed that grows a 2k pound fruit only sells for $20-$30 instead of $79-$100 or more it become very difficult. There is a lot of time and money that goes into getting those seeds in our hands for the auction and then into the buyers hands.

Not one grower gets blind sided with the seed donation requirement. If they didn't like it, they are free to go elsewhere. That's just my opinion.

10/30/2017 7:32:59 AM

Colorado

Shouldn't be a problem-grower knows ahead of time what the contest expects and is okay with it(or they shouldn't have won:) What sucks is when you open a monster and theres not a plethora of giant plump seeds staring back at you. Just ask don young/chris stevens about that.

10/30/2017 11:17:30 AM

Deer Park, WI

I agree with Mikkal's sentiments. Stillwater HarvestFest asks for 50 seeds from top 15 fruit. If a fruit only has 49 viable seeds, we do not expect all of them to be handed over.

I am certain that most organizations would fairly negotiate a compromise between grower and group. Stevens 1810 had a ridiculously low seed count. And SCGA was the beneficiary of two of them to use at auction, which due to their rarity, brought more revenue than a batch of 50 ever would have.

10/30/2017 12:25:06 PM

Barnesville, OH

We are perfectly fine with the festival getting half of the seeds.Its been that way for over 50 years. The festival will work with us to try and get seeds to those who have helped us over the years and as many clubs for their auctions as we can.But we wont be able to give out like we had hoped. We were just letting everyone know our situation with the seeds.Not sure what the seeds will go for at auctions but the barnesville pumpkin festival will have several to sell

10/30/2017 4:53:44 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Thanks everyone for your replies. Hopefully I didn't come across as being critical of the festival. This is a new concept for me and I was just a little surprised.

10/30/2017 9:05:29 PM