5 in 5 - November 2016 - Pumpkin Patch

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th of

each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

Where did October go to?  With a blink of an eye another month has gone and with it Halloween.  But it's not too late to show these photos, especially as the story of this pumpkin may be around for a little longer...

At the beginning of October the pumpkin was taken to Southampton for weighing. This was no doubt an anxious time for Matthew Oliver and others concerned, but it was a success! The pumpkin achieved a new UK record for the heaviest outdoor grown pumpkin at 1,333.8 lbs or over 95 stone!! 

As well as the giant pumpkin there was a display of other pumpkins and gourds, 66 varieties in total. There was so many different shapes, sizes and colours. 
The large pumpkins in the back were apparently  bought as a packet of seeds from USA costing £10, so if you want to have a go at growing a giant pumpkin yourself this is your chance! 

News of the champion pumpkin reached national newspapers and the reason the story continues?  Rumour has it that the giant pumpkin along with it's 3 counterparts, will be cut open, hollowed out, then turned into boats!  Initially it was planned they would be floated on the lake at Hyde Hall, but on my visit to the garden I was told they are now planning to float these down the River Chelmer. I am keeping my ears open for news as I would love to see this event.  If I do, I'll be sure to come back with photos.

  

It is always fun to have company in this photo challenge so a big thank you to Maggie, Melanie, Miriam, Karen and Borqna for taking part last month. And to all those who visited and left comments.

And YOU would be very welcome to join in too, so I hope you are inspired to get out your camera. Here is the plan:

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (I use my mobile phone).

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool below.
                         
                              You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos.

There are more details here.

Thank you for visiting and if you any seasonal stories to tell do leave a comment or link back here with 5 photos.

5 in 5 - MELANIE - October 2016

Melanie is my friend who lives in Australia and she loves photography.  Every month since the start of this challenge Melanie has taken part in this monthly meme and as she doesn't have her own blog I post here. I love that we have found a way for her to take part, so over to you Melanie:

This month the 5^th has fallen within the school holidays. In South Australia the schools have four terms of around 10 weeks each and the school year starts in January. Term 3 finished a week ago and there is a two week break between term 3 and term 4.   Our daughter who lives nearby is a teacher and I took advantage of her having a break from school to go on a short road trip with her.  We traveled 700 km west of where I live to the Eyre Penninsular which is an area of South Australia.  The main occupation in the Eyre Penninsular is agriculture and we were going to experience this first hand as we were visiting a friend of my daughters’ who lives on a farm.  The farm grows oats and wheat plus they have Hereford cows.  The oats are used as feed and the wheat is sold.  At the time we were visiting the oats had been cut and the baler was in use.  I had not seen a baler before and it was fasinating to see it travel down the line of cut oats and then produce a bale.  The baler that the farm uses can make 30 bales an hour.  The oats were cut a couple of weeks ago and left to dry out.  However last week there was torrential rain and so fresh oat shoots as seen in the photo top right hand side have sprouted.  Despite the rain the bales when checked for mosiure recorded zero.  That could be because the temperatures this week have been in the high twenties and low thires.  I think the photos speak for themselves and hope you enjoy looking at them.

It was interesting to hear about the school holidays in Australia, and it sounds like this was a great visit to a farm. I find it interesting that despite our difference in seasons, our own harvest finished recently. Thank you for sharing these Melanie, and as always, for taking part! 

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If this has inspired you to pick up your camera and join in this post will answer questions and give the information that you need. And if you want to see other 5 in 5 photos for this month just go to the original post.

Hopefully Melanie will be back next month and I look forward to you joining us. Thank you for popping by, it is great to have your company.