Jeff Warner of Englehart earns 4th place at Port Elgin Pumpkinfest with his 1,760lb pumpkin
The seeds from his prize-winning pumpkin are usually given away — if there are any to give
For the last 10 years, every weekend before Thanksgiving, Jeff Warner loads up a trailer with vegetables and drives down to Port Elgin. He enters his garden treasures in the giant vegetable competition at the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest.
And this was a good year for the Englehart farmer.
He won prizes for his 248lb bushel gourd, his 6.34lb tomato and his 1,760lb pumpkin, among others. Warner dedicated much of his time during the growing season to caring for his giant pumpkin, which won him fourth place — and $500 — at the festival.
The winner of the pumpkin competition was from a Cameron, Ont. farm, and weighed in at 1,939.5lbs.
Warner says Canadian farmers like him dream of growing a 2,000lb pumpkin, "but we just can't seem to get there."
"The world's been hitting 2,000lbs everywhere around us," he said. "We will someday. We've got some great growers, we're just, sort of, caught in a snag here."
Now that his giant pumpkin is back home, Warner says he offers up fall-themed activities at his farm.
"So [the pumpkin] goes out there and we're going to turn it into a family photo booth, set it up all pretty, and then families go in front of it and take pictures," he said. "And then I see their pictures all over Facebook and stuff."
Warner says he typically gives the pumpkin's seeds away — if there are seeds to give.
"What happens when you cut your pumpkin open, sometimes it's 10 [seed], sometimes it is 700. So we always hope for 700 because then you can give everybody some."
As for replanting for next year, Warner says he goes to online auctions during the winter to buy his seeds.
"I buy these from those 2,000lb pumpkins that we're talking about," he said. "So I get them in the winter."
Warner says growing giant pumpkins every year has become a natural part of his life.
"It gets you outside and clears your mind from your workday and you just ... go work in your garden, quietly," he said.
"And, you know, when you do get a successful year — which I've had a couple of good ones in a row — you just kind of feel good at the end of the year that it all went well."