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Let there be (pumpkin) light |
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Written by BlazeBlogger
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Wednesday, 08 August 2007 |
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 I’ve just learned that the entrance tent for The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze will be significantly expanded this year and with have some cool new features, including – believe it or not – chandeliers made out of pumpkins. Now THAT sounds cool. The chandeliers are being designed by Michael Natiello, creative director for the Blaze.
The enlarged tent will help Blaze organizers with two goals this year. One is to provide full pumpkin ambiance well before visitors enter the illuminated path. And besides serving as a palette for clever pumpkin tricks, the tent will provide better circulation and access for the thousands of visitors who flock to Van Cortlandt Manor each night of the Blaze.
Better circulation is also leading to discussions about the area in front of the Manor House, which leads to the narrow “Long Walk.” As Gabe from Long Island points out in comments on an earlier entry , that area can bottleneck easily as visitors take pictures and gawk at the spectacle of the house lit with pumpkins, then funnel down the Long Walk. Blaze organizers are hoping a more defined path in front of the house will alleviate the issue. Got other suggestions? Let me know and I’ll pass them along.
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Written by BlazeBlogger
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Monday, 06 August 2007 |
 We’re continuing to track the progress of the pumpkins that will be on display at The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. The little gourds are starting to grow up and soon we’ll have more pictures to share. Visitors commonly ask the Blaze organizers where all these gourds come from. All of the pumpkins – thousands and thousands of pounds of pumpkins – come from the Wallkill View Farm in New Paltz, N.Y.
This family-owned and -operated farm is well worth a day trip, not only to check on the status of their pumpkins, but to take home a variety of tasty treats from the Wallkill View Farm Stand, which offers a bevy of fresh goods. Check out their Web site here.
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Van Cortlandt Manor gardens in the NYTimes |
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Written by BlazeBlogger
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Monday, 23 July 2007 |
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OK, so this is really late notice (10 days late, yeesh), but I would be remiss if I didn't point out, for those of you who missed it, that the gardens of Van Cortlandt Manor are given huge play in an article in the Escapes section of the July 13 New York Times. Titled "The Hudson Valley's Fields of Joy," the excellent article by Judy Dobrzynski includes profiles and pretty pictures of five worthy gardens to visit in the Hudson Valley. Van Cortlandt gets a great spread -- and Judy even points out that pumpkins are grown here! (No mention of Blaze, though. Darn. Next time.) The Times also profiled Montgomery Place, Historic Hudson Valley's Dutchess County paradise. In the print version, the article appears on the front cover of Escapes with color photographs of both Van Cortlandt and Montgomery Place. When it jumps to the section's back page, it includes a HUGE color image of the view of the Hudson from Montgomery Place. The article also profiles the grand gardens at Stonecrop, Bellefield, and Lasdon Park and Arboretum. The online version includes a slideshow of images that is well worth checking out.
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Calling all Deadheads (Blaze 2006 on YouTube, redux) |
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Written by BlazeBlogger
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Thursday, 19 July 2007 |
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Take 3,000 hand-carved pumpkins, mix them with "Werewolves of London" being covered by The Grateful Dead, spin the images this way and that, and you have the beginnings of a clever YouTube video, as Tim Duquette shows us. No dancing bears but there are dancing skeletons. Personally, I prefer Warren Zevon's classic, but the Dead do have a certain charm. Pumpkins, of course, are always charming. Check it out and let me know what ya think.
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From a tiny seed (sans salt), springs fall eternal |
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Written by BlazeBlogger
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Monday, 16 July 2007 |
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 Maybe the hardest thing about planting pumpkins is not succumbing to the urge to toast, salt, and munch ALL the seeds before you get them in the ground.
The folks at Wallkill View Farm, however, where Historic Hudson Valley gets pound after pound of pumpkin for The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, seem to have no problem planting these precious pumpkin seeds. (Perhaps they eat Corn Nuts instead?) Here at the Blaze Blog, we’re continuing to patiently watch the little sprouts…well…sprout. Thousands of pounds of pumpkin they will soon be. Check out this picture, taken in mid-June, of the little guy shown in the Blaze Blog’s first entry. Somehow, somewhere, a pumpkin is in there just waiting to burst out…Vibrant orange, olé!
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