From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Ontario, Canada.

This is one the best GP stories ever written.....

http://www.barrieadvance.com/article/47715

Growing giant pumpkins is no beauty contest.

“It doesn’t matter if the pumpkin is flat and ugly,” chuckles Roy Lee, a giant veggie grower, and owner of Cornerstone Landscaping in Innisfil. “All you really want is weight – because the heaviest wins.”

And he means hefty. This year, his giant vegetable patch, visible from Highway 400, is producing a number of orange heavyweights. “If the weather stays good, and it doesn’t split, we may get one up to 1,200 pounds,” explains the 48-year-old business owner proudly.

“They can gain over 40 pounds a day when it’s hot and sunny,” explains Lee, whose love affair with giant pumpkins began about three years ago, after Russ Landry, a customer and local giant grower, urged him to give it a try. Since then, the two have worked together growing plus-sized beauties at the Cornerstone garden.

The current world record for giant pumpkins is 1,502 pounds, held by Ron Wallace of Rhode Island. The biggest pumpkins come from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, the U.S. Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. To qualify for top prizes, pumpkins usually need to be over 1,000 pounds. Port Elgin hosts the top weigh-off in Ontario.

According to Phil Hunt, president of the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario, people from all walks of life are drawn to the whimsical sport. “People are just amazed at the size of them, get curious, and want to see if they can grow one. It’s a great hobby the whole family can enjoy, and the prize money is pretty good if you win ($,5000 in Port Elgin),” explains Hunt.


Money can also be attained from prize-winning pumpkin seeds, with some seeds fetching anywhere from $500 to $1,000.

9/24/2007 1:58:30 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Super-sized true-green squash, long gourds, watermelons, tomatoes, cabbage, tall sunflowers and corn are also popular in competitive growing. There are about 100 giant fruit and veggie growers in Simcoe County, 10 of whom are serious competitors, Landry estimates.


What’s the trick to getting these creatures so big? “Lots of hard work,” says Landry, who spends upwards of five hours a day tending to the pumpkin patch during peak growing months. In addition to the Cornerstone Landscaping patch, Landry, a 49-year-old rollercoaster maintenance technician at Canada’s Wonderland, also maintains his own heavyweight garden in Thornton.


A good balanced soil, lots of water, warm weather, good quality seeds, and lots of good luck, are also required to grow these into monsters, explains Landry. Popular fertilization methods include fish, kelp meal and compost teas.


In search of the great pumpkin, some growers will try just about anything, including putting milk, molasses, human hair, beer or birth control pills on the soil. Some even use bat manure or magnetized water (water run through magnets) to get their pumpkins to gain more weight.

9/24/2007 1:59:02 PM

Ontario, Canada.

“There are lots of crazy stories out there,” laughs Landry, who readily admits to being a bit obsessive about the offbeat sport. “And some of them do work.”


Patience and TLC are also required. Local grower Adrien Gervais, who has received several trophies at Port Elgin’s Pumpkinfest (including first, in 1999) covers his giant pumpkins nightly with blankets to stay warm.


And what’s Gervais’s secret?


“The soil here is just wonderful,” says the 83-year-old farmer who runs Barrie Hill Farms with his family. “And they like good manure.”


But the real trick to growing enormous pumpkins is the seed, he explains. “It all really comes down to genetics.”


Fertilization of the female pumpkin flower is also key. Pollen must come from a large male plant to get the best results. “It’s like breeding cattle,” explains Gervais. “If you want a big cow, you use a big bull.”


And water is important. On a hot day, a thirsty pumpkin can drink between 50 to 100 gallons of water.


But growing a prized beauty is a delicate process. “You have to go easy,” explains Gervais, who has been growing pudgy pumpkins since 1998.


Over-watering, over-feeding and extremely fast growth can cause cracking – a grower’s worst nightmare because it leads to disqualification at weigh-ins (if it splits into the cavity).

9/24/2007 1:59:29 PM

Ontario, Canada.

With two overweight pumpkins on the go, Gervais would love to take home a trophy this fall. “It’s really exciting to win,” says Gervais with a smile. “It makes you feel like a somebody right away.”


To learn more about growing giant vegetables visit the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario website at www.gvgo.ca.

9/24/2007 1:59:54 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Birth control pills???

9/25/2007 10:00:43 AM