Growing begins now for giant pumpkin

Now’s the time to sow a plot and get the spade out, because before you know it, a small seedling could transform into a giant pumpkin.

The annual festival celebrating these mammoth veggies has been set at a date for April 2017 and organiser Jenny Rowden said it was time to get growing.

The carnival currently holds the Australasian record: a pumpkin weighed in as 789.5kg.

It could be your orange vegetable that beats Morrinsville man Tim Harris’ record.

Rowden said plants and seeds for both giant and miniature pumpkins are available during November at the Hamilton Gardens Information Centre, Remains to be Scene, the Rose Show and Scarecrow Day at Hamilton Gardens.

Plants are free to schools and retirement villages and a Chartwell school has already began their pumpkin preparations.

Hukanui School has 28 students dedicated to blowing away the competition at April’s carnival. So much so, they have their own elective class devoted to growing successful pumpkins.

The Giant Pumpkin elective is run by teacher Frank Young, who has been involved with the festival for four years.

They have produced some pretty big pumpkins in the past, winning the school division three out of four times.

The class is in the middle of a 10-week venture and Young said they are all interested in gardening and have developed respect for what has grown.

‘‘It’s good for the kids to do something different and see something growing in front of their faces.

‘‘It gives them a huge amount of ownership and the best thing you can give to kids is ownership of their learning.’’

Hukanui School is an Enviroschool with a Green-Gold award, the top accolade in the system.

They have their own garden on site, with a nursery, compost and beehives which they use to make their own school honey.

Their biggest pumpkin on record was around 240kg, Young said, and with a lot of pumpkin potential, they could smash it this time around.

The Great Pumpkin Carnival is in its eighth year and is on April 2, 2017 at the Hamilton Gardens.

Further details at: thegreatpumpkincarnival.co.nz