South Ridge Farms in Utah will have its own weigh off!

February 26, 2007 by admin.

Its official: The Big Red Barn just south of Santaquin Utah will have a Pumpkin Weigh Off this fall!

Now is the time to get the seeds for the giant pumpkins.  

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Its time to think about the Fall Giant Pumpkin weigh offs

February 26, 2007 by admin.

What:
Heavyweight champion pumpkins rock the scales at the 34th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off – in the World’s Pumpkin Capital – Half Moon Bay, California. A host of contenders from throughout the west will be gunning for glory in hopes capturing the coveted title and a share of about $20,000 in prize money. In a pay-by-the-pound system, the winner will receive $5 per pound for the champion pumpkin. Beauty will share center stage with brawn – a special $500 prize will be awarded to the “most beautiful pumpkin” as judged by the audience.

Defending champion Joel Holland, of Puyallup WA, took top honors in 2004 and 2005 with his record-setting 1,229-pound Atlantic Giant. He returns to contend with a formidable field that includes eight past champions. The massive pumpkins will be forklifted onto a meticulously calibrated 5-ton capacity digital scale. Representatives from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures will officiate the weighing.

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GUESS WHAT? PUMPKINS ARE A FRUIT!

January 11, 2007 by admin.

Pumpkins are the largest fruit in the world! They hold the record for being the largest single fruit individually that has ever been grown in or on or under this earth.

You want to know where to get great fruit items it is HERE at SOUTH RIDGE FARMS!!

CHECK OUT THE GREAT WEB SITE AT: southridgefarms.com  

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World Record Pumpkin Pie

December 22, 2006 by admin.

World Record Pumpkin Pie

It certainly is a lot of pie.

And, it’s recorded in the Guiness World Book of Records.

How big does a pumpkin pie have to be to become the world record? The current world record stands at 2,020 pounds (after baking).  It was prepared and baked by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in New Bremen, Ohio. This huge pie was made on October 8, 2005. Over 5,000 people came to witness the event.

For the record: This pie was 2,020 pounds. It measured 12 feet, 4 inches wide and 4 inches deep. The pie recipe included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 155 dozen eggs, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon and 2 pounds of pumpkin pie spice. The pie lost over 200 pounds while baking. The pie made over 3000 pieces. Baking began at about 6:00am. The pie was baked for over five hours in a custom made oven.

Pictured above is the proud organizing team. Left to Right: Brian Boroff, Jeff Wells, John Turner, Leon Homan, Jon Wells, Greg Reynolds, not pictured Jess Siegel .

In order to be a world record, the baked pie must be officially weighed. Not an easy task.

Shown above is the official certificate from Guiness.

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Pumpkin Carving at Christmas

December 18, 2006 by admin.

How about a Christmas Pumpkin. Carve it with a tree on it and a candle glowing brightly! I would even suggest carving a cherry pattern in the pumpkin! Forget the spooks and the goblins, gone are the scary things of pumpkins. Think Christmas season and carve a Christmas motif!

We love to do this on Christmas. It is a great way to decorate and cheap too!

Advance planning is the key to your pumpkin carving success

First, decide before buying your pumpkins what designs you will be carving into them. This will allow you to create a shopping list or at least a mental idea of the shapes and sizes of pumpkins you’ll need.

For standard carving without a stencil, decide if it should be tall and narrow, or more rounded, based on your ideas. Select pumpkins that are uniformly orange meaning that are ripe, have no bruises, cuts or nicks.

If you will be using a stencil to carve your pumpkin, select a pumpkin that is large enough and as close to the same shape as the pattern you’re going to carve. It should be as smooth as possible, and free of scratches, dents or gouges.

Never carry a pumpkin by its stem; it may break. If it does break-off you can use toothpicks as a basic patch. Care should be taken not to bruise during transport or storage, as this will shorten their life-span.

If you find a perfect pumpkin but it’s missing it’s stem, have no fear! You can still use it! Just carve the bottom out  for the opening  the same way you would do the top. Then, you just sit your light source on the cleaned bottom piece and sit the pumpkin over it. Works great and you don’t need the stem for a lid handle!

Pumpkin Bars

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup nuts

Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs, add sugar, then oil; add dry ingredients with pumpkin and nuts. Pour in 9×9x2-inch greased baking pan. Bake at 350�F for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan and frost, if desired.

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Pumpkin Breads

December 16, 2006 by admin.

I love pumpkin Bread! It is not just for Halloween but for All the holidays! Here are three recipes that will make your mouth water when eating or thinking about pumpkin bread! I hope that pumpkins won’t JUST be associated with Halloween. They deserve much more that that. I still pick up my favorite pumpkin cookies at the Red Barn, and it is way past Halloween this year. They make them fresh everyday and are they ever so good. Try the Pumpkin Bread recipes, I think that you will like them!

Traditional Pumpkin Bread

3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
3 eggs
2 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. walnuts (optional)
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

Blend oil, sugar and eggs. Stir in pumpkin. Add shifted dry ingredients. Stir in walnuts (optional). Put in greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

3 cups white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, spices, soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Grease and flour three 1 pound size coffee cans or three 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans or pans. Wrap in cellophane once completely cooled. Makes 3 loaf pans.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Bread - Half Moon Bay, CA. Bake-off Winner
 Makes 3 loaves

3 c Sugar, granulated
3 1/2 c Flour, all-purpose
1/2 t Salt
2 t Baking soda
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Nutmeg
4 lg. Eggs
1 c Vegetable oil
2 c Pumpkin (cooked)
2/3 c Water
1 1/2 c Walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter your containers well. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the eggs, oil, pumpkin and water. Beat thoroughly. It’s easier to get all the lumps out if you use an electric mixer. Stir in the walnuts with a wooden spoon.

Pour the batter into the containers, filling each only half to two-thirds full. Bake for 60-90 minutes, depending on the sizes of your containers. If you’re using a very small container, start checking much sooner. The bread is done when a toothpick in the middle comes out clean. Cool about ten minutes, then loosen the edges of the bread with a knife, and turn out of the pans to cool the rest of the way on a rack. For baking containers, you can use a loaf pan, metal cans, or whatever. If you use 1-pound coffee cans, it takes three of them. For tiny loaves, use soup cans or mini loaf pans.

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Growing a Giant Pumpkin

December 8, 2006 by admin.

The Life Cycle of a Giant Pumpkin

Anyone who has grown these behemoths will agree, the life cycle of a Giant Pumpkin is fast, enormously strong, and furious. At the end however, it usually crawls to the finish line as cooler weather and shorter daylight hours causes increasingly slower and slower growth.

Here’s a chronology of the life cycle of this prolific plant. It will help you to gauge when to plant your seed and all the big steps in between. Adjust the start date to best fit your area.

Day # Date Event
1 April 24th Plant seeds indoors. Competitive growers start between April 24th and May 5th. But, don’t worry if you get a late start. You can start a giant pumpkin as late as the end of May.
5 April 29th Plant back-up seeds. Avid giant pumpkin growers all know that many things can go wrong with germination and early seedling growth. Always have a few extra.
9 - 10 May 5th Happy Birthday, seeds explode from soil
20 May 12th First true leaves appear
22 - 25 May 15th Transplant to garden
25 - 36 May 15th - May 30 Provide evening cover to protect young seedlings from cold and frost
51 June 15th The “Battle of the Bugs” begins
70 July 1-14th Pollination time
73 July 20th Breath sigh of relief, pollination is successful.
75 July 9th Switch to higher phosphate fertilizer or supplement
80 July 14th Build shade cover for fruit
81 July 15th No amount of water is enough, ditto for fertilizer
82 July 16th The “dog days” of summer bring humidity- apply fungicides
96 July 30th The monster is 100 to 150 pounds, give or take 50 pounds
100 August 4th The skin begins to take on a harder texture,ribs begin to form
111 August 15th Bright yellow skin is slowly darkening. Will it turn orange!?!
126 August 30th Shorter hours of sun and genetics slows growth
141 September 15th Cooler weather, shorter days, translates to slow growth
156 September 30th Pumpkin is mature and orange.
159 October 6th The fork lift digs up the lawn as you harvest your giant pumpkin.
160 October 7th Your monster is new world record at the weighoffs!!
161 October 15th Quarterly Water Bill arrives.

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Is a pumpkin just for Halloween?

November 28, 2006 by admin.

You might think that pumkins are just a Halloween decoration. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is true that every pumpkin longs to be picked, carved, lit and finally cooked in a pie, but the truth is they don’t much care if they are eaten on Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas!

Do you agree?

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Cherry Cobbler Recipe

November 27, 2006 by admin.

A tasty healthy cherry cobbler recipe from www.SouthRidgeFarms.com

30 oz. can Tart cherry piefill
1 cup Apple juice
1 tsp. Almond extract
1 cup All-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup Shortening
1 Egg
3 Tbsp. Half & Half or milk

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