Raglan’s crop swappers pitted pumpkin against pumpkin at the annual Pumpkin Festival at the Raglan Club recently.
Vying for top honours for heaviest, best carved, smallest, oddest and best pumpkin baking, over 70 people attended with pumpkins in all shapes and sizes, and baked into various sweet and savoury delights.
Bringing together backyard gardeners, home bakers and food foragers for swapping and sharing high quality local food on a regular basis, guardian Suz Hall reckons Crop Swap is a great way for Raglanites to share their surplus and at the same time get to know the local community.
“It just blows me away the incredible generosity of people’s swaps, fuelled by the pleasure of giving, reducing waste and creating community. I think one of the most meaningful parts of Crop Swap is the sharing of plants and seeds, that go on to be cultivated, the food and seeds brought back to crop swap, and then the cycle starts all over again,” Suz says.
As well as sharing the garden abundance, there is also the sharing of garden wisdom from members with many years’ experience getting the best from their patch.
Crop Swap has been operating in Raglan for the past three years, every first and third Sunday of the month at the Raglan Bowling Club starting at 9.30am.
Janine Jackson
Pumpkin Festival results:
Heaviest: Belinda Goodwin | Kids Heaviest – Oscar
Smallest: Belinda Goodwin | Kids – Tirarau
Oddest: Margaret and Neil Couche |Kids – Oscar
Pumpkin Art: Sue Hall | Kids – 1st Baylin, 2nd Ngaikea
Cooking: Belinda Thomas (sweet) | Rossi Walters (savoury)
