South Dakota man’s 1,823-pound pumpkin breaks state record
CANTON, S.D. – Growing giant pumpkins is just like racing horses.
Progress is tracked, growth is controlled and genetics are paramount. And once you’ve started, you’re hooked.
That’s all according to Greg Kurkowski, the new record holder for largest pumpkin grown in South Dakota.
The 65-year-old Watertown, S.D., man’s pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 1,823 pounds at the Great South Dakota Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Oct. 2 in Canton. The previous record was set in 2010 by Kevin Marsh with a pumpkin that weighed 1,674 pounds.
A bit lumpier than your typical pumpkin, the pale pink winner is nicknamed “Spot.”
“That’s his baby,” Kirby Gardner said as he and his wife, Myrna, watched the giant pumpkin be weighed. The Gardeners are neighbors with Kurkowski and would often peak into the pumpkin patch during summer walks to check the massive pumpkin’s progress.
But the weigh-off winner had stiff competition, with other pumpkin growers also hitting high marks. They included a 1,195-pound pumpkin from Watertown’s Ryan Althoff. It was named “Scarface” for a sunburned spot on its back. Hartford’s John Haar had a 688pound pumpkin.
The smallest giant pumpkin was cogrown by Cade Kroger, 3, and his sister Kate Kroger, 2. It weighed 55 pounds. Instead of using the skid loader and ropes to carry their pumpkin, they instead opted for their dad, Travis, as the pumpkin carrier.
Kurkowski grew his first giant pumpkin in 1996 and set that year’s state record with a pumpkin of just 422 pounds. The next year, he broke his own record with a pumpkin weighing more than 700 pounds. In 2003, Kurkowski hit 1,000 pounds for the first time in his gardening career.
“From there, it was fire,” he joked. But growing a giant pumpkin isn’t a feat accomplished by just any run-ofthe-mill farmer. Kurkowski said it’s a six-month process from start to finish.
This year, the record-breaker used seeds from the Stillwater, Minn., winner of the 2020 Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off, which broke the Minnesota state record at 1,990 pounds last year.
Kurkowsi planted those Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds on April 5, where they spent two weeks under grow lights. From there, they spent about a month in a small backyard greenhouse before braving the outdoors fully.
While Kurkowski had two pumpkins growing at record pace, the first split open around the 40-day mark after a hefty rain. Since you can’t weigh a split pumpkin under Great Pumpkin Commonwealth rules, he hauled it out of the field and focused all attention on Spot.
At its best rate of gain, the pumpkin added about 45 pounds in a single day.
“Every seed – no matter what you do – is going to grow differently,” Kurkowski said. “It’s got a mind of its own.”
While each year becomes more difficult as giant pumpkin growers move more towards indoor growing, Kurkowski hopes to grow three pumpkins in 2022 that weigh in at a total of at least 4,000 pounds. The feat would earn him a spot in the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth’s 4,000-pound club and a snazzy jacket to commemorate the feat.
But until then, Kurkowski plans to take this year’s giant pumpkin back to Watertown, where he’ll haul it around town to different nursing homes and businesses for all to see.