Tipping the scales
Vesey’s Seeds in York set to host annual giant pumpkin and squash weigh-off on Saturday
Springvale dairy farmer Gordon Aten is hoping to walk away with bragging rights on Saturday.
Aten will be one of 25 to 30 giant pumpkin growers taking part in the 26th annual giant pumpkin and squash weigh-off at Vesey’s Seeds in York.
Aten planted his seed on May 1 inside his house and moved it out to the garden on June 1. By the time it gets to York on Saturday, it will weigh about 800 pounds. The Island record currently stands at 1,768 pounds, set by Charlottetown’s Eddy Shaw last year.
“Some people take it fairly serious,’’ said Aten, who also acts as the president of the P.E.I. Giant Pumpkin Growers Association. “But really, it's a friendly competition, just a family thing, a competition for gardeners.’’
Shaw has set a new record in each of the last four years.
This event is the brainchild of the late Dr. Jim Smith as a way to draw people out to his Silver Bells Christmas tree farm just across the highway from Aten.
“He’d have wagon rides through the Christmas trees and he’d put little things in the tree and if you found one you might get a free tree, a free pumpkin or a wreath,’’ Aten said. “Oh, they used to come out by the hundreds and hundreds. People would come out and buy a pumpkin and (tag) a Christmas tree and come back and pick it up at Christmas.’’
The event moved out to Vesey’s Seeds about a decade ago, a few years after Smith died.
Ian Simmons, co-owner of Kool Breeze Farms Garden Centre and Family Market in Summerside, said he has seen first-hand how dedicated some pumpkin growers can get.
“I remember being out at one grower’s field and he had half a dozen huts built, and inside the huts were the big pumpkins,’’ Simmons said. “It’s a very serious business for those pumpkin growers.’’
While it won’t have a weighoff, Kool Breeze will be sticking with the pumpkin theme this weekend, offering wagon rides where people can pick their own pumpkins, 1-4 p.m. Vesey’s will also offer children’s activities, including hayrides, on Saturday.
At the weigh-off, the top 10 giant pumpkins growers will get a cash prize while the top five squash competitors walk away with money.
Other categories include firsttime growers, field pumpkins, closest to 300 pounds and bestlooking pumpkin.
“I had the biggest squash one year . . . they can get just as big as (giant pumpkins),” said Aten, who got into it the year after Smith started the weigh-off. He’s been growing one ever since.
He noted that there’s no real secret to growing a giant pumpkin.
“The secret is that there is no secret,’’ Aten laughs.
“It starts with the seed. If you have a nice warm spot, lots of compost like manure and then water it and look at it every couple of days. After that, it’ a little bit of luck.’’
And, like tomatoes, pumpkins aren’t fans of heavy frost, so Aten said it’s important to cover them on cold nights if they’re not already in a greenhouse.
The weigh-off begins at noon on Saturday, rain or shine.