No competition, no problem. Giant gourd grower brings pumpkin spectacle to his front yard
Jeff Pelletier is affectionately known in his North Vancouver neighbourhood as the "pumpkin guy" — and for good reason.
For the past six years, he's been growing gargantuan gourds in his south-facing backyard.
These aren't your everyday pumpkins — Pelletier's weigh hundreds of kilograms.
This year, the competitive giant pumpkin grower produced Muriel, named after his grandmother, who weighs in at 418 kilograms (923 pounds).
Since the pandemic has squashed the annual competition and weigh-in, Pelletier dragged his giant pumpkin out to his front yard so that his neighbours could enjoy the spectacle.
"We thought, let's just do it in the front yard, be great for the neighbourhood and they'll get to see them," he said.
Even making that short distance, however, took a crane and giant flat-bed truck.
Inspired by Peanuts
Inspired by the Charles Schultz comic Peanuts Halloween special, Pelletier said his first year of growing a giant pumpkin happened by chance.
"The first year that I grew, I threw a seed in the ground and I didn't know any techniques or anything like that," he said.
"I remember looking out the kitchen window in mid-September and thinking 'what the heck is that?' and it was a 300-pound pumpkin in my backyard."
Since then, Pelletier has been part of the giant vegetable growers community — a group that has grown more popular during the pandemic.
"We're all trading secrets and trading seeds. COVID has actually caused a huge interest in this because people are home and gardening is what they've chosen to take up," he said.
There's gold in those gourds
Pelletier says all you really need to get started is 55 square metres of good dirt.
And if you've got the touch, there's cash to be made.
When a pumpkin grower in Belgium grew a then-record breaking 1,180-kilogram (2,600-pound) specimen in 2016, he didn't just win prize money at a competition.
"He pulled about a thousand seeds out of the pumpkin and was charging $700 each, and he sold out of seeds," said Pelletier.
He says it's fairly normal for giant pumpkin seeds to be sold for $50 to $100 each.
But behind the competition is a passionate group of growers delighting in a common hobby.
"I often say to people, 'I've never seen anyone go by a giant pumpkin without smiling.' "
