November 08, 2024
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Huge cuke-pumpkin draws attention at fair

FARMINGTON – A monstrous round vegetable that is part-pumpkin, part-cucumber is drawing attention at the Farmington Fair.

The 317-pound vegetable, which some call a “cukin,” is the product of cross-pollinating a giant Atlantic pumpkin and pickling cucumbers.

Laurie Crummett Tranten and Cheryl Fisher grew the plant in a garden outside their apartment in Farmington this spring.

They brought in some manure, planted giant Atlantic pumpkin seeds and squeezed three cucumber pickling plants in some space in the middle of the pumpkin patch, Tranten said.

They wanted to grow giant pumpkins and small cucumbers. They got some giant pumpkins – but they’re not as big as they had hoped for – and a couple of giant cucumbers shaped like pumpkins.

Tranten said she fed the plants with Miracle-Gro, and what she thought were pumpkins grew and grew and grew.

They cut off a piece of the smaller plant, and it smelled like and had the same texture as a cucumber. And when they tasted it, “It was the sweetest tasting cucumber,” Tranten said.

Tranten’s 16-year-old son, Nick Tranten of Kingfield, named the pumpkin-cucumber product a “cukin.” The smaller vegetable was harvested early so the larger one had more room to grow.

It is now on display at the fair next to a 387-pound giant pumpkin.

Tranten wrote “The Tale of the Cukin: A Cross-pollination Story” and put it on the wall near the pumpkin display along with pictures of the “cukin” as it was growing.

Already, 18 people have signed up to get free seeds from the plant after it is cut open and dried.

Tranten said she doubts she’ll be pickling this monster vegetable. She thinks she’ll probably just make it a green jack-o’-lantern.


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