How long have you been growing pumpkins?
I started in 2014, as a way to help save my local town’s pumpkin festival, over in Spring Hope, North Carolina. I told my son I would grow the largest pumpkin they had ever seen, and I did.
Since you started growing pumpkins in 2014, how long until you were competition ready?
I beat the state record with my first pumpkin. I broke the state record a second time with my second pumpkin. And that was just the first year. I’ve broken the state record seven times since. As it stands today, of the state’s top nine largest pumpkins, I’ve grown seven of them, save for second and ninth place.
This year your pumpkin weighed in at 1,217.5 pounds. What is the weight of the largest pumpkin you’ve ever grown?
It came in at 1,506.5 pounds, which still holds the state record. That was in 2019.
I understand at one time you also held the world record for largest cantaloupe.
Yes, in 2018 I set the world record for largest cantaloupe, which weighed in at 65.9 pounds. The world record now is 76.7 pounds, and that was grown off of my seed.
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