Teosinte

One day, Esperanza, of Teosinte asked me "is it true that in The North they have giant pumpkins?" I said "Yes it is true that they have giant pumpkins in The North". And this was the start of the Teosinte giant Pumpkin contest.

Teosinte is a very small, very poor, village way up in the hills in El Salvador.
Last year, 2001, I started the first annual giant pumpkin contest to promote friendly competition and encourage development of horticultural skills.

Ricardo made this announcement of the contest:
It says "Announcement!
Contest,
Whoever can grow
the largest pumpkin
in Teosinte
will win
the first prize of 500 colons,
The second prize of 250 colons,
The third prize of 100 colons.
The judge is
The Father Rafael
in 90 days.
Ask Don Pedro".

The rules were simple. Grow the largest pumpkin. It didn't need to be yellow. It could be "indio". It wasn't too certain who was growing a pumpkin or who would enter the contest until the last minute. I had given 800 pound giant pumpkin seeds to whoever wanted them. The actual date of the contest was postponed until November 3, 2001 to allow a little longer growing season. We started later than we should have. On the appointed day Father Rafael came to judge the giant pumpkin contest.

THE SIX ENTRIES
1. Orlando 27lbs.
2. Evelio 23lbs.
3. Pedro 18lbs.
4. Santiago 16lbs.
5. Vilma 13lbs.
6. William 12lbs.

After we awarded the prizes we celebrated with piñatas for the kids

Can you help sponsor
The Second Annual Teosinte Giant Pumpkin Contest?

We need donations of seeds. They don't need to be from the largest pumpkins but they should be of the "Giant" type. I expect there to be many more entries this year and more requests for seeds and these seeds do not exist in El Salvador.

Prize money. Expanding the prizes, slightly, would be a good idea. (And so would more candy for the piñatas).

Information and expertise. Does anybody have any experience growing pumpkins in the tropics? Obviously, we have a long way to go to catch up with the North.

Please send donations or write to me at:
Women's Empowerment Partnership
Ken Goyer
285 Maple Street
Eugene Oregon, 97402
Or email me at goyen@efn.org