HONESDALE, PA — The 2023 Wayne County 4-H Fall Harvest Roundup was held on October 21 at the Park Street Complex. 

The roundup is an opportunity for members who enter the pumpkin, onion, potato, turkey or meat bird competitions to exhibit their projects, be evaluated by local experts, and hear critiques on how to improve their projects for future years. 

Seven 4-H members exhibited their work: 25 pumpkins in seven different classes, six potato entries, and two turkey poster entries.

Two Wayne County master gardeners—Wanda Eisenhauer and Mary Fenton—served as official judges for the 2023 roundup.

Pumpkin judging

Pumpkins had to be uniform in size and shape; have a uniform orange color; have a strong stem or handle; show no insect damage, no bruising and/or cuts; and have no obvious skin defects.

Grand Champion 4-H Pumpkin—Nicole Non (Pleasant Mount [PLMT] Go-Getters 4-H Club). Her pumpkin weighed 19 pounds and won in the 16 to 20-pound division.

Reserve Grand Champion 4-H Pumpkin—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club) with her miniature pumpkin, which won in the under 1-pound division.

Class #1—Miniature pumpkins and pumpkins less than one pound in weight

1st place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

2nd place—Truly Zablocky (Bethany 4-H Club)

3rd place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

4th place—Jason Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #2—Pumpkins, one pound to five pounds

1st place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

2nd place—Truly Zablocky (Bethany 4-H Club)

3rd place—Jason Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

4th place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

5th place—Caleb Weist (Laurella 4-H Club)

Class #3—Pumpkins from six pounds to 10 pounds

1st place—Jason Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

2nd place—Caleb Weist (Laurella 4-H Club)

3rd place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #4—Pumpkins from 11 pounds to 15 pounds

1st place—Truly Zablocky (Bethany 4-H Club)

2nd place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

3rd place—Jason Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

4th place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #5—Pumpkins from 16 pounds to 20 pounds 

1st place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

2nd place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

3rd place—Jason Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

Class #6—Pumpkins over 20 pounds

1st place—Jason Non (PLMT Go Getters 4-H Club) 

2nd place—Caleb Weist (Laurella 4-H Club)

3rd place—Kairi Loughran (Explorers 4-H Club)

4th place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club) 

5th place—Truly Zablocky (Bethany 4-H Club)

Class #7—Tall pumpkins 

1st place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

The Wayne County master gardeners, in addition to serving as judges, also supported the 4-H pumpkin roundup by awarding monetary prizes to each winner in the pumpkin class. Earlier this spring, they held a workshop to teach members how to select pumpkin varieties to plant, about soil amendments and good management practices and about disease. They helped members start seedlings for their projects.

Potato judging

This year’s potato judge was Zachary Curtis, agronomist educator in the Penn State Extension Wayne County Office. Potatoes had to be entered in one of the three classes of potatoes: red-skinned varieties, white-skinned varieties, or russet-skinned or baking type. Each entry must include five uniform-in-size potatoes that are free from disease, insect damage, defects and blemishes. 

Potatoes had to be cleaned gently, using a soft bristle brush, after air drying to remove excess soil while keeping the integrity of the skins intact.

This year Penn State Extension had six entries in the 4-H Potato Roundup by three 4-H members.

Grand Champion 4-H Potatoes—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club), entered in the red-skinned variety category

Reserve Grand Champion 4-H Potatoes—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club), entered in the white-skinned variety category

Red-skinned variety potatoes:

1st place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

2nd place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

3rd place—Caleb Weist (Laurella 4-H Club)

White-skinned variety potatoes:

1st place—Nicole Non (PLMT Go-Getters 4-H Club)

2nd place—Channing Rutledge (Tri-Gal 4-H Club)

Russet-skinned/baking variety potatoes:

1st place—Caleb Weist (Laurella 4-H Club)

Turkey project

This year’s roundup for the turkey project was held and judged differently than the traditional carcass evaluation. Unfortunately, due to the past prevalence of avian influenza in Pennsylvania, all in-person poultry roundups were banned once again for 2023. However, 4-H members worked on submitting educational displays about their respective projects. The displays were judged and evaluated for originality, creativity, educationally accurate information, general knowledge, eye catching/eye appeal, topic focused, easily understood, and workmanship.

The results of this year’s roundup are as follows:

Grand Champion turkey display—Sophie Markulin (Explorers 4-H Club)

Reserve Grand Champion turkey display—Kairi Loughran (Explorers 4-H Club)

The 4-H pumpkin, onion, potato, meat bird and turkey projects are just a few of the over 100 projects offered through the Wayne County 4-H Program. For additional information, email the Wayne County Extension Office at  WayneExt@psu.edu, or call 570/253-5970, ext. 4110, or visit the extension office, which is located at 648 Park St. (the Park Street Complex).

Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a non-formal educational youth development program of the United States Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring and contributing citizens.  To find your local program, visit the Penn State Extension website at https://extension.psu.edu/programs/4-h. 

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups. Nondiscrimination: www.guru.psu.edu/policies/AD85.html.