In One Ear: Pumpkin kings

There really is a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown ... at least in Anchorage, Alaska, there is, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Dale Marshall (pictured) struck again with his Atlantic giant pumpkin at the Alaska State Fair on Aug. 26, winning in a contest of two competing, with his latest behemoth 2,035-pound pumpkin.

Which makes Marshall the still-reigning king of the Alaska pumpkin patch. He set a giant pumpkin record in 2019, broke it in 2022 with a 2,147-pounder, and 2023’s entry weighed in at 2,035.5 pounds.

(In case you’re wondering, Oregon has a king of the pumpkin patch, too, Steve Daletas, and his state champion, undefeated 2018 pumpkin actually weighs 10 pounds more than Marshall’s best, at 2,157.5 pounds.)

Marshall used a seed from the 2023 pumpkin to grow this latest entry, but wasn’t surprised when the resulting pumpkin didn’t break his 2022 record. “This one just didn’t have the oomph that I needed to get to that level,” he noted.

The winning pumpkin will get an ignominious end after salvaging some seeds. “Then it just sits in the compost pile,” he added, “and a wandering moose will take some bites out of it.” (Photo: Alaska State Fair)