Tammy Rose may not have had the prettiest pumpkin at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off competition at Krause Berry Farm on Saturday, but its scars sparked curiosity from both judges and spectators.
Large grooves covered the top and sides of the 298-pound pumpkin, thanks to its summertime neighbours — four horses and a goat.
The animals spent the entire season trying to chomp down on the giant gourd, which Rose admits she largely “forgot about” in the South Langley field.
The contest marked her first attempt at giant pumpkin growing — she placed 13th out of 15 entries from across the Pacific Northwest.
Langley’s own Scott Carley won the competition with a giant pumpkin weighing 1,411 pounds.
This is the second win in a couple weeks for Carley, a giant pumpkin hobbyist with his own website, www.giant pumpkinsbc.com.
On Sep 26, Carley’s giant pumpkin weighed in at 1,427.5 pounds and placed first out of 20 entries in Skagit Valley, Wash.
He was close to the site record of 1,450 pounds and is heading to the U.S. again next week in hopes of breaking that world record.
Carley has been growing wheat and canola commercially on his farm in Manitoba for 20 years before moving to Langley and taking up the hobby of growing giant gourds.
– with files from Monique Tamminga
ON GOURD DUTY: Brothers Joshua, Jeffrey and Jackson Schuette and their cousin Brayden Winkelhorst checked out some of the gargantuan produce on display at the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Krause Berry Farms on Saturday.