You might think it’s a tough task to grow a gigantic pumpkin, but for this North Vancouver gardener specializing in gargantuan gourds, it’s no big deal.
Queensbury resident Jeff Pelletier has been growing giant vegetables for 10 years, but this year in particular he is striving to beat his previous record in B.C.’s official Great Pumpkin Commonwealth competition.
“I’m just hoping to better my score from last year. I think I will, because this pumpkin is bigger,” Pelletier said. “If you’re going to grow a giant pumpkin, it’s not that much work, and it’s super rewarding, especially when you start seeing it grow.”
Last year, Pelletier came 21st globally and 6th in Canada in the annual competition.
Pelletier predicts his prize pumpkin will tip the scales at around 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) this year, one of several vegetables he is entering into the contest along with giant squash, a regular jack-’o-lantern pumpkin, giant zucchini and a giant tomato.
On Saturday, a crane will arrive to take the pumpkin to the great pumpkin weigh off at Krause Berry Farms in Langley.
At the farm, contestants will weigh their gargantuan gourds in front of a large crowd of spectators, according to Tourism Langley. Last year, the event drew nearly 5,000 people, the biggest crowd in the history of the event.
Pelletier began growing this year’s veggies in his south-facing backyard in April, where he plants the seeds indoors. Around May, he planted the pumpkin in the ground, and has been pollinating from July until now.
“In the peak growing period, it’s putting on between 40 and 60 pounds a day,” he said.
Pelletier’s passion for growing enormous vegetables came from a young age, when he watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
“As a kid, that was one of my favourite cartoons, every Halloween we’d watch it,” he said. “I always said, ‘Someday, I’m going to grow a big pumpkin.’”
And that’s exactly what he did. There’s a lot that goes into growing the huge plants, Pelletier said, such as preventing stem or blossom end rot, and dealing with moisture issues.
Pelletier protects some of his plants with white tarps over top, blankets covering them and a fan to reduce moisture.
“If they don’t have this and they put sprinklers on pumpkins getting wet every day, you’re just risking the chance of getting it wrong,” he said. “I’ve successfully brought a pumpkin to competition for 10 years straight now, it’s a method that works.”
But not all plants are going to the competition, Pelletier said, as he is looking to donate or sell a 500-pound pumpkin.
“If someone wants to put a 500-pound pumpkin in their front yard, it’s available,” he said.
The local competition will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in Langley, with the results of the global competition released in January or February of 2025.
Abby Luciano is a freelance writer at the North Shore News who resides in Surrey. She can be reached at [email protected].
