Picture of the Day: Growing Giant Pumpkins

The status of the pumpkin this afternoon

A neighbour has become really good at growing really big pumpkins and he's hoping to do it again this year.

Last October his 1,161-pound squash called "Orangina" won the biggest pumpkin title at the BC Giant Pumpkin weigh-off at Krause Berry Farms in Langley.

The same one over two weeks ago

Over two weeks ago I went to check out his pumpkin patch and there were several contenders to choose from.

But this afternoon I made another visit and saw this giant white one, while the others weren't as big.

We'll be watching to see how big this one grows!

Halloween 2024 Report

An elaborate Halloween display

This year Halloween was... wet.

We started around 5.30pm and soon after it started sprinkling and that soon turned into rain.

Even though the kids complained about the precipitation, they were still very keen about getting candy. Lots of it.

Free hugs? Yikes!

One house handed out cans of soda, another a full-size box of Smarties. Most handed out chocolates by hand, one or two with a chute, and some just left a box on the front porch with a sign instructing children to take one each. The kids' bags got heavy quite fast, but they were reluctant to relinquish their bags of candy to their parents.

Some of the houses had fantastic decorations, lots of web-like cotton spread over shrubs, graves half opened with feet or hands sticking out, lots of skeletons hanging about. There was even one made of plastic milk jugs. So clever!

One had a pumpkin carved with a gerbil or hamster, while another had three intricately-carved gourds, one with a Celtic weave, an owl and a heart. "They did a lot of work," my nephew remarked about their pumpkins.

The other nephew is terrified of scary noises and refused to go to the houses that had eerie sounds coming out of them. But he would happily go to the other ones "that aren't scary". 

At one point we found shelter at a church that had police managing traffic at the intersection. We got some piping hot chocolate, and the kids got more candy and played with friends. There were other refreshments like hot dogs, mandarin oranges, tea, coffee, apples and popcorn.

Intricately carved owl pumpkin

While the kids played, some parents sat on folding chairs staring at their phones, while others chit chatted amongst themselves. It was a nice respite from the rain before we headed out again.

Amazingly the kids lasted for just over two hours and still keen on collecting more candy when we almost got home. One house had two skeletons dressed up looking out the window...

Picture of the Day: Pumpkin Spice Latte Coffee Crisp

Just in time for autumn, Coffee Crisp with pumpkin spice latte

The other day I was in the supermarket and spotted Coffee Crisp -- in a pumpkin spice latte flavour!

So I had to get it to try.

It turns out I am late to the game as it was released a year ago. But no time like the present, right?

The original Coffee Crisp is a Canadian chocolate bar, with several layers of vanilla wafers covered in coffee-flavoured soft candy and then coated in milk chocolate. It's very crispy and has a hint of coffee flavour.

With this pumpkin spice one, the taste of the chocolate bar has a latte flavour, a milkier version of the original Coffee Crisp, but the pumpkin and spice flavour were not particularly overt.

Maybe it's better to have Coffee Crisp with a cup of pumpkin spice latte?

Trick-Or-Treating in Vancouver

A giant spider greets children on the roof

Halloween is upon us again and the ritual of dressing up and going house to house to collect candy is the highlight of the year for kids.

A werewolf on the prowl...

Interestingly a neighbourhood church is the starting point for some young kids to begin their Halloween festivities. Outside is a makeshift tent where people can get a cup of hot chocolate and a hotdog, and inside the gym there are candies and fruits: apples, bananas and mandarin oranges.

A relative works for a Christian school in Hong Kong and told me some teachers and staff would strongly disapprove of practicing these pagan rituals. But here they were in Vancouver, dressed up in Halloween costumes and handing out free food and drinks while promoting the church's services.

In any event we started trick-or-treating, going up and down the street and going to homes that had pumpkins or Halloween decorations. Many were generous in giving out candy, like two to three pieces per person, or even full size candy bars! One woman post-Covid continues her practice of using a long pipe chute from her door to give out candies to kids.

Some houses were elaborately decorated with several pumpkins carved, gardens littered with graves and bloody body parts as well as skeletons. Others had werewolves, or aliens in suits! 

... and an alien back from work?

After over an hour the candy haul was pretty impressive. The chocolates and candies will be consumed by both kids and parents...

Perusing Pumpkins at the Patch

The farm has three muddy pumpkin patches to choose from

With Halloween around the corner, this morning we went to Richmond Country Farms to visit the pumpkin patch.

Interesting combo of dinosaurs and pumpkins

It is off the Steveston Highway and at the turnoff there was a massive traffic jam that inched onto the overpass. Also, many other families and schools had the same idea of visiting this farm today so it was packed full of people.

There are tractor-pulled wagons to take visitors to the pumpkin patch, and while you wait, there's a group of musicians to keep you entertained with songs to sing along. And once you get onto the open-air wagon, you have to shout "Yee-haw!" to get it going. 

Another folk guitarist gets the wagon passengers to sing "Old Macdonald Had a Farm" and then we arrive at the entrance to the pumpkin patch -- that includes three robotic dinosaurs! Talk about prehistoric farm...

The pumpkin patch was very muddy -- which was made less slippery with lots of straw strewn all over the grounds. And there were lots and lots of pumpkins to choose from, small to large, pretty much in uniform pumpkin orange.

And then take that pumpkin home to carve. Many do the usual simple face, but at a local supermarket, someone got really creative with a giant pumpkin and carved a grumpy wrinkly face with three eyes!

Check out this pumpkin carving at a supermarket

Picture of the Day: Julius the Giant Pumpkin

Julius is resting (and growing) under a tarp in Vancouver

A neighbour in Vancouver is growing a gigantic pumpkin in their front yard.

The gourd's name is Julius and it's over 500 pounds.

"Julius started out as little as the size of a marble and now he's 500 pounds," said Michael Polay.

People who walk by the pumpkin patch invariably start conversations with the Polay family, who have never grown such a big pumpkin before.

For the past decade they have grown regular-sized pumpkins for their two children for Halloween, but nothing like Julius.

"It's actually a full-time job," said Polay. "We are in the patch everyday making sure he [the pumpkin] is well-watered and fed."

He got the pumpkin seeds to grow Julius from Jeff Pelletier, who grew a massive 1,167-pound pumpkin last year that was named the "prettiest pumpkin" at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off held at Krause Berry Farms for the past decade.

Polay even got the seeds from this particular winning pumpkin, which explains why Julius has grown so much, but not as big as Pelletier's. Nevertheless, the Polay family still intend to bring their pumpkin to the weigh-off even though it probably won't win.

But they have set their sights on growing a 1,000-pound gourd next year!