By Mary Owen
She grows pumpkins, but not for the typical jack-o-lantern.
“My heaviest pumpkin weighed 1,179 pounds,” said Sandy Jefferson, who lives just outside of Sublimity.
A chance stop a few years ago at a Giant Pumpkin weigh-off motivated her to grow the Sumo-sized variety.
“Driving home from picking up a friend at the Portland Airport, we noticed a sign off the freeway about it and decided to go check it out,” Jefferson said. “I have always loved to garden and they were selling these ‘giant pumpkin seeds’ at the event. I decided to purchase a few. I didn’t realize how much that decision would change my life.”
Growing giant pumpkins is an art, beginning with seed genetics. Jefferson hand pollinates to control the genetics of those she grows from Atlantic Giant seeds.
“I only leave one pumpkin on each plant and each of the plants is pruned to maximize its growth,” Jefferson said. “I also bury the vines as they grow to maximize root growth.”
Jefferson has her soil tested every spring to ensure proper nutrients for the pumpkins that start from seeds planted indoors in early April. The seedlings are transferred in early May to a small greenhouse to keep them warm, she said.
“These pumpkin plants are very susceptible to disease, especially powdery mildew,” she added. “This year, I’ve been fighting that since early July.”
Giant pumpkins are also very susceptible to splitting, a “no-no” in giant pumpkin judging, Jefferson said.
“They actually have pumpkin judges at the competitions checking each pumpkin for any damage, so you’re walking a very fine line between pushing your pumpkins enough to keep them growing, but not so much that they would split,” she said.
From the time her pumpkins are pollinated, Jefferson keeps them covered with bed sheets to keep the sun off.
“This keeps their skins pliable and helps reduce the risk of splitting,” she explained. “By putting comforters on them, you also keep the pumpkins warmer so they are less likely to split from temperature changes.”
Although not afraid of hard work, Jefferson said raising giant pumpkins is not an easy hobby.
“There’s always the chance that after months of babying and caring for these pumpkins, I will walk out one morning and find one has split,” she said. “I won’t have a pumpkin to take to competition, but I still love doing it.”
Pumpkin growers can get advise from the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers club, a plus when challenges seem unsurpassable, Jefferson said.
Despite the hurdles, Jefferson has done well. She has grown at least seven pumpkins weighing in at 1,000 pounds or more and three of them at about 1,100 pounds.
“We do summer patch tours to give us a chance to see other growers’ pumpkin patches and to share tips and tricks,” she said.
Harvesting the pumpkins has become a family event, and once the competitions are over, all the family members carve the giants for a Halloween display.
“It’s pretty amazing to see a few 1,000-pound pumpkins all carved and lit up like jack-o-lanterns,” she said.
Entering competitions is a great way to meet other growers and celebrate the end of the season, Jefferson said. Rules are strict and a prize pumpkin can win up to $10,000 at the competitions, she added.
“Competitions are a fun event and a little bit of a nail biter until your pumpkin safely makes it to the official scale,” she said. “I came in second at a weigh-off in Medford, and usually fall into the top five in other local competitions. Most growers know how hard it is to grow these and how much work they take, and it is usually said that if you can get a solid pumpkin to a competition, that is a win no matter what you place.”
Jefferson plans to enter two of her giant pumpkins this year – one to the Bauman Farms weigh-off in Gervais on Oct. 1, and the other in a weigh off in Canyonville in Southern Oregon on Oct. 8.
“I would encourage anyone who likes gardening to consider growing an Atlantic giant,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
But, Jefferson warns, growing the big ones can also become addictive.
“My family laughs because when I go on vacation, I don’t ask people to check my kids or my pets,” she said. “I ask them to come by and put a blanket on my pumpkins each night!”
