Pumpkin Contest 2011

On the weekend, at Campbell River Garden Centre, we hosted our 17th Annual Pumpkin Contest. This year had a lot of challenges for the home pumpkin growers as it was such a late, wet start to the summer and many pumpkin vines withered and died in the cold weather.  We actually wondered if any pumpkins would be entered this year and we were happy to see some arriving on Saturday morning.  These gardeners were nothing if not persistent and we all shared some laughs about the cold start and how we are hoping for the "Big Pumpkin" next year.

Each year the champion with the biggest pumpkin gets their name on our trophy.   This year the honour went to Ray Thomas with his pumpkin weighing in at 161 lbs, that is pretty good for such a cold start to our season.

If you would like to try your hand at growing a big pumpkin you will need some pumpkin seed for a big pumpkin (winners often give seed away so ask us if you are interested), manure and a good sunny location.  Remember not to start your pumpkin too early as the seedlings grow quickly and cannot be planted outside until the very end of May or early June.

But... our contest is all about fun!  We only have 2 rules:

1)  You need to grow the pumpkin yourself

2)  Only children who grow their own pumpkins can enter in the kids category.