Jerri Brouse
SHAMOKIN DAM -- Earlier this month a math teacher from Ohio took home first prize and set a world record at the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers with her 1,725-pound pumpkin. While Christy Harp is likely grinning from ear to ear at the possibility of seeing her name in the Guiness Book of World Records, she’s got nothing on Dru and Hannah Kline when it comes to pride.
The Klines — 8-year-old Hannah and 10-year-old Dru, of Selinsgrove — may not have broken any world records with their 55-pounder, but they’re just as happy with the pumpkin that won them fourth place in the Beaver County Fair last month.
Dru brought the pumpkin plant home at the end of the school year and with the help of his mom, Kathy, planted it in the home garden. The plants were given out by the Selinsgrove Future Farmers of America club. Students were told to plant the seedlings to see who could grow the largest pumpkin by this fall.
“We planted it around the second week of June,” said Kathy.
Feed it milk
Dru and Hannah admit while they pulled some weeds over the summer months, they did little else to aid in the growth of their prize pumpkin.
“We just let nature do it,” said Dru. “And it worked out very well.” Hannah said the two did give the pumpkin a little milk from time to time.
“My grandfather used to tell us to feed the pumpkins milk,” said Kathy.
Whether or not it helped, she doesn’t know.
“We didn’t do anything else unusual to get it to grow bigger,” said Kathy.
In fact, nature even took care of making sure the pumpkin had a nice shape and color. Kathy said some people will roll their pumpkins during the growing season to avoid having a flat spot. The Klines didn’t roll theirs, yet the flat spot is barely noticeable.
The pumpkin is for sale at Gilbert’s Garden Center in Shamokin Dam.
Jay Burkholder, owner of Burkholder’s Farm Market in Washingtonville, has been growing giant pumpkins for years and said people are becoming more and more interested in decorating their homes and businesses with the spectacular squash.
Heavy lifting
“What you see on our lot now is pretty much what’s left,” he said recently of the dozen or so pumpkins lined up in the parking lot of the market. “We all but sold out.” Overall, he said he’s sold about 130 giant pumpkins, most of which range in size around 200 pounds.
“Some varieties will grow to 1,000 pounds or more, but I don’t grow those,” said Burkholder. “The variety that I grow looks great and can still be moved into the back of someone’s SUV.” Burkholder planted his seeds in mid-May and began harvesting and selling his pumpkins in September.
“There are a lot of people who come here to get the really big ones,” he said. “Some will even drive quite a distance to get them.” Finding and buying the pumpkins is the easy part — getting them home, not so much.
“Moving them is backbreaking work,” said Burkholder. “We have to roll them on their side to get a tarp or canvas underneath to move it. Sometimes we put it on a skid and use a forklift.”
Good for pies
What do you do with such a big pumpkin? While most people use them for decoration, Burkholder said they can be carved — though it could be tough.
“You can carve them but they are about 3 inches thick,” he said.
Better yet, you can use them to cook up some pumpkin pie. Lots of pumpkin pies.
“These are a great pie variety, believe it or not,” he said.
If you’re looking to grow your own giant pumpkin, Burkholder has a few tips, though he said the process is really very basic.
“It’s pretty straight forward,” he explained. “Have the seeds in the ground by mid-May and keep the bugs and fungus away. Make sure you feed them well and pay attention to them.” That last part is important, he said.
“You can’t just plant them and forget them,” he said. “They grow pretty fast.”
