We all have met them: A gardener obsessed is passionate, determined, competitive, often stressed, and always somewhat crazy. Whether they're developing new roses, grafting apples, designing the ultimate herb garden or growing vegetables, they share a lot of the same traits.
In her new book, Backyard Giants (Bloomsbury USA, 2007), the Wall Street Journal's Susan Warren, deputy bureau chief in Dallas,Texas, takes the reader inside the annual quest to grow the world's biggest pumpkin. She follows Rhode Island farmers Ron and Dick Wallace throughout 2006 as they try again for the big prize.
"What makes a man spend half his year busting his guts to grow a giant pumpkin?" she asks. The answer is really quite simple: "A need to break barriers, to defy the odds, to test the limits of one's own abilities." The book is perfect for this pumpkin season. Beautifully written, it's engaging and heart-breaking, entertaining and hilarious. Warren lets you in on selecting the perfect seedling, the battles with deer, mice, and foaming slime. And then the record-breaking pumpkin, the appearance on the Martha Stewart show and the entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.
But the quest goes on for Ron and Dick Wallace: this year's winning pumpkin, just announced, weighed in at 1689 pounds! Read more about it at www.bigpumpkins.com
(click on image to purchase book)
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